By Matt Kahn Proving a land owner’s prior knowledge of a hazard is critical in a premises liability case. Frequently, no concrete evidence establishing prior knowledge exists. Now, in cases involving outdoor hazards, however, it is possible to use Google Maps to present time-stamped images showing the hazard and, in some instances, its condition over time. This article discusses how ...

By Will Owens and Davis Popper, Conley Griggs Partin LLP The Law at Twenty Four Frames per Second There are differing schools of thoughts among most trial lawyers regarding videotaped depositions. Some find it necessary to videotape every single deposition that he/she personally takes. The rationale being that every deposition taken is with the clear purpose that it will eventually ...

By Kevin Patrick While cell phones and other mobile devices are certainly useful to us, they are also causing more automobile and trucking accidents in Georgia. The statistics from the National Safety County show that traffic fatalities in Georgia have risen by one-third from 2014 through 2016, which is the fifth-highest increase in our country and more than twice the ...

BY SUSAN M. WITT, WITT LAW GROUP, LLC It was a February evening when I got a call from a man about his fiancé who had undergone an outpatient plastic surgery procedure and was now lying in ICU fighting for her life. The family was led to believe that something had gone terribly wrong during the surgery, but the facts ...

BY LEE WALLACE Professional liability cases ought to mediate regularly and successfully. After all, trial is an unsavory option in a malpractice lawsuit, given the high costs of experts, the complex subject matter that is difficult to explain to a jury, and the lengthy trial time. Furthermore, mediation can be very effective at resolving cases. For example, in the medical ...

As professionals, a lot is expected of us. It is assumed that we are tough, can handle almost anything, can persevere more than the “average” person. All those things might be true, but we are also human. It is very common for professionals like physicians, nurses, attorneys, etc. to experience symptoms of depression and possibly suicidal ideation. It might be ...

BY ROBIN FRAZER CLARK You don’t have to be all that religious, or even members of a certain faith, to be familiar with the parable of The Good Samaritan. In fact, in Georgia, we often refer to our duty to render aid under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-270 as “The Good Samaritan” statute. In the Good Samaritan parable, a “legal scholar” sets ...

BY LEE GUTSCHENRITTER AND GARY THOMPSON In an urban environment, it is almost an everyday occurrence to witness a first responder emergency vehicle (typically with lights and sirens flashing and blaring) speeding through city streets. The more prudent drivers of these emergency vehicles remain aware of their surroundings and slow down as they approach intersections to make sure they are ...

BY MITCHELL B. LADSON JR. All practicing lawyers have cringed when a client, no matter how well prepared, states something during a deposition that is not true – for the plaintiff: a forgotten MRI 5 years ago, exaggerated pain (12 out of 10 on the pain scale a year later). A fact of the plaintiff lawyer’s life is that plaintiffs ...

BY ROSS MOORE AND JAMES STONE As a general rule in Georgia for both federal and state courts, the scope of discovery is limited to “any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action,” and relevancy is defined as anything “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26(b). ...