Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Lovejoy, Georgia Restaurant Denies Any Responsibility for Death Caused by Food

July 9, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Once again, in typical corporate fashion, the Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Lovejoy, Georgia, has denied any responsibility for its role in serving a customer a meal that, literally, killed him. The customer, who was allergic to crab meat, ordered Chicken Fresco, but, instead, was served Chicken Oscar, which has crab meat on it. Within thirty minutes of eating his meal, this poor customer died.

Now the Ruby Tuesday restaurant denies any culpability and says they served the customer what he ordered. Now let’s stop for a moment and think about that. An adult who knows he is deadly allergic to crab meat orders a dish with crab meat on it. How likely is that to have happened? No chance! It is idiotic for the Ruby Tuesday corporation even to insinuate it, much less blame their own customer who KNEW he was allergic to crab meat.

What is wrong with corporate America today in refusing to accept responsibility for its wrongdoing? It is absurd to blame their own customer, and yet here they are doing that to avoid admitting their own tragic conduct. This is the prevailing sentiment in corporate America today. Even a death in their own restaurant after eating their own food doesn’t make them admit fault! I certainly hope this family is able to get some justice for this death with Ruby Tuesday. It, apparently, is going to take the Georgia Civil Justice System to make Ruby Tuesday take ownership of killing its customer. How absurd!

No Doubt Georgia DOT Signs Are Dangerous and Confusing

July 8, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Do you remember the tragic Bluffton, Ohio baseball team bus crash that occurred here in Atlanta on I-75 last year? The Georgia DOT, in typical hard-headed fashion, denied any responsibility for their confusing road signs, which led the professional bus driver to continue to drive on what he believed to be the diamond lane for buses, when, in reality, it was an exit ramp to the LEFT of I-75. By the time the bus driver realized it, he was tumbling off the overpass. There were numerous needless deaths and injuries.

Well, the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) has finally ruled it was the faulty, confusing DOT signs that caused the horrible tragedy. I am sure this comes as a surprise to no one except the Georgia DOT. Immediately after the bus wreck, the Georgia DOT was out on I-75 changing the signs, replacing the old ones and putting more signs up, even while, all the time, the DOT denied any responsibility. Georgia citizens really deserve better accountability from the DOT. Everyone in the State of Georgia (and everyone in the State of Ohio for that matter) knows this wreck was the DOT’s fault, from confusing road signs to having an exit ramp from the left, which is counterintuitive, in the first place. The Georgia DOT has been in disarray lately with Board resignations and even a settlement for sexual harassment. It is high time the DOT gets its act together, before more innocent people die on Georgia roads.

Georgia Supreme Court Hailed as Most Productive

June 17, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

As a plaintiff’s personal injury trial lawyer who is genuinely concerned about maintaining the independence of the judiciary, I am proud to report the Supreme Court of Georgia is the most productive high court in the country, according to a recent study by The University of Chicago Law School. Among the 50 states’ highest courts, the Georgia Supreme Court issues 58 opinions per justice a year – more than any other state. The median is 23 opinions per judge in Kansas, and the low is 12 written opinions per judge in Oregon.

Other studies have sought to rank the nation’s high courts. But this one, entitled, “Which States Have the Best (and Worst) High Courts?” measured three areas of quality – productivity, influence and independence.

The study’s authors concluded that while no state is a clear winner in all categories, California probably has the “best high court.” But Georgia is ranked among the top five.

Gwinnett County, Georgia Jury Delivers Long-Awaited Justice in Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Trial

May 29, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

A Gwinnett County, Georgia jury has awarded $5 million in damages to the family of a new mother who drowned in a bathtub at Gwinnett Medical Center. An expectant mother, hospitalized with preeclampsia, drowned in a hospital shower after being told she was OK to shower without anyone there to check on her. This was a retrial of the case. The first trial ended in a hung jury. During this second trial, however, the jury, apparently, found that the Gwinnett Hospital nurses violated hospital policies and procedures regarding assessing a patient’s condition, determining fall risk, showering unassisted, etc.

During the second trial it was discovered that the hospital had been hiding several relevant policies and procedures that had never been produced in the first trial, but should have been under Georgia discovery rules. In addition, there were surveillance cameras that would have established when or if the nurse went into the room and it was discovered that the tapes had been altered. There was a missing thirty minute section of the tape where two cameras that corresponded to the crucial time period suddenly went dark. Fortunately, this attempted subversion of the Civil Justice System did not prevail and the jury delivered a verdict that spoke the truth about the value of a 34 year old mother who, obviously, shouldn’t have died while in the hands of the very professionals who had vowed to take care of her. My thoughts are with her family today so that they may take some relief that the jury system worked for them.

New Georgia Uninsured Motorist Law Signed by Governor Benefits All Georgia Citizens

May 15, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Georgia Trial Lawyers Association

Protecting the Constitutional Promise of Justice for All by

Guaranteeing the Right to Trial by Jury,

Robin Frazer Clark Obtains $2.5 Million Judgment in Medical Malpractice Case

April 13, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

On April 9, 2008 I tried a bench trial and secured a $2.5 million verdict in DeKalb County, Georgia State Court on behalf of my clients for the loss of their unborn child due to medical malpractice. The trial was at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Georgia. This was a tragedy to my clients that, as with all medical malpractice cases, never should have happened. The case involved a claim for the wrongful death of a 14-16 week old fetus.

