Personal Injury Category Archives - Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog Published by Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer

SNAFU: Situation Normal All Flocked Up

August 24, 2026 | Robin Frazer Clark

It seems like every day I hear another FLOCK camera story in the news, and usually it’s not good. Whether cities should even use FLOCK cameras is now largely up for debate. Those in favor cite instances where FLOCK cameras have located criminal suspects or missing or kidnapped children. Those against often cite their Constitutional right of privacy, especially where police do not have a warrant to surveil your whereabouts without your permission or knowledge.

I recently represented a young woman who was wrongfully arrested solely based on the use of a FLOCK camera in the City of Powder Springs in Cobb County. I won’t characterize it as the “improper” use of the FLOCK camera, but it was, at a minimum, the unknowledgeable, untrained use of a FLOCK camera that led to her wrongful arrest. In that case, the day before my client’s wrongful arrest, a man and his girlfriend, driving a black Dodge Charger, committed an armed robbery of a citizen in a large parking lot of a shopping center. This shopping center had several stores in it, including a Wal-Mart and a Pizza Hut. My client had just moved to Powder Springs that very day. She happened to drive a blue Dodge Charger. She went to the Wal-mart that day to pick up cleaning supplies for the home she had just moved into. On the day after the armed robbery, my client and her daughter drove to this shopping center from their home just around the corner to pick up a pizza for dinner. It was then that chaos began, due to the misuse of a FLOCK camera.

The City of Powder Springs illegally stopped my client, whose young daughter was in the back seat of their car, forced my client out of her car and to the ground, hand-cuffed her, all the time with their guns drawn and aimed at her while yelling at them “Get out of the car!! Get out of the car!! Get down on the ground!!”” This occurred without a warrant. My client was taken in the back seat of a police car to the police station, wrongfully detained, illegally searched, and was wrongfully accused of robbing someone. The police department then towed her car, the blue Charger.

Minor Vehicle Damage Doesn’t Always Mean Minor Injury

August 14, 2026 | Robin Frazer Clark

In this blog: Limited vehicle damage does not determine the severity of a crash injury. Neck, back, brain, and nerve symptoms may emerge later, making medical findings and daily limitations far more informative than photographs of a vehicle.

After a crash, people may look at a dented bumper or a scratched door and assume everyone inside walked away unharmed. Insurance companies may make the same argument. They may point to vehicle photos and suggest that a person could not have suffered a serious injury from a collision that left limited visible damage. That assumption can leave an injured person feeling frustrated and doubted. You may be dealing with headaches, numbness, neck pain, trouble sleeping, or difficulty getting through a normal workday, while an adjuster studies a photograph or video and acts as though your symptoms don’t add up. The condition of the vehicle tells only part of what happened. Your medical symptoms and the changes in your daily life provide a far fuller picture.

Vehicle Photos Cannot Show What Happened Inside Your Body

More Things Never To Do Learned From 38 Years of Practicing Personal Injury Law

March 24, 2026 | Robin Frazer Clark

Not too long ago, I shared some things I would never do, all of which I learned from representing Plaintiffs in serious personal injury cases. When I finally put those together I realized they all had to do with elevators. This list of “never do” things are the non-elevator related things I have come to learn never to do.

Never keep and drive a vehicle that is over 10 years old. This is because the last possible claim for a manufacturing defect would have to be brought within the Georgia Statute of Repose, which is 10 years. Drive an older car and something goes wrong that is the manufacturer’s fault, you are out of luck.
Never jump on a trampoline. The percentage of cervical spinal cord injuries, that often result in quadriplegia, are due to a person breaking his/her neck (fracturing the neck leading to irreparable damage to the spinal cord) while falling off the trampoline. Just stay away.

Why Are Delayed Injuries Often Discredited?

February 9, 2026 | Robin Frazer Clark

In this blog:

Delayed injuries after a crash or fall often trigger suspicion from insurance companies, especially in Georgia. Soft tissue damage, brain trauma, and emotional distress can bloom days or weeks after impact, yet insurers treat any gap in treatment like a weapon. Victims protect themselves by seeking prompt medical care, returning for follow-up visits when symptoms evolve, and building a detailed record: medical notes, imaging results, a symptom diary, photos, witness statements, and proof of work and lifestyle changes. Under Georgia law, many personal injury claims carry a two-year deadline from the date of injury, with some claims against government entities on even shorter clocks, so quick action is essential.

You walk away from a wreck in Atlanta, shaken but upright. You tell the officer you feel “okay.” A few days later, your neck locks up, headaches pound, and sleep disappears.

Five Things I Would Never Do: Elevators (Lessons Observed By a Plaintiff’s Trial Lawyer)

January 19, 2026 | Robin Frazer Clark

Have you seen the newest trend on Instagram and Tik Tok? It’s “5 Things I Would Never Do.” It’s doctors telling us five things they would never do based on what they have learned practicing medicine and what they have seen in the patients they have treated. Sometimes it’s teachers sharing with us five things they would never do as a high school teacher, or five things a travel advisor would never do. It’s pretty interesting. And it’s fun and informative. It got me to thinking about things I (and my family members) would never do based on what I have learned over the last 38 years as a trial lawyer and what I have seen happen to my clients. In fact, my family still talks about certain things they will never do because of “Mom’s cases.” (Add a roll of the eye here). Here is a list to start, and it’s just about elevators:

Never step out of an elevator without first looking down at the threshold to make sure it is level with the floor. (Elevators mis-level a lot and one that is not level with the floor can trip you and cause horrible injuries.);
If you have a private elevator in your home or home office, never get on it without your cell phone. A private elevator often malfunctions. It can get stuck in between floors or the door can get stuck on and not open. Don’t rely on any installed telephone in the elevator. You may not have service. Always take your cell phone in the elevator with you to call 911 in an emergency.

