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Plaintiff earns $228,000 verdict following $600,000 demand at mediation

Facts: Premier’s driver Lettrecia Clark was operating a trash-hauling truck when she ran a red light at the intersection of Old Dixie Highway and an I-285 exit ramp in Atlanta. Plaintiff, an inspector for the Department of Homeland Security, was riding his motorcycle to work as Ms. Clark pulled into his path at the intersection. Plaintiff essentially laid down his motorcycle through the intersection and struck the rear tire of the Defendants’ truck. Ms. Clark never cooperated with the defense of the case and failed to appear both for her deposition and at trial. Negligence was admitted.

Alleged injury/damages: It was not disputed that Plaintiff fractured multiple bones in his left ankle as a result of the accident and that he had to undergo three surgeries. It also was not disputed that Plaintiff suffered compression fractures at two levels of his back as a result of the accident. It further was not disputed that Plaintiff was forced to miss five weeks of work immediately following the accident. Plaintiff’s total medical expenses were just over $53,000 and his lost income was just under $6,000. The only dispute at trial was the amount of pain and suffering damages Plaintiff was entitled to.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff’s last demand at mediation was $600,000. Defendants’ last offer was $150,000.

Result: $228,047 verdict for Plaintiff

Court: State Court of Fulton County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Pamela Newsome for defendants; Mike Webb and David Zagoria of Webb & Zagoria for plaintiffs

Plaintiff awarded $3,315 in admitted liability case

Facts: HCF represented Columbia National Insurance Company as an underinsured motorist carrier in this case. The plaintiff (who was an employee of Columbia’s policyholder) was rear-ended by Defendant Hutcheson at an intersection in Milledgeville, GA. Negligence was admitted.

Alleged injury/damages: Plaintiff claimed injuries to his neck, back, shoulders and knee. Plaintiff underwent knee surgery for a torn meniscus. However, it was apparent from the evidence that the knee injury was not caused by the accident. Plaintiff claimed total medical expenses of $14,938 and lost income of $2,310.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $110,000 at trial. Defendant’s liability insurer tendered its $25,000 limits, but this tender was never accepted by Plaintiff. Columbia made no offers of settlement.

Result: $3,315 verdict

Court: Superior Court of Wilkinson County, Georgia

Attorneys: Johnny Mitchell for Defendant acted as lead counsel at trial; Richie Foster and Pamela Lee for Columbia; Malcolm Lindley and Sam Rumph of Lindley & Powell for Plaintiff.

Plaintiff turns down $150,000 and secures $15,000 verdict at trial

Facts: Plaintiff was a construction foreman at a residential housing development when he was struck by a truck driven by Defendant Jack Schell. Mr. Schell was on the job for Defendant Metro Mechanical at the time. Negligence of the Defendants was admitted; however, there was some dispute over how forcefully Plaintiff was actually struck.

Alleged injury/damages: Plaintiff claimed a host of injuries were caused by the accident, including a lower back injury that resulted in cage fusion surgery at the L5-S1 level. Despite these claims, Defendant presented evidence on cross examination of the Plaintiff and his four testifying medical providers that all of his injuries pre-existed the accident at least to some extent. Total past medical expenses were more than $160,000. Plaintiff also claimed he could not return to work and claimed total lost income of more than $1 million.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff’s last demand following mediation was $1 million. Defendants offered $150,000.

Result: $15,000 verdict for plaintiff

Court: State Court of Henry County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for Defendants; Jeff Pope and Mark Howard of Pope & Howard for Plaintiffs.

Plaintiff walks away from potential $300,000 settlement; recovers $21,987.88 at trial

Facts: HCF’s clients were Womack Paving and its driver, Darryl Ussery. Mr. Ussery was operating a heavy dump truck as he was preparing to turn left onto Hwy. 41 south of Macon, GA. Plaintiff (a passenger in a Dodge Neon) was traveling north on Hwy. 41 when Mr. Ussery turned into her path of travel. Defendants admitted that their negligence was the cause of the accident.

Plaintiff alleged that, as a result of this accident, she injured her lower back and had to undergo cage fusion surgery at the L4/5 and L5/S1 levels of her lower back. However, defense counsel presented evidence on cross examination at trial that the surgery on the lower back was actually caused by a subsequent on-the-job injury.

Alleged injury/damages: Disc herniations and cage fusion surgery at the L4/5 and L5/S1 levels of the lower back. Plaintiff presented total medical expenses of just under $144,000. Plaintiff claimed lost income of $9,753.60

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff walked out of mediation demanding $900,000. Defendants’ offer at that time was $100,000, but Defendants would have offered up to $300,000 to resolve the case at mediation if Plaintiff would have continued to negotiate in good faith.

