Resources

We have compiled a list of useful links. However it is important to note that internet research should not be your sole source of information about a topic.

Bar Associations

• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Georgia

Legal Sites and General Information

• Lawyers Weekly USA
• Verdict Research Group
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• FindLaw

Automobile

• The Center for Auto Safety
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• American Motorcyclist Association
• Motorcycle Safety Foundation

Head Trauma

• Brain Injury Association of America
• Brain Injury Society

Stephen Ozcomert has published papers that, while they are written for other lawyers, give useful advice to anyone involved in a personal injury case. Below are some excerpts of his work as well as links to the full documents which you are free to review.

Prevent the Loss of Credibility in Musculoskeletal Injury Cases

Plaintiffs lose too many “soft tissue” or musculoskeletal injury cases before juries. How many times to we hear judges saying, “ah, this is a soft tissue case right? Let’s see, of the last 25 of these tried here, 23 were defense verdicts, one got the ER bills, and 1 got 5,000. Well, good luck!” It really bothers me to think that these kinds of comments are an accurate reflection of the results of these sorts of trials. It does not have to be that way. Not even close. Plaintiffs can win the vast majority of these cases if you just avoid the common problems and mistakes below. Of course, the best way to avoid losing a case is to not take a poor case to start with. My general rule for case selection is a “two strike” rule. Every case has a problem like slight property damage or a delay in treatment or whatever. You can almost always deal with a single problem.

Continue reading about musculoskeletal injury cases (pdf)

Handling Uninsured Motorist Cases

Generally Speaking, O.C.G.A. §33-7-11(b)(1)(D)(ii) allows an insurance company to take an offset against any UM claim the amount of liability insurance available to compensate the Plaintiff. Thus, if the Plaintiff has $25k in UM benefits and the Defendant has a $25k policy, then you ordinarily do not get to access the UM coverage. This is true under the code section unless the liability coverage is reduced “by reason of payment of other claims or otherwise” to an amount less than the amount of UM coverage available. Payment of other claims means other claimants from the same incident. What was not known until Thurman and its progeny is what the “or otherwise” meant, if anything.

Continue reading Handling Uninsured Motorist Cases (pdf)

Feel free to call or write should you have a case for which you need expert advice.