Georgia Legal Report

Atlanta personal injury attorneys obtained a $5.47 million dollar verdict in a wrongful death case last week in DeKalb County, Georgia. The case involved a man who was killed while working at Atlanta-Hartsfield airport in June of 2007. The decedent was working on an expansion project at the airport, and his job was to direct dump trucks entering the work site. The man was killed when a dump truck driver ingnored stop signals and ran over him.

A wrongful death and pain and suffering claim was filed by Atlanta lawyers retained by the family of the decedent. The case was presented to a jury last week and, after only three days, the verdict was returned. Because the decedent was killed while at work, the family of the decedent is also entitled to a recovery under Georgia workers compensation laws.

As an Atlanta personal injury attorney and workers compensation lawyer, I am grateful that our Georgia juries are willing to issue large awards to the victims of tragic incidents such as this one. We have recovered millions of dollars for our injured Clients, and we continue to be inspired when verdicts like this are issued. Many of Georgia's best lawyers are in located in Atlanta, and it these types of vedicts are a testament to this.

Rapes, shootings, and violent crimes are a common occurence in hotels, shopping malls, parking lots, and apartment complexes throughout Atlanta and the state of Georgia. As an Atlanta law firm that represents Clients in these premise liability cases, we are intimately aware of the dangers that patrons face while staying or shopping in these venues. The verdicts awarded by juries throughout Georgia for such incidents can be significant, as is evidenced by a recent $550,000.00 verdict obtained in Cobb County, Georgia.

A Cobb County jury recently awared $550,000.00 to a Plaintiff who was sexually assaulted while staying at a Super 8 Motel. A hotel employee entered her room with a master key and began to touch and lick her while she was asleep. The hotel was sued for failure to conduct a criminal background check on the employee and for entrusting the employee with a master key. The jury heard evidence that, if a criminal background check had been performed, the hotel would have learned that the employee was arrested on multiple occasions prior to and during his employment. The jury was convinced, and held Super 8 liable.

As a premise liability law firm, it is important that we become involved in a hotel/apartment/shopping mall rape, shooting, or attack as soon after the incident as possible. This is critical as premise owners tend to destroy evidence such as video tapes which would evidence liability.