Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Friends: I couldn't resist bringing this article to you as an example of how, apparently, nothing is beneath State Farm to try to make a buck. How low will it go? This shows how low State Farm is willing to stoop to make a profit. Unbelievable! Take it from an Atlanta trial lawyer, don't trust State Farm.

Family asked to pay for car damage after dog run over
May 27 03:40 PM US/Eastern

State Farm Insurance has asked a Canadian family to pay for repairing a bro...

A car insurer has asked a Canadian family to pay for repairing a broken bumper after their dog was struck by the vehicle and died, local media said Thursday.
The traffic accident occurred in March while Jake, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador, was out for his daily stroll around a quiet neighborhood in Aurora, Ontario, north of Toronto.

Kim Flemming had let the dog out when she arrived home from work. Moments later, a man knocked on the door to say a car had run over Jake.

"I got to the road and he was dying," Flemming told the Toronto Star. "He died in my arms."

Two months later, the family received a bill in the mail for 1,732.80 Canadian dollars (1,648.95 US) from State Farm Insurance.

The letter said Flemming had been found responsible for damage to the vehicle. "As such, we are looking to you for reimbursement," it reportedly stated.

State Farm spokesman John Bordignon told the Star: "They could have made sure their dog wasn't free on the roadway."

A local bylaw requires pets to be on a leash when off the owner's property, but the Flemmings said Jake had become accustomed to roaming outside the family's home.

State Farm was not immediately available for further comment.

"We've lost a member of our family but we're supposed to pay for the damage to her bumper? That's just wrong," daughter Katherine Flemming said.

Congress is considering a total ban on the manufacture and sell of drop-side cribs. The fact that Congress is even discussing this indicates how truly dangerous they must be, because, as we all know, the United States Congress moves at a glacial pace (read "slow as cold molasses as we say in Kentucky) and the fact that Congress is even now addressing the issue indicates how serious the hazard of drop-side cribs must really be.

Those of us who are parents of older children most certainly raised our children using drop-side cribs. They saved us from an untold number of backaches. No doubt none of us would have used them had we only known what a terrible danger they posed to the safety of our babies, the most precious things on Earth to us. When my children were infants, I was aware of a potential danger of having too much space between the mattress and the crib railings. We were told by our physicians that an infant could scoot between the mattress and the side of the crib and become wedged there and suffocate. The test was to make sure you could get nothing more than your fingers between the mattress and the side of the crib. The current danger being investigated is similar, but occurs when a piece of hardware from the crib is missing or the drop-side is installed incorrectly, which can easily occur.

Representative Kirsten Gillibrand from New York is leading the charge in Congress. "There's a great urgency here. We have to make sure that no parent is unaware that drop-side cribs could kill their children," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in an Associated Press interview. There have already been recalls of hundreds of thousands of cribs recalled. At least 32 young children have strangled or suffocated in the past nine years due to defects and other problems of drop-side cribs. Even one death is too many. Although drop-side cribs may soon be obselete, they will still be found at yard sales, which may pose a problem for unknowing parents. Before buying any such product, I recommend you check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website to verify the product you intend to buy has not been recalled and doesn't pose a safety risk for your child.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with the Family Dollar Store, has recalled the "Auto Fire Toy Dart Gun." The manufacturer of the toy, Henry Gordy International, Inc., of Plainfield, NJ, has refused to recall the toy on its own, even though at least two children have died from swallowing parts of the darts. The toy dart guns were manufactured in China, which raises the issue of how safe are toys or other products manufactured in that country? Remember, this is the same country that manufactured children's toys that had lethal levels of lead in the paint on the toys. And the same country that sold infant's formula laced with melamine.

All very scary stuff. It is extremely difficult to advise the average consumer on what is safe and what is potentially lethal. For now, I would simply recommend continuing to check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website on a regular basis to see what is on their radar screen to help make your family more safe.

Friday, May 14, 2010
Incumbent unseated in State Bar election
It was the first time in memory that an office holder was challenged
By Janet L. Conley, Associate Editor

In an unprecedented move for a State Bar of Georgia election, Robin Frazer Clark has unseated incumbent C. Wilson DuBose for the job of secretary.

The bar, which released election results this week, reported that Clark, a personal injury lawyer who runs her own firm, garnered 3,552 votes to DuBose's 3,015. DuBose is a litigator focusing primarily on business and construction law with DuBose, Massey, Bair & Evans in Madison, Ga.

Clifton A. Brashier Jr., the bar's executive director, said this is the first challenge to an incumbent officer he can recall in the bar's history. Incumbents are not identified as such on the ballot members use to vote.

Brashier also said that Clark is only the second woman, not including those in the Younger Lawyers Division, to become a bar officer. The first was Linda A. Klein, now with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, who served as bar president in 1998.

