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Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Do You Have an Atlanta Personal Injury Case?

Are you unsure if a recent accident is categorized as an Atlanta personal injury case? Being in an accident is not enough. Some precedents must be satisfied such as establishing an owed duty and illuminating a breach of that duty resulting in an injury due to negligence. Have you sought the counsel of an Atlanta personal injury lawyer yet?

Experienced Atlanta personal injury professionals are waiting to serve you. As an overview, here is of some types of personal injury cases we’ve helped with:

- Car accidents are common, and very often, someone was at fault. It is the duty and responsibility of every driver to operate their vehicle with a standard level of care and caution. If you are injured in an accident that was the fault of another driver, you could hold them responsible by law. An Atlanta personal injury lawyer can help seek compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering.

- Have you been injured as the result of a medical mistake or malpractice? In some cases, doctors, nurses, EMTs, and other health professionals act with negligence. The scope of medical malpractice is large and includes mistakes administering medicine, surgical errors, misdiagnosis, etc. Don’t be intimidated by large hospitals or doctors; if you’ve been injured due to negligence, you deserve compensation.

- Have you been injured due to a wet floor or ill-kept entranceway? Property owners have a responsibility to guests and patrons. Each case is unique, but an Atlanta personal injury lawyer can help you define your particular situation and inform you of the chances of compensation.

- Words can do damage. Defamation cases involve one person ruining the reputation of another through slander. Untrue statements written or sounded orally may damage a person’s reputation; as a result, the person may lose their job, business, or other financial securities. The plaintiff needs to prove some harm, such as financial loss, resulted from the slander. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you solidify your case and facilitate your chances of financial recovery.

- Sometimes an extension of a person, such as a pet, does harm. What happens in this situation? In most cases, an owner is financially responsible for damage inflicted by their pets. Exact applications of laws vary, so it is best to discuss the matter with an Atlanta personal injury lawyer. Don’t accept your injury; seek legal counsel if you’ve been injured by an animal attack.

The above are just some Atlanta personal injury cases in which we’ve been involved. The law can be confusing; you may have a number of specific questions about your predicament. Give our office a call and ask for a free consultation. We want to help you with your Atlanta personal injury case.

Let a Personal Injury Attorney Atlanta Help with a Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice is a form of a personal injury case brought against doctors, nurses, EMTs, hospitals, and other people and entities involved in medical care. If you have been injured as a result of malpractice, you need a personal injury attorney Atlanta to help you get the compensation you deserve.

To start, a plaintiff, along with their personal injury attorney Atlanta, needs to prove a few things. There needs to be an established sense the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff. The plaintiff needs to prove the duty was broken, and as a result, the plaintiff was caused harm. If those things have been established, and the plaintiff and counsel can prove the harm was not a result of anything other than the defendant’s direct or indirect negligence, then the plaintiff can seek compensation.

A ‘breach of duty’ can take on a lot of shapes, as a personal injury attorney Atlanta can inform. A plaintiff must prove a duty was owed and in some way, something less reasonable, less careful, or less skilled took place. Some of the most common forms of malpractice include the following:

- A doctor may misdiagnose or fail to diagnose an ailment. If a personal injury attorney Atlanta can help you prove the doctor had all of the needed experience, education, and tools to properly diagnose an ailment, and problems occurred because they did not, you can file suit for malpractice.

- Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals may be held responsible for improper care. This is a broad category including such things as leaving instruments inside during surgery, not performing CPR, performing the wrong surgery, and so on.

- Neglect is a common complaint for those who seek a personal injury attorney Atlanta to file suit against workers in a nursing home. Staff may neglect to feed a patient, change dirty sheets, forget to dispense medication, amongst other forms of neglect.

- Medicinal errors are another form of malpractice. A doctor may prescribe the wrong medicine or not be aware of potential reactions with other drugs. If a wrong dose is given or a medication interferes with others, this can be considered a breach of duty.

- A sterile and clean environment is expected and needed in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health facilities. Bacterial or viral outbreaks occurring in a health place may be due to negligence of staff.
The above are just a few examples of breaches of duty. If you feel you have been a victim of malpractice, please seek the help of a personal injury attorney Atlanta. The lawyers in our firm have a lot of experience helping others successfully seek damages for occurrences of medical malpractice.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

An Injury Lawyer in Atlanta Needs You to Help Prove the Case

It’s true that many plaintiffs benefit from the expertise of an experienced injury lawyer in Atlanta, but the legal counsel can’t take all the credit. Plaintiffs can do a lot to help prove their case in court. In personal injury cases, it’s essential to prove the defendant has breached some sort of responsibility, and because of that breach, there was harm done to the plaintiff. A jury will hear anecdotes and ‘sides of the story,’ yet hard evidence is a sure way to persuade a jury. Consider how to gather evidence for your case and help your injury lawyer in Atlanta.

- Photographs from a scene of an accident can help the plaintiff’s case. A car accident is a horrifying predicament, yet if you are aware as to how to gather evidence, you can greatly increase your chances of settling in your favor. Damage done to vehicles, location of road debris, and street conditions can be used as evidence. It is the plaintiff’s duty to show the defendant was at fault; photographing the scene of the accident helps prove the facts of the case.

- It’s important to call the police to the scene of an accident or injury. A policeperson’s report can be invaluable in a court of law in proving the plaintiff’s case. If a case goes to court, it’s safe to assume the plaintiff and defendant have varying accounts as to what happened. A policeperson’s report is an objective and credible account of what took place.

