Georgia law allows for two types of lawsuits to be initiated following the death of an individual.One of them is known as a survival action, and the other is an action for wrongful death. Both of these may be evident in a recent case if legal pleadings that have allegedly surfaced in connection with the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late Whitney Houston, prove to be authentic. A survival action is one in which the successor in interest of a person, who is often the personal representative of that person's estate, either initiates or continues a lawsuit that the deceased would have had against the defendant had he or she survived. According to the alleged complaint against the former boyfriend of Ms. Brown, the allegations against him include theft and abuse. As neither of these would ordinarily be thought of as causing the death of an individual, it would appear that the…

The value of human life is in many ways a subjective question. In wrongful death lawsuits, Georgia courts and juries consider two basic criteria to arrive at a dollar figure to measure the cost of a life that has been truncated by the wrongful act of another person: economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages measure more tangible losses connected with the loss of a loved one,  such as lost income expectancy and costs associated with medical expenses preceding the death as well as funeral and burial expenses. Non-economic damages are ones associated with what many people consider to be "pain and suffering" injuries, and these can be much harder to calculate with certainty. Occasionally the jury's decision on how much to award in damages can itself be the subject of a dispute between the plaintiffs and the defendant's. This is what has happened in a Georgia wrongful death lawsuit that…

You may already be familiar with the concept of a wrongful death action that can arise when the family of a loved one files a lawsuit against an individual or company that caused the death or contributed to it. In Georgia, those allowed to bring a wrongful death lawsuit including the spouse of the decedent or, if there is no spouse then the children of the decedent; if neither a surviving spouse or children exist, then the parents of the decedent can bring the wrongful death lawsuit. There is a second, related cause of action to wrongful death that you may be less familiar with, survival action. This is a lawsuit that is also brought in connection with the death of a loved one, based on the concept that he or she would have had a cause of action had he or she survived. A key distinction between a wrongful death…

On a website for recent arrivals to the United States, one piece of advice was, "Note that Americans obey traffic laws and traffic signals, and will expect you to, too." When you engage in a driving activity as simple as crossing an intersection, you must trust that others approaching the intersection will let you pass when it is your turn; the vast majority of the time that faith is justified. When it is not, however, the consequences can be lethal. This is shown by a recent two-car collision in Lithonia, when one vehicle ran a red light and struck another broadside, killing all three in the other vehicle. Aside from a charge of vehicular homicide, the surviving driver is also facing charges of driving while intoxicated and with hit-and-run. Aside from the criminal law implications, civil law liability can also be a possibility, through a wrongful death claim. One aspect…

It is an unfortunate truth that sometimes a personal injury which results from the act of someone else is something that your loved one never recovers from. It may take days, weeks, months or longer, but serious injuries can become fatal ones. Losing someone in your family is hard enough to cope with; losing that person because of the act of someone else is harder still. What can make matters even worse is when the consequences of your loss start making themselves felt: medical expenses and funeral expenses can be just the beginning. What if your loved one was key to your family’s ability to earn a living? You were counting on his or her ability to sustain your household, and now that is gone, too. We at the Dozier Law Firm know very well, based on our nearly 50 years of experience with helping our Georgia clients to recover…

Wrongful death actions are fact-specific to every case. It is the role of a personal injury attorney to match the facts of your loved one's death to the cause of action elements so as to present the most effective case for either settlement or proof at trial, so an important consideration on your part would be to retain a law firm with experience in negotiating and litigating wrongful death cases If a loved one of yours dies as the result of the negligent or intentional act of someone else, then under Georgia law you may be able to commence a wrongful death lawsuit against that person. Wrongful death actions are a species of tort, and generally have the following requirements for the plaintiff to prove: As mentioned above, the death of the family member must be caused by a negligent or intentional act. You must be a surviving family member. Under Georgia…

A Georgia man is dead after a vehicle crashed into a building in Fulton County on Feb. 14. The driver of the vehicle left the scene but was apprehended later. Sandy Springs police reported the suspect in the fatal accident is facing charges of vehicular homicide in the first degree. In addition, the man is charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident. According to a representative of the police in Sandy Springs, the man who died, a resident of Jonesboro, was in a building that was described as a local car wash in the 6000 block of Roswell Road when he was struck. A Ford Mustang that went out of control hit the building. The driver of the Ford Mustang allegedly left the accident site. He was later found at an apartment complex where police apprehended him. The individual in the building was taken to an Atlanta hospital.…

The Georgia State Police report that on Oct. 9, a four-vehicle accident in Conyers claimed the life of one person, and two other individuals who were involved were hospitalized for unknown injuries. One of the injured victims, a deputy, was reportedly pursuing the wrong-way driver at the time of the crash. According to the report, the chain-reaction collision transpired at the intersection of Old Covington Highway and Sigman Road in Rockdale County around 11:30 p.m. when a woman driving a Hyundai Santa Fe in the wrong direction on Sigman Road smashed into a black Kia. The force of the impact caused the Kia to crash into a pickup truck, at which point both cars and the truck collided with a fourth vehicle belonging to the deputy who had been chasing the wrong-way driver. The woman driving the Kia was instantly killed in the initial collision with the Santa Fe and…

A man was killed in Atlanta on the morning of August 31 when his vehicle was hit by a suspected drunk driver as he was driving home. According to authorities, his car was hit head-on at the intersection of Neal Street NW and Joseph E. Lowery Street by a car operated by a 41-year-old woman. The woman was headed north on Neal when the collision took place. She was charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, improper turn and reckless driving. As evidenced by this incident, alcohol sometimes plays a role in fatal accidents. Other factors in fatal accidents might include distracted driving, from the use of a cellphone for talking or texting, reckless driving and road and weather conditions. While some of these factors are out of a driver's control, some, such as speeding and using a cellphone, can be used to show that a…

A 400m runner who took part in the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas on May 24 died in a car accident on the morning of July 28, authorities reported. According to the report, the 25-year-old University of Georgia track star helped the U.S. win the event and earned a gold medal for his performance. The accident took place on Interstate 75 near Cordele. According to the report, the man's vehicle blew a tire while he was traveling in the middle lane. He reportedly stopped and exited his vehicle before calling for help. Just before 1:45 a.m., a semitrailer collided with the runner's vehicle. The impact of the collision knocked the disabled vehicle into him. Authorities did not release the name of the truck driver who caused the accident. Additionally, it was not known if the authorities planned to file charges against the driver of the truck for his or…