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Robin Frazer Clark Elected to Executive Committee of State Bar of Georgia

Atlanta – Robin Frazer Clark of Atlanta was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the 40,000-member State Bar of Georgia on June 20 during the organization’s annual meeting at Amelia Island, Fla.
Clark is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Emory University School of Law. She is represents the Atlanta Judicial Circuit on the State Bar’s Board of Governors and is also past president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
The Board of Governors of the State Bar elects six of its members to serve on the Executive Committee with the organization’s officers. The Executive Committee meets monthly and exercises the power of the Board of Governors when the board is not in session.
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The State Bar of Georgia, with offices in Atlanta, Savannah and Tifton, was established in 1964 by Georgia’s Supreme Court as the successor to the voluntary Georgia Bar Association, founded in 1884. All lawyers licensed to practice in Georgia belong to the State Bar. Its more than 40,000 members work together to strengthen the constitutional promise of justice for all, promote principles of duty and public service among Georgia’s lawyers, and administer a strict code of legal ethics.

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One casualty (among many) of the bankruptcy reorganization of General Motors is personal injury claims against GM based on faulty design or manufacture of their vehicles. The Obama Administration was quick to throw injured plaintiffs under the bus by agreeing that all such pending personal injury claims would simply cease to exist as part of the bankruptcy. Interestingly, several Attorneys General of nine states have now objected to the GM bankruptcy on behalf of their respective citizens because it is a bad deal for their constituents who have been harmed by GM vehicles. Where is the Georgia Attorney General? Who is protecting the rights of Georgia citizens who have been harmed by GM vehicles? It seems like, as with so many things, Georgia is trailing behind other states in protecting its citizens, and that is not right.

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The news of another train collision was frightening and unwelcome. This time in Washington, D.C., on the Metro commuter trains.One train rear-ended another on the same track which, obviously, is not supposed to happen and you can bet doesn't happen absent someone's negligence or carelessness. The crash resulted in the loss of nine lives and injuries to 80 other passengers.
How do you miss a full size commuter train on the track ahead of you?

Could the answer be the train operator was texting while driving? It's too early to tell, but if it turns out it's because the at-fault train operator was texting while driving, I won't be shocked and I'll say you heard it here first. When I first heard of this horrible tragedy, I immediately thought of the MARTA train operator here in Atlanta who was caught texting while he was supposed to have been operating the train. But a diligent MARTA passenger caught him red-handed.

In the D. C. crash, investigators already expect "operator error" because there is simply no explanation for why the operator didn't throw on the train's emergency brake to try to stop it from plowing into the train ahead of it, yet the emergency brake appears not to have been used. I certainly hope the investigators obtain that operator's cell phone records immediately, which would indisputably show whether the operator was either on the cell phone or texting at the time of the crash. This is the procedure I follow in nearly all of my motor vehicle accident cases here in Atlanta, Georgia. My money's on texting. It has become a rampant problem, especially for operators of common carriers, e.g., buses or trains. Let's watch the reports carefully to see if there arises any evidence of texting while operating the train.

Which begs the question: What is MARTA's policy on train operators using their cell phones while supposedly operating a train? Do they even have one? Why haven't MARTA officials reassured the Atlanta, Georgia riding public that their trains are safe? The silence is deafening.

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I am extremely happy to announce I was elected to the Georgia State Bar Executive Committee on Saturday, June 19 during the Annual Meeting of the State Bar at Amelia Island Plantation, Florida. The State Bar of Georgia is comprised of approximately 40,000 lawyers. The Board of Governors, on which I have served since 2002, consists of 150 of those lawyers who have been elected by their respective constituents to represent them on bar matters. The Executive Committee of the Georgia State Bar is comprised of 14 State Bar members also elected by the lawyers of the State of Georgia. So it is an absolute honor to have been chosen by my peers and colleagues to represent them on the Georgia State Bar Executive Committee. I look forward to serving and to continung to protect the rights of Georgia citizens by keeping our precious Georgia Civil Justice System's promise of Justice For All.

Below is a short press release issued by the President of Georgia Trial Lawyers Association about my election to the Executive Committee:

Friends:

Former GTLA president Robin Clark was elected to the State Bar Executive Committee on Saturday. Congratulations to Robin. Already on the Executive Committee are GTLA members Lester Tate, serving as President Elect and Ken Shigley, serving as Treasurer. All three individuals are great voices at the State Bar for issues of concern to GTLA members.

We all owe them a great thanks for their willingness to serve on the State Bar Executive Committee and for their great support of issues important to GTLA.

GTLA remains ever vigilant that broad coalitions are needed to protect access to a proper Civil Justice System for the citizens of this State.

Chris Clark, President
Georgia Trial Lawyers Association

O'Neal, Brown & Clark, P.C.
1001 American Federal Building
544 Mulberry Street
Macon, Georgia 31201-2774
Phone: 478-742-8981
Fax: 478-743-5035
E-mail: clark@obclawfirm.com
website: www.obclawfirm.com

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Have you seen this video? http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?playerId=newsmaker&maven_playlistId=1f23dc40ee67898d157716d17d3efded65dbd23b&maven_referrer=mrss&maven_referralPlaylistId=1f23dc40ee67898d157716d17d3efded65dbd23b&maven_referralObject=1138688802 It is of a MARTA train operator texting on his cell phone while the train is running down the rail. The operator is texting on his cell phone while he is supposed to be driving a train carrying hundreds of Georgians just trying to get to their jobs safely. Unbelievable!

Congratulations goes to Everyday Georgia Citizen Matthew Jones, who uses the MARTA subway train system to get to work and relies on the train operators to get him to work, and then back home, safely every day. Matthew spotted the train operator texting while the train was in operation on the tracks and took the smoking gun photo. Amazingly, the GM of MARTA says maybe the only thing that will happen to this train operator is a suspension. A slap on the hand! What will it take to insist on passenger safety? A train wreck while a MARTA operator is texting? Will that do the trick? We already know how deadly it can be for a train operator to be texting while he is operating a train, as evidenced by deadly train wrecks in Boston and in California (which I previously blogged about). Don't we want to spare Georgia citizens that horror?

We should all be vigilant like Matthew Jones. When we see a MARTA bus driver or MARTA train operator operating his bus or his train in unsafe manner, we must report that to MARTA. MARTA buses are identified by a bus number on the outside. The next time you see a MARTA bus operator run a red light, or other similar dangerous behavior, call MARTA with that bus number and report what you saw. The same should be done if you observe a MARTA train operator texting while driving, or asleep at the switch. Maybe MARTA won't do anything to the employee after just one complaint, but I would hope after more than one complaint the employee would get more than a mere slap on the hand. The more we do this, the safer our public transporatation will, hopefully, become. Be vigilant, Georgians!

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