A contested race for the open treasurer's post went to Charles L. "Buck" Ruffin of Baker Donelson in Macon, with 3,536 votes. His opponent, Nancy J. Whaley of Sandy Springs, a standing Chapter 13 trustee, garnered 3,120 votes.

A hotly contested Board of Governors seat for the Atlanta Circuit, Post 16—which had 13 contenders—went to Dawn M. Jones of King & Spalding.

Kenneth L. Shigley of Chambers, Aholt & Rickard was elected president-elect without opposition. The current president-elect, S. Lester Tate III of Akin & Tate in Cartersville, and the rest of the officers and Board of Governors members will move into their new posts at the bar's annual meeting June 18 and 19 at Amelia Island, Fla.

For full election results, visit http://www.gabar.org/news/election_results_2010_state_bar_of_georgia_election/.

In running against an incumbent, Clark not only made bar history, she also sped up the usual process by which lawyers rise to an officer's post. Typically, lawyers serve on the bar's Board of Governors for a number of years before moving to the Executive Committee for several years and then to an officer's post. Clark has served on the Board of Governors, but spent only a year on the Executive Committee prior to running for office. The secretary's post is viewed as being a feeder position for bar presidency.

As DuBose put it, "All these officer positions are simply training positions for people who have a desire to become state bar president. Very few people go out for these positions simply to have these positions be the final destination."

DuBose said he was disappointed at losing the secretary's post, and that he was unsure why he lost.

"Georgia Trial Lawyers Association members probably came out in big numbers," he said. "They always do a good job getting out the vote."

Clark is a past president of GTLA. Her husband, Bill Clark, is political director for the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and lobbies for the group.

Robin Clark said she believes she won because she traveled the state, campaigning for the post. "I shook literally thousands of lawyers' hands, and people appreciate that, even in a state bar race."

Clark said she took the unusual move of challenging an incumbent because "I felt like we needed to improve relations with the Georgia Legislature immediately. We couldn't wait around for that and I feel like I can deliver that for the state bar. … I have great relationships with a lot of legislators. I have their respect and the state bar needs that."

Clark said she wasn't sure what caused the bar's less-than-ideal relationship with the Legislature.

"The two things that are typically cited by legislators are the … Public Defender Standards Council and the way some folks have gone about trying to promote that or push that, and then the second thing that's typically cited … is the advisory opinion… that basically said if there's a conflict in a public defender's office—which happens all the time—then two public defenders from the same circuit cannot represent the co-defendants in the same case."

That opinion has generated controversy because of concerns over the cost of hiring outside conflict defenders. (An amendment to the Georgia code addressing this problem passed both the House and Senate and is awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue's signature; see At Issue, page 4, for an opinion piece on this subject.)

DuBose chaired the Public Defender Standards Council from 2007 until

2009, and had previously served as its

vice chairman and as a member of the Supreme Court Commission on Indigent Defense.

"There are many in the bar who believe that its work on indigent defense—which has actually been the work of a few dedicated people like Wilson DuBose—has hurt its relationship with the Legislature," Stephen B. Bright, president and senior counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights, said in an e-mail message. "Wilson ... learned a great deal about indigent defense and realized that Georgia was falling far short of its constitutional obligation to provide counsel to poor people accused of crimes. ... Now he has been rewarded for his selfless work for a fairer, better criminal justice system by being voted out of office so that the bar can distance itself from indigent defense. This is immensely disappointing."

Clark said she did not see her win as a signal that bar members want the bar to change its approach to indigent defense. "Many members voted for me simply because I got out there and hustled," she said, adding that others chose her because she is a woman, and many know about her relationship with state legislators, honed through her work with GTLA.

The bar needs a good relationship with the Legislature in part to encourage more lawyers to become legislators—there are only 37 now, she said. Incentives such as provisions to ensure that lawyer-legislators can't be called to trial if they're serving at committee meetings, which occur year-round, would be helpful, she said.

Associate Editor Janet L. Conley can be reached at jconley@alm.com

I am honored and humbled to have won the election and to be the next Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia. Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement. I couldn't have done it without you. I am looking forward to serving you and to moving the State Bar forward.

Thanks for your votes, thanks for your asking your colleagues for their votes, thanks for your continued encouragement and and thanks for your moral support throughout what was a time and energy intensive statewide campaign. As Secretary I will work to protect the interests of the Everyday Georgian, keep the judiciary independent and preserve the Georgia Civil Justice System. I look forward to serving you this upcoming Bar year and please do not hestitate to call me or email me to share any ideas, suggestions or concerns you have about the Bar.

Thanks again. And take it from a trial lawyer: A rising tide lifts all boats!