Result: $21,987.88 verdict for Plaintiff

Court: Superior Court of Jones County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Zach Matthews for Defendants; Adam Deaver of Kenneth Nugent, PC for plaintiff.

Defense verdict following motorcycle/truck collision

Facts: HCF’s clients were Commercial Disposal and its driver, Steve Nelson. Plaintiff was operating a motorcycle on Fulton Industrial Blvd. in Atlanta and alleged that Defendants’ tractor-trailer illegally changed lanes and struck Plaintiff causing severe injuries. Defendants countered that Plaintiff was the one who improperly changed lanes and struck the front of Defendants’ tractor. Following the accident, Defendants’ vehicle was declared “out of service” by a DOT inspector due to improper brake adjustment on the trailer. Despite Plaintiff’s claims, there were two eyewitnesses who corroborated Mr. Nelson and testified that he never changed lanes and that the accident was indeed caused by Plaintiff.

A complicating issue in the case was that Defendant Nelson was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer following this accident. In addition, he was incarcerated about six months following the accident on charges that he had murdered a college student in Ohio in the early 1980s. Knowing that Mr. Nelson would not survive long enough to appear at trial, HCF’s attorneys preserved his testimony for trial by way of videotape deposition taken from the Cobb County, Georgia Jail two weeks after the lawsuit was filed (HCF supplied Mr. Nelson with “civilian clothes” for the camera). Mr. Nelson indeed passed away about 18 months prior to trial and the murder charges were dismissed without a formal resolution.

Alleged injury/damages: Plaintiff’s body was physically run over by Defendants’ tractor, which fractured Plaintiff’s pelvis in two places and required three surgeries to correct. Plaintiff was also required to wear an internally fixated, external halo around his pelvis for 12 weeks following the accident. Plaintiff also had to undergo skin grafting procedures to repair areas of skin that were essentially scraped off during the accident. Plaintiff presented medical expenses of $67,662.51. He claimed he was completely disabled as a result of the accident and presented a total lost-income claim of $520,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded Defendants’ $1 million liability limits. Defendants offered $25,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: State Court of Cobb County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Pamela Lee for Defendants; Jan Cohen and Steve McConnell of Weinstock & Scavo for plaintiff

Directed verdict following slip and fall at Belk

Facts: Plaintiff was a customer at a Belk department store in Thomaston, GA when she fell allegedly after getting her feet caught on a cloth covering a display table. The primary liability issues were whether the table cloth was negligently placed and, if so, whether the plaintiff had equal knowledge of the purported hazard.

Alleged injury/damages: Comminuted wrist fracture with surgery. Plaintiff claimed $29,557.42 in medical expenses.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $130,000. Belk offered $10,000.

Result: Directed verdict for Belk

Court: Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia

Attorneys: Bill Casey and Erica Morton for Belk; James Creasy for plaintiff

Alleged negligent home inspection results in defense verdict

Facts: Plaintiffs retained Inspection Center to conduct a home inspection prior to the purchase of a home in Dade County, Georgia. Following the inspection, Plaintiff’s purchased the home for $375,000. Following the purchase, Plaintiffs found numerous problems, including unrepaired attic leaks, mold in the crawl space and other issues. Inspection Center argued that Plaintiffs’ claims against Inspection Center were governed by the signed inspection contract, which had a $275 liquidated damages clause. Plaintiffs argued that Inspection Center was grossly negligent in its inspection of the home thereby nullifying the liquidated damages clause and entitling Plaintiffs to compensatory damages to repair the home and for attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation.

Alleged injury/damages: Diminished home value, cost of repair, expenses of litigation and punitive damages.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $150,000. Defendant offered $25,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: Superior Court of Whitfield County, Georgia

Attorneys: Mike Crawford and Cindy Griffin for defendants; Skip Patty for plaintiffs

Defense verdict following two-week wrongful death trial

Facts: HCF’s client was Forsyth Furnishings which is a furniture store located on Highway 20 in Cumming, GA. The plaintiff was an on-duty motorcycle police officer responding to a fight call while driving down the center line of Hwy. 20. The officer’s lights and sirens were on. A vehicle operated by a co-defendant turned left while the officer was approaching from behind. The officer struck the motorist and the officer’s path was diverted into the parking lot of Forsyth Furnishings. The officer struck a vehicle parked in the lot. The owner of the parked vehicle was also the owner of Forsyth Furnishings. The officer died as a result of the final collision with the parked vehicle.

