Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

In a personal injury lawsuit, it is always difficult for the trial lawyer representing the injured victim to talk about money in the context of pain and suffering. How does one fairly compensate an individual who is suffering as a result of the acts of a third party? Someone who is sitting still at a stop sign and who is rear-ended by a commercial truck, for example, and who sustains a broken neck or back is going to be faced with a lifetime of pain and suffering. How does one fairly compensate such an individual with money? This is a difficult determination which juries must wrestle with and which trial lawyers must address in their presentations on behalf of their innocent clients.

One of the things I think about as a trial lawyer is the ridiculous salaries that are paid to sport figures. There is a recent Georgia Tech graduate, whose name will not be repeated here, who is in the NBA that I read in a news article recently who is making over $50 million per year for a NBA team that did not even make the playoffs. This staggering amount of money, obviously, is way too much money for a basketball player, who has no skills other than being able to shoot a basketball. And yet, if I stand up in front of a jury on behalf of someone with a broken neck or back and I were to ask for $50 million, I would be subject to ridicule and scorn even though my client with a broken neck or back might have to live for as long as 40 to 50 years with incredible pain and suffering. While I agree that 40 to50 million dollars is greatly excessive for such a claim, the disconnect comes when one looks at the value of a single year of basketball for a losing team verses 40-50 years of life in suffering for an innocent victim who did nothing wrong.

The good news is that juries are typically comprised of people from the community with a great deal of common sense. Most juries compromise on issues such as this and reach the best decision they can as to what award of compensation would be fair to provide some financial relief for the innocent victim who is subjected to a lifetime of pain and suffering. Obviously, none of us ever want to be in the position of having to ask a jury to give us fair compensation. This is because none of us want to be subjected to a lifetime of pain and suffering. And yet, in modern society, there are those among us who will be injured, through no fault of our own, and who will have to appear before juries asking that they be treated fairly. The great thing about the American judicial system that is as a rule American juries are fair.

In February of 2006, John Lamb was killed when a bicycle he was riding became entangled with hazardous utility wires which draped across a city sidewalk. Mr. Lamb did not see the wires that were still attached to the utility pole until it was too late. Unfortunately, he was thrown from his bicycle, landed on his head, broke his neck and was killed.

This spring, PEDS, a pedestrian safety advocacy group located in Atlanta, will be conducting the Second Annual John Lamb Hazardous Wire Hunt. Citizens are encouraged to photograph hazardous wires on or near City sidewalks and then send the photographs to PEDS, which in turn will send them to the City of Atlanta and/or to the utility companies implicated by the pictures. Obviously, the purpose of this Wire Hunt not only is to honor the memory of John Lamb, who was killed through the negligence of the City and the utility companies who failed to maintain their wires in a safe condition, but also to prevent future accidents of a similar nature. Once PEDS sends the photos to the City and to the utility companies, it is anticipated that they will clean up their act (so to speak) and hopefully, one day, make the City “wireless.”

Finch McCranie, LLP was honored to have represented the Lamb family in connection with his tragic wrongful death. We are also pleased that PEDS is performing this important community service on behalf of each and every Atlanta citizen who enjoy using sidewalks for safe ingress and egress. The City has a legal duty to maintain its sidewalks safely. Leaving hazardous wires on sidewalks for periods of days, weeks, and sometimes months clearly is not a safe practice. It is our hope that the PEDS Hazardous Wire Hunt in memory of John Lamb will serve its intended purposes and help make this City’s sidewalks safe for pedestrian use. One preventable and unnecessary death is one death too many.

Thank you PEDS for all you do.

As Georgia injury lawyers we have represented many pedestrians who have been struck and seriously injured in automobiles accidents. Just this year we represented a young mother who was crossing a roadway with her two young children when they were struck by a motorist who admitted that she never saw them prior to impact. Unfortunately one of the children died and she sustained serious injuries.

Today it was reported that a car hit an 18-year old pregnant girl and her 4-year old brother as they crossed Roswell Rd. in Atlanta. Unfortunately the child suffered serious head injuries. Allegedly they were not in a crosswalk but were in the turn lane when they were struck by the car. Georgia law makes it difficult to recover damages for your injuries if you are hit by an automobile and you are not in a crosswalk; however, a motorist still has a duty to maintain a proper lookout and see what can plainly be seen but someone exercising ordinary care. You cannot just run over pedestrians who are in the roadway if you could have and should have discovered their presence and taken evasive action. In any pedestrian case, it is crucial that a thorough investigation be done immediately to document the weather and lighting conditions existing at the time of the accident.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have over 40 years experience representing victims of automobile accidents in serious injury or wrongful death claims. If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to an automobile accident, call us to learn about your rights.

Of all the possible traffic accidents in Atlanta, cases in which vehicles collide with a bicycle or a pedestrian can have the most tragic results. When walking or riding a bike, you do not have the same structural protection against impacts that you do while driving, so you are more likely to be the injured party, and you are more likely to be hurt badly.

If you are severely injured or if a loved one was killed in a bike or pedestrian accident due to the negligence of a driver, you deserve compensation for your losses, and you may need a lawyer to help you win your case.

When you are injured, unable to work, and facing medical bills, the situation can seem very dark. You not only need an attorney who will protect your rights and demand compensation, you need a friend who can give you the information and support you need.

With convenient offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Finch McCranie, LLP is dedicated to helping the victims of bicycle and pedestrian accidents in Georgia and to providing a high level of responsiveness, communication, and personal attention. At Finch McCranie, LLP, we take care of our clients. Our bicycle and pedestrian accident lawyers will fully inform you about the details of your injury case and the legal issues involved so you can make confident, educated decisions.

If you are someone you love was severely injured in a Georgia bicycle or pedestrian accident, please call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP at 1-800-228-9159.