Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

As a plaintiff's personal injury trial lawyer in Atlanta who frequents the Fulton County Courthouse, the story below scares me. Bullets were shot through one window of the 8th floor of the Fulton County Courthouse. This is the floor that houses the Fulton County Sheriff's Department and has the walkover to the old Fulton County Superior Court, the same walkover that Brian Nichols used for his escape five years ago. Scary stuff!

Window apparently shot out at Fulton courthouse
ShareThisPrint E-mail By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta police Friday were investigating an incident in which someone apparently shot out a window at the Fulton County Courthouse downtown.

More Atlanta/Fulton news »
Investors scoop up former Omni homes
Suspected stabber arrested
Ariport's cargo goal will take some heavy lifting
Felon gets life for shooting death
Atlanta/South Fulton
North Fulton
Fulton sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said that early Friday morning, deputies discovered that an eighth-floor window on the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive side of the building had been shattered.

"Further investigation revealed that possibly an automatic weapon was used to fire a round at the window and a wall to an office," Flanagan said.

"While the exact time of the incident is under investigation, we are certain this happened outside the regular business hours for the facility," she said.

No one was injured.

It is with great pride and joy that I announce that the Georgia Supreme Court today held caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases unconstitutional as a violation of a citizen's 7th Amendment right to a jury trial. The ruling was in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, published today. The Georgia Supreme Court held unequivocally that nothing trumps a person's 7th Amendment right to a jury trial, including the Legislature's attempt to cap damages.

This is a great victory for Everyday Georgians who have been or may become the victim of medical malpractice or medical carelessness. Contrary to the Medical Association of Georgia's spin on this, the caps law did NOT decrease doctors' medical malpractice premiums. In the three years between 2002-2005, malpractice premiums increased 150%. In the five years since the caps law was enacted, premiums have gone down only 7%, hardly the panacea physicians were looking for and hardly the cure-all that MAG claims it was.

So Everyday Georgians can rest easy tonight knowing the Georgia Supreme Court would not stand idly by and allow their rights to be trampeled. Many thanks to the Nestlehutts, who showed remarkable courage through this ordeal, and to their attorneys, Adam Malone and Mike Terry.

I am both surprised and delighted to report that the Georgia Senate has passed a bill making it illegal to text while driving! This bill would impose a $150.00 fine for violation of the law. The bill now goes to the Georgia House for consideration and, hopefully, passage. The $150.00 fine is, obviously, too low, but at least it's a start.
I believe there is no question that public awareness about the hazards associated with texting while driving is now heightened. That is a good thing. Every media outlet seems to be emphasizing it, from Oprah to 11 Alive. Now is the time for the Georgia House to act to make it illegal. This will, no doubt, save lives. What better public policy is there than to save the lives of Georgia citizens?

Many of you know I am currently in a contested race for Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia. Thus far, I have attended 24 events to campaign for the race. It has been my pleasure touring the State of Georgia and meeting lawyers from the four corners of the state who have every variety of law practice imaginable. Today, I took out a day from campaigning and attended the State of the Judiciary Address delivered today by the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, Carol Hunstein, who did an outstanding job. The Chief delivered the address before a Joint Session of the Georgia Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives. The remaining members of the Georgia Supreme Court were present as was the entire Georgia Court of Appeals. Very impressive pomp and circumstance, with the utmost of formalities. But most impressive was Chief Justice Hunstein's poise and substance of her speech. We all should be proud that Carol Hunstein is our Chief Justice.

If I were a Toyota owner (I am NOT), I would still be a little apprehensive about whether Toyota really has fixed the problem with millions of their cars. The latest scare, yesterday in California, involved a runaway PRIUS, with the driver having no brakes and the accelerator stuck at speeds of up to 94 m.p.h. The 911 call is harrowing.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The PRIUS owner had taken his car to a Toyota Dealership for repairs and was incorrectly told his car was not on the recall list...but, you guessed it, it was. The investigating police officer reported that the floor mats were all secure and not involved in the runaway acceleration, which brings to mind whether Toyota has been telling the truth about this problem from the get go. I
DOUBT it.

Now Federal Regulators in the Department of Transportation are investigating a similar crash in New York that occurred on Monday. The driver of the car told police that the car accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall.

This brings into question whether what Toyota is doing to "fix" their rather severe problem is really the solution, or whether Toyota is simply trying to pass it off as fixing the problem. I am skeptical, but as a plaintiff's personal injury attorney in Georgia, I am skeptical about alot of things. Toyota Owners: BE CAREFUL!!

The Supreme Court of Georgia will soon rule on this issue, i.e., whether the Georgia Legislature's imposition of an arbitrary cap of $350,000.00 on damages in medical malpractice cases violates the 7th Amendment Right to a Jury Trial under the United States and Georgia Constitutions. The case pending before the Georgia Supreme Court right now on this issue is Nestlehutt v. Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C., d/b/a Oculus. I have filed an Amicus Brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in support of Mrs. Nestlehutt and in support of the position that such arbitrary caps on damages do, indeed, violate your 7th Amendment right to a jury trial. The Nestlehutt case involved cosmetic surgery that disfigured Mrs. Nestlehutt permanently. A Fulton County, Georgia jury, who heard all the facts and considered all the evidence in the case, returned a verdict for Mrs. Nestlehutt and her husband in the amount of $1.2 Million. Under the caps law, this would have been written down to $350,000.00; however, the trial judge found the caps law to be unconstitutional. And so, Oculus appealed that outcome to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Other media have referred to this case simply as a "botched facelift" case. This does not, however, adequately portray the injury Mrs. Nestlehutt sustained and the horrible pain and suffering she has endured since that careless surgery. Below is a video that shows the after-surgery photographs of Mrs. Nestlehutt so that NO GEORGIAN thinks this is simply a "botched facelift" where the patient simply doesn't think she looks as good afterward as she should. It was a horriffic injury and after watching the video below, I think you will agree that the original jury's award of $1.2 Million was proper. Thanks to her attorney, Adam Malone, for sharing this powerful video with me. I want all Georgians to watch it. Thanks to Mrs. Nestlehutt in having the courage to share it and the courage to fight this battle.

WE THE PEOPLE from Georgia Justice on Vimeo.

I was right. I wrote in my February 18, 2010 blog entry that I suspected a defect in the Chrysler Sebring caused the car to unexpectedly roll over a child in Fayette County, Georgia. It was reported the key was out of the ignition and the car was in park at the time it ran over the child. Now, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office confirms my suspicion that it was, indeed, a manufacturing defect in the car that caused the tragic and utterly unnecessary death of this child. The vehicle had a defective ignition park interlock that caused it to slip out of park, roll down a driveway and strike the victim, according to Capt. Brian Eubanks of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.

My heart goes out to this family. One more death at the hand of a car manufacturer is one too many.