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Reputation. Experience. Success

Articles About the Firm

The Advocate: Attorney Jim Butler creates a scholarship that supports the future of public interest law
By: Allyson Mann (MA '92)
Printed in: The University of Georgia Magazine, June 2006

In the lobby of Columbus law firm Butler, Wooten and Fryhofer, there are two framed photographs from the 1962 movie "To Kill a Mockingbird." Chosen by Jim Butler (ABJ '72, JD '77), the images are of Atticus Finch as played by Gregory Peck. In one, Finch argues his case before the jury while his client-a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in a small, Depression-era Southern town-sits in the background. In the other, Finchwalks out of the courtroom while the audience stands, demonstrating that he's won their respect by proving his client's innocence despite losing the case. "That's the moment when I first started thinking about becoming a lawyer," says Butler...
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The Squire of Muscogee County: James Butler is as prepared as Winston Churchill and as down-to-earth as Atticus Finch
By: Kenna Simmons
Published in Georgia Super Lawyers 2008 March 2008

The first time I ever stood in front of a jury," James Butler says, "I knew I had died and gone to heaven." In the 30 years since that celestial moment, Butler has won four verdicts worth over $100 million each, while his firm, Butler Wooten & Fryhofer, has notched more than $1 billion in its top 10 wins.
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Success Stories

$17,716,401 Verdict / Auto Product Liability / Ford Explorer Rear Restraint System / Lap Only Seat Belt

12/18/2009 Wheeler v. Ford Motor Company, et al., State Court, Clayton County, Georgia.

Plaintiffs Lynn and Douglas Wheeler won their design defect and failure to warn claims against Ford Motor Company relating to the 2002 Ford Explorer. On Christmas morning 2005, 58 year old Lynn Wheeler was on her way to church with her family. Lynn Wheeler was seated in the rear center seat of her son’s 2002 Ford Explorer, wearing the lap-only seat belt Ford installed for that seating position. Two of Lynn Wheeler’s grandchildren were in child seats on either side of her. As they entered a curve on Noah’s Ark Road, a 2-door Eagle Talon coupe driven by John C. Stanley crossed the centerline and struck the Explorer head-on.

$5,470,000 Verdict/Wrongful Death

10/23/09 Pitts v. A&G Trucking. Inc., et al., State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia.

Plaintiffs, four minor children, recovered for the death of their father, who was killed by a dump truck driver while the decedent was working as a "spotter" or "flag man" on the runway expansion at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. According to eye-witnesses, the driver of the dump truck was talking on her cell phone or CB radio and was given a stop signal by the deceased.

$45,000,000 Settlement | Credit Insurance/Consumer Rights Class Action

10/31/07 Toole v. J.M.I.C. Life Insurance Company, Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia

Plaintiff Toole represented a class of people who prepaid J.M.I.C. Life Insurance Company premiums for credit life and disability insurance policies when they purchased vehicles. J.M.I.C. Life Insurance Company contractually promised to refund any unearned premium if class members paid off the insured loans before the five-year term had expired, but failed to do so when they paid off the insured loans early.

$105,500,000 Verdict | Defective Automobile

11/23/04 Flax v. Daimler Chrysler Corporation and Louis A. Stockell, Jr., Circuit Court for Davidson County, Tennessee

More Verdicts

Columbus
105 13th Street
P.O. Box 2766
Columbus, GA 31902
FAX 706.323.2962
706.322.1990
1.800.233.4086

Atlanta
2719 Buford Highway
Atlanta, GA 30324
FAX 404.321.1713
404.321.1700
1.800.242.2962


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With offices in Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia, the attorneys at Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP represent the seriously injured throughout Georgia, including the cities of Atlanta, Columbus, Marietta, Smyrna, Roswell, Gainesville, Peachtree City, Forest Park, Riverdale, Lagrange, Macon, and Savannah. Our lawyers have handled accident and defective product claims nationwide, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.