Legal Articles

Is This Man Out To Get You? - By David Whitford June 1, 2003 CNNMoney.com
Everybody knows that big time trial lawyers like James E. Butler Jr. are the sworn enemies of business. But he's on your side-really.

An Offensive Strategy for Defending Against Daubert (PDF)
As with almost any area of the law, a key to a successful Daubert defense is extensive preparation and constant thought to your own vulnerabilities. Keeping Daubert in the back of your mind throughout a case is an unfortunate necessity for any plaintiffs - lawyer with a case in federal court. If your case needs expert witness testimony and it is pending in federal court, it is certain that defense counsel will file a Daubert challenge to at least one of your experts.

The Nuts & Bolts of Reimbursement & Subrogation Issues (PDF)
Potentially any person or entity that has provided benefits to the client as a result of his injuries may be entitled to a share of the settlement. A hospital or physician may have a lien for their charges. Alternatively, Medicare, Medicaid or the client's own health insurer may seek to recover payments made for medical bills.

The Preparation & Utilization of "Lay" Witnesses in Personal Injury & Wrongful Death Cases (PDF)
The late great trial lawyer, Moe Levine, aptly described the trial of a civil lawsuit involving personal injuries or wrongful death as "the equation of suffering and redress". In order to work through this "equation" and reach a verdict which provides the proper measure of "redress" for the plaintiff's suffering or the decedent's death, the jurors must be given a catalyst which will motivate them to return a sufficient verdict.

Georgia Nuisance Law Provides Relief for Wronged Landowners (PDF)
Everyone living in Georgia is familiar with the almost overnight appearance of large scale housing and commercial developments where large tracts of previously forested land once stood. Although many of us would prefer that the land remain in its natural state, economic growth is inevitable.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 2003. Annual Survey of Georgia Law - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
This survey period yielded several decisions of interest and importance to practitioners trying cases and preparing for trial. This Article will analyze the recent judicial developments in the law relating to evidence, insurance, jurors and jury instructions, professional liability, service of process, and damages, as well as other issues of import to the trial practitioner.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 2002. Article - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
The recent survey period yielded a great number of decisions of interest and importance to practitioners trying and preparing cases for trial. This Article will analyze the recent judicial developments in the law relating to punitive damages, tort actions, sovereign immunity, venue, arbitration, professional negligence, and juror qualification, as *546 well as other issues of import to the trial practitioner. This Article also impact trial practice.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 2001. Article - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
The recent survey period was most notable for the diversity of issues impacting trial practice and procedure. The appellate courts considered cases marking the culmination or continuation of evolving legal precedent from recent years, and they explored some seemingly new areas that may evolve and develop over the course of future surveys. This Article analyzes the recent judicial developments in the law relating to jury instructions, attorney fees and damages, actions against state entities, venue, pleading, judicial and collateral estoppel, and other issues of import to the trial practitioner. The authors also highlight the legislation passed by the General Assembly that will impact trial practice.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 2000. Annual Survey of Georgia Law - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
This survey period is most notable for the diversity of cases touching upon trial practice and procedure decided by the Georgia appellate courts. Among those were cases fleshing out the permissible parameters of attorney-client contractual relations, scaling back the malpractice affidavit pleading requirement, defining further what constitutes a doctor-patient relationship, interpreting the wrongful death act to determine who can properly bring a claim, and declining to apply the self-contradictory testimony rule to a party's expert witness.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 1999. Survey Articles - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
This survey period yielded several notable decisions covering the professional malpractice affidavit/pleading requirement, renewal actions, attorney-client relations, and the summary judgment standard. Refinements in the areas of insurance practice, jury qualifications, releases, default judgment, and privileges lend important guidance to practitioners, judges, and scholars in the area of trial practice and procedure. The most significant legislative development of trial practice and procedure addressed the longstanding "vanishing venue" doctrine.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 1998. Annual Survey of Georgia Law - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
The most notable and far-reaching judicial activity during this survey period dealt with the summary judgment standard applied in tort cases. Other noteworthy developments occurred in the areas of venue, renewal of actions, collateral estoppel, and bifurcation of trials in cases involving punitive damages. Only minimal legislation was enacted in the area of trial practice and procedure during the survey period. This Article focuses on the most notable decisions rendered by the judiciary and the most significant legislation touching upon trial practice and procedure in Georgia state courts.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 1997. Survey Article - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
The most interesting and significant developments in the area of trial practice and procedure during the survey period came not from Georgia's appellate courts but from the Georgia General Assembly. This Article will first analyze the significant legislation that came from beneath the gold dome in 1997. It will then review the most significant appellate cases.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 1996. Survey Article - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
Developments in the law of personal jurisdiction and venue, the professional malpractice affidavit pleading requirement embodied by Official Code of Georgia Annotated ("O.C.G.A.") section 9-11-9.1, [FN1] and the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel continued to refine the law during this survey period. Additionally, this survey reviews significant decisions discussing disqualification of jurors for cause, actions for prenatal injuries, procedure in connection with trials involving default judgment, and remedies for spoliation of evidence.

Mercer Law Review - Fall 1995. Survey Article - Trial Practice & Procedure (PDF)
Developments in the law interpreting and applying the Official Code of Georgia Annotated ("O.C.G.A.") section 9-11-9.1, the professional negligence affidavit pleading requirement, and Georgia's various statutes of ultimate repose overshadowed the usual decisions concerning personal jurisdiction, service of process, and venue. This review will analyze the developments in these areas of trial practice and procedure in Georgia for the survey period. Also, the authors will discuss new developments concerning Georgia's renewal and dismissal statutes, res judicata, and discovery.

Strategies for Maximizing Damages in Civil Cases (PDF)
THEME: A lawyer can often do more to mess up a good case, than improve it. The things "not to do" are just as important as "the things to do."

ICLE Seminar - Surgical Errors - The Difference Between a Recognized Complication & Malpractice (PDF)
When a patient's surgery results in an undesired outcome, lay persons immediately suspect medical malpractice as the culprit. In reality, surgery carries with it certain risks, and it is impossible to guarantee that it will produce perfect results without complications. Any physician will tell you that complications can occur in even the most carefully executed surgeries.

Electronic Database Discovery in Products Liability Cases - A Plaintiff's Perspective (PDF)
The law has finally entered the information age. Even though it has been common knowledge for years that the vast majority of corporations store their records on computer databases and internal intranets, the law and corporate defendants have been slow to recognize that computer searches are a necessary component to civil discovery. Now, computer searches are granted as a matter of course.

Making Sure your Hydroplaning Case is Watertight (PDF)
Hydroplaning cases present unique challenges in the Daubert era and must therefore be carefully prepared. However, a wet weather case properly prepared and presented can be very compelling.

Discovery of Corporate Computer Databases - A Commonplace Practice
The law has finally entered the information age. Even though it has been common knowledge for years that the vast majority of corporations store their records on computer databases and internal intranets, the law has been slow to recognize that computer searches are a necessary component to civil discovery.

Tractor Trailer and Commercial Vehicle Liability Cases
Because of their huge size, improperly maintained equipment and frequently impaired or road-weary drivers, thousands of individuals and families suffer death and serious injury at the hands of tractor trailer companies and large commercial vehicle operators. The firm has an outstanding record for exceptional and innovative results in handling these cases throughout the United States.

Use of Videotaped Depositions in Business Tort Suits - Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (PDF)
As most trial lawyers were either born knowing or quickly figured out, one of the most effective techniques for presentation of a plaintiffs' case is to call the defendant, or if a corporation, one of its key employees, for cross examination.