Plaintiff alleged that Forsyth Furnishings was negligent for maintaining its parking lot within the right of way of Highway 20 and for allowing obstructions (i.e. parked vehicles) to be maintained in that right of way.

Alleged injury/damages: Death of on-duty officer. $8 million claim for hedonic and economic damages.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded client’s $1.5 million liability policy limits. The insurer for Forsyth Furnishings offered $35,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: Superior Court of Forsyth County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Zach Matthews for Forsyth Furnishings; Steven Liebel for plaintiff

Defense verdict following slip and fall at Applebee’s

Facts: Plaintiff was a customer at Applebee’s who slipped and fell while walking to the bathroom. Issue was whether Applebee’s employee placed wet floor sign in area of prior drink spill and whether Plaintiff was injured as alleged.

Alleged injury/damages: Lower back disk herniations without surgery.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $100,000. Defendant offered $5,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia

Attorneys: Mike Crawford for defendant; Sam Levine for plaintiff

Brain-injured plaintiff awarded $250,000 in admitted liability case

Facts: HCF’s clients were Wilhite Trucking and its driver, Willie Harper. Mr. Harper was driving a tractor trailer on I-285 in Atlanta when he changed lanes and struck the driver’s rear side of Plaintiff’s vehicle. Plaintiff’s vehicle rotated clockwise and perpendicular to the tractor and was pushed down the interstate. Plaintiff’s vehicle ultimately came to rest on the side of the interstate. Defendants’ negligence was admitted.

Plaintiff was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury by numerous medical providers including neurologists at Johns Hopkins and Shepard Center. Despite an absence of pre-accident evidence of head trauma or injury, the primary defense was that Plaintiff showed signs of personality disorder – consistent with her post-accident symptomology – prior to the accident. This evidence was elicited through former employers and co-workers.

Alleged injury/damages: Traumatic brain injury.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded client’s $1 million liability policy limits. Defendants offered $150,000.

Result: $250,000 verdict

Court: State Court of Clayton County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for defendants; Bill Stone and David Boone for plaintiff

Georgia Supreme Court knocks down TCPA class action

Facts: HCF’s client was Carnett’s, Inc., an Atlanta-area car wash chain. Carnett’s had 73,500 faxes sent to potential and existing Carnett’s customers with a discount coupon attached. Plaintiff Michelle Hammond received one of these faxes and alleged that she had never been a Carnett’s customer and that the fax was entirely unsolicited. She then filed suit against Carnett’s alleging that it violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits sending unsolicited fax advertisements. See 47 U.S.C.A. 227 et seq. Statutory damages for violating the TCPA are $500 per unsolicited fax. If the fax is sent in knowing violation of the TCPA, the statutory damages increase to $1,500.

After filing suit, Hammond requested class certification to bring claims on behalf of all persons who received Carnett’s faxes. If the class were certified, Carnett’s would effectively have been facing minimum statutory damages of more than $36 million and damages possibly as high as $110 million.

The plaintiff argued that she was per se entitled to have the class certified since the Georgia Court of Appeals had already upheld class certification in a similar TCPA case. See Nicholson v. Hooters of Augusta, Inc, 245 Ga. App. 363 (2000), (Hooters was ultimately forced to pay almost $12 million in damages after that class was certified). HCF successfully convinced the trial court to not certify the class against Carnett’s. See 2003 WL 22319072.

Following the trial court’s ruling, Plaintiff retained former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and appealed. The Court of Appeals then reversed the trial court. See Hammond v. Carnett’s, Inc., 266 Ga. App. 242, 596 S.E.2d 729 (2004). This represented the first time in history that the Georgia Court of Appeals had reversed a trial court’s ruling denying class certification. Fortunately, the Georgia Supreme Court accepted certiorari and ultimately reversed the Court of Appeals thereby reinstating the trial court’s ruling that class certification was not justified. Carnett’s Inc. v. Hammond, 279 Ga. 125, 610 S.E.2d 529 (2005)

Last offer/ Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $10 million policy limits. No formal offers from Defendant

Result: $1,500 settlement following appeals

Court: State Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster for defendants; Marc Hershovitz and Roy Barnes for plaintiff

Defense verdict following two-week wrongful death trial

Facts: Roosevelt Williams was operating a tractor trailer for Clary Logging crossing over I-75 in Dooly County, Georgia. Plaintiff was approaching in the opposite direction. A vehicle exiting I-75 pulled into the path of Defendants’ log truck and forced Defendant to veer left and into the path of the oncoming Plaintiff vehicle. Plaintiff driver was killed. Plaintiff passenger suffered broken leg. Clary Logging’s driver’s post-accident drug test revealed cocaine and marijuana in his blood system. In addition, the driver had a subsequent cocaine possession conviction and child molestation conviction. Accordingly, Plaintiff was seeking punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages.