The medical malpractice action arose when a doctor failed to see the fetus on

sonograms. The obstetrician told my client he could not see a fetus in her womb on ultrasound and recommended she undergo a procedure to remove any “byproducts of conception.” He then conducted a defective D & C and prescribed a medicine, Methotrexate, (which is essentially chemotherapy)

Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Athens-Clarke County Jury Verdict of $13 Million Against Ford Motor Company

April 1, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

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The Georgia Supreme Court has issued an opinion affirming an Athens-Clarke County jury’s verdict of $13 Million to the widower of a woman who burned to death in a rear end collision on Highway 129. This is an important decision because it was based on the fact that Ford Motor Company refused to turn over relevant crash data in the case that it was required by law to provide to plaintiffs. The Georgia Supreme Court, in essence, has said in Georgia, we are going to hold big corporations, including car manufacturers, to the letter of the law. Below is an article from the Athens paper, the Athens Banner-Herald, with more details.

Family closer to award in fiery crash

Ford loses appeal in gas-tank explosion, death

Dangerous Times for Georgia Citizens’ Rights at the Georgia Legislature

March 31, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

Today is Day 37 (out of 40) of the Georgia Legislature and it can be a dangerous time for Georgia citizens’ rights during these last four days. A prime example is what occurred last Friday when an amendment was attached to a bill at the last moment that would adversely affect Georgia citizens’ rights who wish to bring a products liability case against certain manufacturers. This products liability amendment was attached to, of all things, a bill that seeks to change the words “seat belt” to “life belt” in the Georgia Code. Fortunately, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association was ready to defend Georgia citizens’ rights and not let the Civil Justice Dismantlers get away with it. For an inside look at this, below is the “Political Insider’s” take from The Atlanta Journal and Constitution this morning.

Buckle up your life belts. We’re in for a bumpy finish

Sunday, March 30, 2008, 04:00 PM

Seat Belts Save Lives

March 27, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution’s Editorial Board came out on Monday in favor of legislation currently pending in the Georgia General Assembly that would toughen penalties for teenagers who are caught not wearing their seatbelts while they are driving or riding in a car. The legislation, HB 924, is currently “dead” because it was not passed by one house prior to “cross-over” day, the deadline for legislation to pass at least one house to be considered by the other house. The sponsor of the legislation, Representative Melvin Everson (R-Snellville), will be looking at other bills still alive to which he could attach his seatbelt legislation.

This legislation is a good idea. As both a personal injury trial lawyer in Atlanta and a mother of a teenager, any law that would stiffen penalities for teenagers who don’t wear their seatbelts will save lives. Too often I have sat here in my office with parents who have either lost a child or had one seriously injured because they weren’t wearing their seatbelts at the time of a car wreck. Parents often tell me they insist on their children wearing seatbelts while riding with them, but it is a different story when those same teenagers are in a car with their friends. Their parents’ rules of wearing seatbelts are quick to fly out the window.

And it has been proven in recent medical studies that teenagers simply don’t have the brain development necessary to be able to make good judgment calls, such as always wearing seat belts. These new studies show teenagers are more likely to demonstrate impulsive behavior rather than sound judgments because the frontal lobes of their brains, that area where high thinking or executive functioning takes place, is not fully functional during teenage years. Teens simply don’t have the appropriate level of brain functioning to make good judgmental decisions such as always wearing their seatbelts.

Car Accident Victims Really Are In Pain

March 19, 2008 | Robin Frazer Clark

wrecked%20car.jpg Finally, scientific proof that car accident victims aren’t crazy, they really are in pain. If only their doctors would listen to them and take them seriously when they say, even a full year after the car wreck, they are still in pain. A recent study published on Monday in the medical journal Archives of Surgery showed a year after the injury, 63 percent of car wreck victims reported that they still experienced pain related to the injury, with most having pain in more than one region of the body. On average, the patients assessed their pain at 5.5 on a 10-point scale — a level at which they would be expected to have moderate to severe interference with daily activities. The overall conclusion of the study: physicians need to offer better treatment for their patients.

As a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney here in Atlanta, Georgia, whose practice consists largely of helping people who have been severely injured in car wrecks or trucking wrecks, I have heard this from my clients consistently over the last twenty years. Yet, they often can’t seem to get the right treatment from their doctors, or even appropriate referrals to other physicians who might be able to help with alternative treatments. I have always suspected the physicians, strapped for time due to health insurers’ controlling their practices, just aren’t listening to their patients’ complaints. This study seems to confirm exactly what I have thought, and validates the complaints of many of my clients. Doctors simply need to do a better job listening to their patients.

The physician who led the study admitted as much. “I was surprised that the pain was as common and as severe as they reported it to be,” said Dr. Frederick Rivara of the University of Washington in Seattle, who led the study. “The implications are that we need to do a much better job of identifying pain in these patients, treating it adequately and treating it early,” Rivara added in a telephone interview.