Georgia

Lawyers who sued over meds given to wrong dog can seek $67K, says appeals court

Two lawyers who sued a Georgia dog kennel over an alleged medication error to one of the two pets they boarded there have been limited in the amount of damages they can claim. Robert and Elizabeth Monyak can present evidence of the veterinary bills they paid over a nine-month period…

Apr 6, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Jury awards $150M against Fiat Chrysler in fiery death of boy, 4, after Jeep is rear-ended

A jury in rural Georgia on Thursday awarded $150 million against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in the death of a four-year-old boy in a fiery rear-end crash. It found the automaker 99 percent responsible, due to the position of the gas tank in the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee., for the…

Apr 3, 2015 8:00 AM CDT

Man arrested for cursing during 911 call files civil-rights suit

A disabled veteran who was arrested and jailed for cursing during a call to 911 has filed a civil-rights suit against law-enforcement officials. Boyd Green used the phrases “damn asshole” and “damn bullshit” when he called 911 in Whitfield County, Georgia, at 3 a.m. on June 2, 2014, according to…

Mar 19, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Citing landmark ‘Gault’ case, DOJ files framework for deciding if juveniles have adequate counsel

The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on behalf of a civil rights group in an ongoing Georgia case over a claimed lack of representation for juvenile defendants in the four-county Cordele Judicial Circuit. Filed in January 2014 by the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Superior Court of…

Mar 17, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

Family sues BigLaw firm, says ex-partner funneled $60M from its trusts

Members of a wealthy Georgia family have filed a malpractice suit against Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. It contends that partner Bennett Kight funneled some $60 million in trust assets through “multiple instances of pervasive fraud, theft, mismanagement, and malpractice” over a 20-year period. Meanwhile, as family members thought they were…

Mar 16, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Fatal courthouse shooting and violent spree still reverberate 10 years later

A fatal shooting and assault rampage that began at a Georgia courthouse 10 years ago, resulting in the deaths of a judge, a court reporter and two law enforcement officers, led to enhanced security measures at courthouses throughout the state. However, as the Fulton County Courthouse community on Wednesday remembered…

Mar 12, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

Paralegal takes plea in $600K law firm client theft; feds say he spent $550K on coin collection

A trusted paralegal accused of embezzling nearly $600,000 from 41 clients of a Georgia law firm over a period of about five years pleaded guilty Tuesday after representing himself at trial for two days in federal court. Criminally charged with 253 counts, including bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity…

Mar 11, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Manslaughter case video shows actor Wyatt Russell running for life as train hurtles toward movie set

The movie was never completed. But a video clip showing actor Wyatt Russell and crew members, who had been filming Midnight Rider, running for their lives down a train trestle high above a Georgia river in real life, as a whistle-blowing train barreled down on them at 55 mph, became…

Mar 11, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

National labor firm raids Littler and Ogletree, opens new offices in Denver and New York

Atlanta-based Constangy Brooks & Smith has raided two well-known labor and employment firms and some BigLaw competitors, gaining 12 attorneys, two new offices and an additional name partner in the process. Don Prophete, who practices in Kansas City, will be the new name on the marquee for the nearly 160-attorney…

Mar 5, 2015 1:50 PM CST

LeClairRyan opens Atlanta office with 2 partners from Troutman Sanders

A rapidly growing law firm with longstanding roots in Richmond, Virginia, is expanding its footprint in the Southeast. LeClairRyan announced this week that it is opening an Atlanta office with two partners from Troutman Sanders. The 380-attorney LeClairRyan also recently opened offices in Sacramento, California, and Houston, Texas, notes the…

Feb 13, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Lawyer’s new Super Bowl ad: Fire, religion, claimed political corruption and anti-bullying message

Personal injury lawyer Jamie Casino aired a Super Bowl ad last year in his hometown market that captured global attention, racking up some 5.6 million views on the Internet. So it was perhaps almost inevitable, following the high profile of his earlier effort, that reaction to the Georgia trial attorney’s…

Feb 4, 2015 9:45 AM CST

Judge in hot-car case suddenly resigns; lawyer says profession needs to ‘stop abusing its members’

A Georgia judge who made headlines during a hot-car case abruptly resigned from the bench last week, submitting what appeared to be a hastily written resignation letter that misspelled the governor’s name. Cobb County Chief Magistrate Judge Frank Cox said he was taking health leave, effective immediately, and resigning on…

Feb 3, 2015 9:42 AM CST

Inmate is executed after SCOTUS stay denial in litigation over mental-disability proof

Georgia inmate Warren Lee Hill was put to death on Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined a stay of execution in a battle over the state’s standard to determine intellectual disability. Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from a stay denial by the U.S. Supreme Court, one…

Jan 28, 2015 10:13 AM CST

Man is ticketed for eating double quarter-pounder with cheese while driving

An Alabama man who ordered a double quarter-pounder with cheese last week at a McDonald’s restaurant in Georgia could soon find himself arguing to a local judge that he deserves a break today. Madison Turner says he was pulled over in Marietta for eating the burger while driving and has…

Jan 20, 2015 11:00 AM CST

Judge commits lawyer who tried to back out of agreed mental evaluation

A suspended Georgia lawyer won a delay of a contempt hearing last week by voluntarily agreeing to a psychiatric evaluation. But Christopher Nicholson was involuntarily committed the next day by the same judge, when he tried to leave the Georgia Regents Medical Center Hospital before the exam was complete. Hospital…

Jan 5, 2015 12:40 PM CST