Alleged injury/damages: Broken leg. Medical specials of $22,900 and lost income claim of $4,500.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $250,000. Defendant offered $50,000.

Result: $22,900 verdict for plaintiff (wrongful death case settled separately).

Court: Superior Court of Crisp County, Georgia

Attorneys: Bill Casey and Erica Morton for Clary Logging and Roosevelt Williams; Trey Moody for plaintiff.

Trucking death case nets $762,000 verdict for plaintiff

Facts: HCF’s clients Roberts Trucking and its driver, Terry Swanson. Mr. Swanson was traveling east on Ga. Highway 140, a two lane highway in Floyd County, GA. The east bound lane widened to two lanes as it approached the Bartow County line. Mr. Swanson entered the newly formed eastbound left lane attempting to pass a vehicle operated by co-defendant Henderson. Henderson did not see the Roberts Trucking tractor trailer in the passing lane as Henderson attempted to merge into that same lane. The left-rear corner of Henderson’s vehicle contacted the front, right corner of the Roberts Trucking tractor. This contact caused Henderson to lose control of his vehicle and be thrown into the oncoming lane of traffic. The plaintiff vehicle was approaching in the westbound (i.e. oncoming) lane and collided with the Henderson vehicle.

The operator of the plaintiff vehicle was hospitalized for four days with various contusions and orthopedic injuries. The plaintiff passenger survived about 24 hours before dying of complications resulting from the trauma.

Plaintiff alleged that Roberts Trucking was negligent by cutting across a gore as it entered the newly formed passing lane. Although there was no direct evidence on this point, Georgia was a joint-and-several liability state at the time and the plaintiff needed only to prove that Roberts Trucking was at least one-percent negligent to recover a full verdict against Roberts Trucking. The jury ultimately found against Roberts Trucking on liability.

Alleged injury/damages: Orthopedic and soft-tissue injuries to plaintiff driver; wrongful death of plaintiff passenger. Total combined medical specials of $60,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded Roberts Trucking’s $1 million liability policy limits. Defendant Roberts Trucking offered $50,000. Co-defendant Henderson settled pre-trial.

Result: $762,000 combined net verdict

Court: Superior Court of Floyd County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Erica Morton for defendants; Frank Jenkins for plaintiff

Plaintiff recovers $50,000 for closed head injury

Facts: HCF’s client was Southeast Bedding, whose driver was involved in an intersection collision with plaintiff after defendant ran a red light. Negligence was admitted. Plaintiff allegedly suffered closed head injury resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating migraines.

Alleged injury/damages: Closed head injury. $30,000 in medical expenses with alleged past and future lost income of more than $700,000

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded client’s $1 million liability policy limits. Defendants offered $85,000.

Result: $50,000 verdict

Court: Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for defendant; Charlie Gower for plaintiff

Plaintiff recovers $160,000 for broken femur

Facts: HCF’s clients Litter Control, Inc. and its driver Sergio Lopez. Mr. Lopez was driving a sweeper truck on South Cobb Drive in Cobb County, Georgia when he crossed the center line and struck Plaintiff’s vehicle head on. Defendants’ negligence was admitted.

Plaintiff was life-flighted from the scene and was hospitalized for six days at Atlanta Medical Center with compound fracture of femur in addition to other soft tissue injuries.

Alleged injury/damages: Compound fracture of femur. Medical specials of $92,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff’s last demand was $400,000. Defendants’ last offer was $125,000.

Result: $160,000 verdict

Court: Superior Court of Hall County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Erica Morton for defendants; Vaughn Fisher for plaintiff

Clear liability trucking case nets $96,000 for three plaintiffs

Facts: HCF’s client was J&P Hall Express. J&P’s driver made a left turn into the path of plaintiff, who had her two small children in the car with her. Plaintiff collided with the rear of Defendant’s trailer at rear tandems. Though defendant’s negligence was clear, Defendant argued that Plaintiff driver was comparatively negligent and failed to avoid the consequences of Defendant’s negligence (there was no available comparative argument for the minor passengers.