Jerrod Heath’s Acceptance Speech for the 2025 GTLA Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award

August 26, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

This is my client, Jerrod Heath, who received the GTLA 2025 Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award. Out of the many deserving people who courageously pursue Justice on behalf of their loved ones here in Georgia, it was an honor of a lifetime for Jerrod (rightfully) to receive this award. Here is a little bit more about this award:

GTLA COURAGEOUS PURSUIT OF JUSTICE AWARD (aka Nestlehutt Award)

GTLA presents this award to the client of a GTLA member during the Annual Convention each year. Our goal is to recognize a client whose pursuit of justice helped the greater good. It’s not about the size of the verdict, or even a victory. It’s about courage the client showed against great odds and powerful opponents.

Robin Frazer Clark’s Client Jerrod Heath Wins the GTLA 2025 Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award

August 22, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

I was so proud to nominate my client, Jerrod Heath, for the GTLA 2025 Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award and so overjoyed when it was announced he had won! Out of the many deserving people who courageously pursue Justice on behalf of their loved ones here in Georgia, it was an honor of a lifetime for Jerrod (rightfully) to receive this award. Here is a little bit more about this award:

GTLA COURAGEOUS PURSUIT OF JUSTICE AWARD (aka Nestlehutt Award)

GTLA presents this award to the client of a GTLA member during the Annual Convention each year. Our goal is to recognize a client whose pursuit of justice helped the greater good. It’s not about the size of the verdict, or even a victory. It’s about courage the client showed against great odds and powerful opponents.

What I’m Really Proud Of

August 6, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

I had the distinct honor of being inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers a couple of weeks ago at the Mid-Year Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was spectacular! There is no question that this is one of the biggest honors of my 38 year career (so far) of practicing law. But when I was introduced, only 3 minutes was permitted and, unfortunately, the things I am most proud of never got mentioned. So I wanted to share with you the things I am most proud of:

1. I obtained a Presidential Pardon from President Barack Obama for a client who had served in the U.S. Army and was tried and convicted of being gay in the military, when it was illegal to serve in the military if you were gay. He served 2 1/2 years in Ft. Leavenworth Military Prison. The conviction prevented my client from being able to obtain a mortgage, get a car loan, obtain employment, etc. I worked pro bono for 6 years for him and finally received a full pardon on January 17, 2020, just three days before President Obama officially left office.

2. I opposed a ballot initiative to amend the Georgia Constitution to include: “This state shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman. Marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state.” I represented St. Mark United Methodist Church, a predominantly gay congregation, in the litigation against the Governor of Georgia, O’Kelley v. Perdue, 2004CV93494, 2006 WL 1350171, at *1 (Ga. Super. May 16, 2006), rev’d, 280 Ga. 732, 632 S.E.2d 110 (2006). The St. Mark Congregation adamantly opposed this discriminatory language. Our efforts were ultimately vindicated with Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

Robin Frazer Clark Inducted as Fellow of International Academy of Trial Lawyers

August 1, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

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Robin Frazer Clark Inducted as Fellow of International Academy of Trial Lawyers

Robin Frazer Clark was inducted as a Fellow into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers at the organization’s 2025 Mid-Year Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 23-27.

When Will the Senseless Deaths of Innocent People Due to Police Chases Stop?

April 15, 2025 | Robin Frazer Clark

When will the senseless deaths of innocent Georgians due to police chases stop? I found myself asking this question once again this morning when I heard the news of exactly that, i.e., another innocent Georgian killed last night due to a police chase of another driver. This time is was a completely innocent 19 year old young man out at 7:51 p.m., not late by anyone’s standards. It is just unbelievable.

The tragedy last night occurred at the intersection of Moreland Avenue and Euclid Avenue in Little Five Points, a neighborhood that is densely populated with bars, stores and apartments, that has a high amount of pedestrians walking on the sidewalks and that has very narrow streets that are usually bumper-to-bumper. I live very near this intersection and am very familiar with it. The last thing I could possibly imagine is for a police officer to choose to engage in a high-speed chase into this neighborhood. It was totally reckless. And the chase apparently began on I-20 and continued until the collision at this intersection, which is about 3 miles from I-20. This officer drove 3 miles into this heavily congested city neighborhood at high speeds chasing another vehicle for “speeding and erratic lane changes” and this decision by the police officer resulted in the death of a completely innocent teenager. Help it make sense!

The driver of the vehicle being chased by police is now facing several charges, including murder, first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, possession of a schedule 1 narcotic, felony fleeing among other things. But what charges is the police officer facing? The person who made that horrible, deadly decision to chase her at high speeds through a densely populated City of Atlanta neighborhood ? Any?