Georgia Personal Injury Law Blog

Abuse of the elderly in nursing homes is dishearteningly common. While statistics can be challenging to produce due to a lack of reporting, the National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that 10-15% of older Americans are subject to abuse at some time. The good news is that multiple agencies investigate such abuse when it is reported, and recourse is available to the abused. Suppose you are being abused or suspect that a loved one is being abused while in the care of a Georgia Nursing home, you need to take action. This article will discuss the types and signs of elderly abuse that occur most frequently in nursing homes and the steps to take if you or someone you love is suffering from elder abuse in a Georgia nursing home. Do not hesitate to speak with the nursing home abuse lawyers at Dozier Law. Our initial consultation is free. Types…

Car accidents involving rideshare vehicles, such as Lyft and Uber, are on the rise in Georgia. Uber opened in Atlanta in 2012. Lyft arrived two years later, in 2014. We often hear about the many benefits of the rideshare industry. They provide efficient and affordable transportation. While these rideshare services are generally safe, they have increased the number of accidents, including fatalities, on Georgia roadways. Georgia accidents involving the two primary rideshare services, Uber and Lyft, raise unique legal questions. These questions generally concern who is financially responsible when accidents do occur. With the possibility of multiple parties being at fault and overlapping insurance companies, the answer to these questions depends on the unique circumstances of each accident. This article will review the current legal landscape and answer many of your questions concerning a Georgia Uber or Lyft accident. If you have any additional questions, contact Dozier Law for a…

If you are involved in a Georgia car accident claim, this article will help you understand what to expect. There are three phases to your claim, evidence gathering, negotiation, and a potential lawsuit. The process can take some time. Although everyone works efficiently to resolve your claim as soon as possible, it is necessary to be thorough at each phase of the process to ensure that your interests are fully protected, and your monetary compensation maximized. Georgia has seen a disturbing increase in car accident fatalities in recent years. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) reports 1,588 fatal car crashes on Georgia roads in 2020. This represents the single deadliest year since 2007. There were 331,797 Georgia car accidents in total in 2020. This represents a decrease from the previous year. GDOT maintains that the best way to avoid accidents and catastrophic injuries is to follow three basic rules. First,…

You could be hurt by an Uber or Lyft rideshare driver in any number of ways. You might be a passenger in a rideshare at the time of the accident. Or you might be in another car involved in the accident. You could be a pedestrian or cyclist struck by the driver. Here’s more about what this means for purposes of your ability to file a claim or otherwise recover compensation in a lawsuit over your injuries. Why It’s Hard to Sue Rideshare Companies Under normal circumstances, if you are injured in an accident that is the fault of another driver who was working at the time, you can sue his employer. The law treats an employer as liable for negligence that occurs when the driver is within the scope of his employment. That is to say, the driver can make his employer liable if he was doing what he…

A motorcycle is considered a motor vehicle under Georgia law. That means that the basic rules for suing over a motorcycle accident and a car accident are technically the same. A motorcycle is a different kind of motor vehicle, so if you were injured in a motorcycle accident, there might be a few ways in which your accident was different from a typical car accident. Let's take a closer look at motorcycle accident lawsuits in Georgia and what you should do if you or your loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident. Proving Liability Proving liability in a motorcycle accident case is similar to doing so in an automobile accident case. You need to prove that the driver acted negligently and thereby caused the accident. That often involves establishing that the other driver failed to obey some rule of the road. For example, they drove too fast…

If you are injured on someone else’s property in Georgia, you may have a premises liability case. This area of the law concerns whether a property owner is liable for injuries caused to another person by known conditions on their property. Here’s more about what premises liability lawsuits entail and what you could do if you or a loved one sustained an injury. Why Were You There? First, you need to understand the different levels of liability depending on why you were on the property. If you were there because of an express or implied invitation from the person who owns or occupies the property, then that person owes you a duty of ordinary care. That means that they must be as careful as a reasonable person to maintain the property, address dangerous conditions, and warn people about dangers. While the law used to distinguish between someone invited onto the…

If a loved one has died due to the sort of incident that could lead to a personal injury case, you or another family member can file a wrongful death action. Georgia’s laws governing wrongful death cases cover who can bring a case, what kind of damages can be recovered, and who gets any awarded money. Notably, you can bring a wrongful death claim when the death was caused by someone’s negligence, by a defective product, or if someone deliberately caused it. Let’s take a look at wrongful death claims in Georgia, including how a wrongful death lawyer can help you and your family recover compensation. Who Can Sue for Wrongful Death? The order for who can serve as a representative to start a wrongful death action is spouse, child, parent, then estate representative. In other words, if your spouse dies, then you can sue on their behalf. If your…

A product liability case is generally based on an injury you sustain from using a bad commercial product. Many types of incidents involving such products can result in products liability lawsuits. For example, you may have a case if a product breaks or catches fire, thereby injuring you. Product liability cases can arise if a chemical or drug hurts you or makes you sick. Finally, if a manufacturer knows of a product's risk and that it is not obvious to a user, you can hold the manufacturer liable if they did not warn of the risk. Here’s more on how product liability works in Georgia, including what you could do if you or your loved one were injured. Strict Liability In a garden-variety personal injury case, you must prove that the defendant acted negligently. That means a person did not take the precautions that a reasonable person would. Products liability…

If you are injured on the job, you may be worried about how you will pay your medical bills and how you can afford to take the time off of work that you will require to heal. Thankfully, Georgia’s workers’ compensation program was designed to address these concerns and offset the financial burden on you and your family. What Is Workers’ Compensation? Workers’ compensation is a state program that financially assists workers who become injured on the job. The program provides benefits for medical and rehabilitative expenses and lost income caused by on-the-job injuries. Am I Eligible For Workers’ Compensation? The first thing you have to do to determine eligibility is to find out whether your employer is covered by Georgia’s workers’ compensation law. If your employer has three or more employees, they likely are required to hold workers’ compensation insurance. However, federal agencies, railroad carriers, farmworkers, and domestic servants…

Transitioning a loved one to a nursing home can be an extremely difficult decision. When we must take this step, we try to select a facility that will keep our loved ones healthy, happy, and safe. Unfortunately, though, sometimes the care and attention fall short in many nursing homes, and that can have drastic consequences. As we all can imagine, working at a nursing home is a physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding job. The stress that the staff is under can pave the way for abuse, neglect, and mistreatment of the residents. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated this stress and further isolated many nursing home residents. According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization, approximately two-thirds of long-term care facility staff members admit that they have personally committed abuse within the past year. If you think your loved one may have been abused or neglected in a Georgia…