Alleged injury/damages: Plaintiff driver suffered broken foot and other soft-tissue injuries as a result of the accident. Plaintiff’s daughter struck head and suffered minor fracture of skull. Plaintiff’s son had perforation of intestine due to seatbelt injury. Plaintiff driver’s medical expenses were $36,000. Plaintiff daughter’s medical expenses are $10,000 and plaintiff son’s medical expenses were $16,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff’s last demand was $375,000. Defendants’ last offer offer was $250,000.

Result: Combined verdict of $96,000

Court: State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for defendants; John K. Fitzgerald for plaintiff

Defense verdict for plaintiff with alleged soft-tissue injury

Facts: HCF’s clients were Statewide Wrecker and its driver, Michael Plough. Plaintiff was an on-duty officer working an accident scene and Statewide Wrecker was called to remove the disabled vehicles. Mr. Plough was backing the wrecker into position when he allegedly struck Mr. Morgan, who claimed he had his back to the wrecker.

Mr. Morgan allegedly suffered numerous injuries to the discs and soft tissues in his lower back. However, he had a significant pre-accident history of back pain and injury.

Alleged injury/damages: Herniated discs in neck and lower back. Medical expenses of $35,000 and lost income of $20,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: State Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster for defendants; James L. Kraemer for plaintiff

Defense verdict for plaintiff with devastating brain injury

Facts: HCF’s clients was Mitchell Graphics, which was retained by a Columbus real estate agent to erect a for-sale sign on a property adjacent to Moon Road in Columbus. Mitchell Graphics placed the sign as directed with the sign perpendicular to the roadway. Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle that was leaving a nearby apartment complex. The driver of the vehicle claimed her view of traffic approaching from her left on Moon Road was blocked by the for-sale sign. It was undisputed that the for-sale sign was placed in the right of way in violation of the Columbus sign ordinance.

Plaintiff alleged that Mitchell Graphics was negligent per se. Mitchell Graphics argued that it did not know and had no reason to know the sign was in the right of way and that it was a non-negligent contractor for the real estate agency. Mitchell Graphics further argued that the sign, though in the right of way, was not an obstruction in fact.

Alleged injury/damages: Traumatic brain with more than six weeks inpatient at Shepard Center. Plaintiff produced life care plan of more than $7 million. Total medical specials through trial were $225,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff last demand against Mitchell Graphics was $900,000. Mitchell Graphics offered $100,000.

Result: Defense verdict for Mitchell Graphics. $550,000 awarded against negligent driver (whose insurer had previously tendered her $25,000 limits). Of note, the real estate agency settled prior to trial for more than $1.7 million.

Court: State Court of Fulton County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for defendants; Cal Callier and Andy Harp for plaintiffs

$1.8 million combined verdict in wrongful death trucking case

Facts: HCF’s clients were Piknik Transportation and Solomon McWilliams. Mr. McWilliams was operating a tractor trailer traveling south on I-75 in Cordele when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. He struck the plaintiffs’ vehicle at high speed causing it to run off the interstate and roll several times. Plaintiff driver was killed. Plaintiff passenger suffered fractured vertebra in neck. Plaintiffs were very well respected citizens in small community of Cordele, Georgia where the case was tried. Evidence determined that Defendants McWilliams admittedly had not slept in 22 hours prior to the accident.

Negligence of the defendants was admitted. The primary issues were the value of compensatory damages and whether punitive damages were warranted given the evidence of driver fatigue and negligent entrustment.

Alleged injury/damages: Wrongful death of plaintiff driver and fractured vertebra of plaintiff passenger. Combined medical specials were $5,000.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff’s last demand was $4.5 million. Defendant’s last offer was $1 million.

Result: $1.8 million combined verdict. No punitive damages awarded.

Court: Superior Court of Crisp County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Bill Casey for defendants; Carl Reynolds and Kathy MacArthur for plaintiffs

Defense verdict following slip and fall trial

Facts: HCF’s client was the Villa Rosa Center, a convenience store near Villa Rica, Georgia. Plaintiff was shopping in the store when she allegedly slipped on a wet floor that had recently been mopped. Plaintiff alleged no wet floor signs were present.

Primary defense was that wet floor signs were present and that plaintiff’s fall was actually caused by a pre-existing medical condition (Charcot-Marie Toothe disease) which can cause loss of full use of extremities. It was not disputed that Plaintiff broke her ankle as a result of the fall.

Alleged injury/damages: Fractured ankle.

Last offer/Last demand: Plaintiff demanded $175,000. Defendants offered $25,000.

Result: Defense verdict

Court: State Court of Clayton County, Georgia

Attorneys: Richie Foster and Mike Crawford for defendants; Pete Blackford for plaintiff

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