- Your injury lawyer in Atlanta may inquire as to whether you took eyewitness statements. As stated above, if a case makes it to court, it is highly likely the plaintiff and defendant will tell varying versions of what happened. Eyewitness testimony can make a positive impact on the case for the plaintiff – especially if an eyewitness account differs from the defendant’s.

- An injury lawyer in Atlanta is sought because you want compensation for pain and suffering. Medical records dating back from the genesis of any injuries are needed. Clients are urged to go the hospital or get checked by a doctor immediately following a mishap. Any delay can work in the defendant’s favor; the defendant can make a case stating any injuries were a result of a different event. Any and all medical records relating to injuries from the accident are essential to the plaintiff’s argument.

- Sometimes a plaintiff misses work due to injuries resulting from an accident. All missed work should be documented and provided to the injury lawyer in Atlanta. Proof of missed work adds fuel to the case and shows specific portions of compensation sought are warranted.

Come see an injury lawyer in Atlanta if you have recently been involved in an accident. Our top counselors can discuss ways to help you win your case and get the compensation you deserve. We’ll make you aware of such tools as those mentioned above and others that may serve invaluable to the case.

How to Develop an Atlanta Personal Injury Case

The law is practiced each day, yet if you are not directly involved in a legal case, you may not give elements of the law much thought. Suddenly, you have been involved in some type of accident, someone has harmed you, and you need professional help with your Atlanta personal injury case. You want to be sure justice is served and that you can seek compensation for your experience. You are going to have to prove you have the right to claim and beget such compensation. At times it can be easy; the person at fault knows it and makes a settlement with you and their insurer. Other times, coming to an agreement is not so easy, and the Atlanta personal injury case goes to court. If the case goes to court, you’ll have to build a convincing case to persuade the jury to see things your way. There are a number of things a plaintiff has to do to seek justice.

When an Atlanta personal injury case goes to court, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove their assertions. The defendant, on the other hand, does not have to prove anything at all; they are innocent until the plaintiff’s Atlanta personal injury case sheds light on their guilt. Exactly ‘what’ a plaintiff has to prove varies from case to case, yet there are some essential elements that must be met by the plaintiff’s argument.

- First, a plaintiff must establish that some kind of duty was owed by the defendant. For instance, drivers must be careful, pay attention, and watch out for the safety of other drivers. In another example, a doctor has a duty to patients to provide efficient care in a reasonably skilled and competent manner. Basically, the purveyor of the Atlanta personal injury case must establish a relationship where the defendant owes duty to the plaintiff.

Secondly, the plaintiff of the Atlanta personal injury case must prove the duty was not met or was breached. The plaintiff must prove the defendant, or an extension of the defendant, was negligent or caused harm in some way. For instance, the owner of a dog may not personally have done harm to the plaintiff. But if the owner left their gate open so their dog could escape and harm others, then their sense of duty was breached.

Thirdly, the plaintiff must prove the defendant’s breach of duty led to harm. This part of the Atlanta personal injury case must be strong. The plaintiff must prove it was a direct or indirect result of the defendant because the defendant’s party will attempt to prove otherwise. For instance, if a plaintiff was seeking damages because they got sick from a company’s drug, the company may try to bring to light other elements in the plaintiff’s life that could have made them sick.

If you have been injured in an accident and seek to establish an Atlanta personal injury case, we can help. We have extensive experience with medical malpractice, car and truck injuries, and other personal injury cases. Call our offices today for a free initial consultation!

Atlanta Car Accident Attorney and Determining Damages

An Atlanta car accident attorney helps clients pursue two varieties of damages – compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages envelope things such as embarrassment to property destroyed in an accident to medical bills. Punitive damages are sought by the court to punish the defendant for negligence or carelessness. In some cases, the punitive damages may outweigh compensatory damages, which is the outcome in some cases where malicious intent or reckless abandonment of the law was involved.

Depending on lost earnings, disfigurement, economic damages, garnished wages, and so on, we help our clients gain a realistic expectation of compensation. On the other hand, sometimes an unrealistic level of compensation is leveraged in the favor of the plaintiff. For instance, a high amount may be asked in order for the ultimate plea bargaining to result in something that is expected on our end. Initially asking for a high amount can invoke fear in the defendant and work in your favor.

It is important to understand that even if an Atlanta car accident attorney wins the case, and gets you a high settlement, it may take some time for the money to make it to your bank account. We may have to fight to get your money in an appellate court, and even when things go well there, you may have to wait some time to get compensation and may not get all of it at once.

Some cases involving corporations may involve multiple parties besides you. These cases sometimes take years to run their course. Even when things are settled, you may not get compensated in one lump sum; a structured settlement pays the plaintiff a certain amount of cash over the course of time.

In some cases, you may have been at fault too, yet your Atlanta car accident attorney can seek damages for you. On the other hand, you or your insurance company may have to pay for damages to the other driver as well.

The best thing you can do to start is schedule a consultation with an Atlanta car accident attorney at our office. We can get you familiarized with the laws of Atlanta and help you develop a realistic expectation of a level of compensation.

We are waiting to serve you. Give us a call today and schedule a free initial consultation with an Atlanta car accident attorney.

What to Expect from an Atlanta Car Accident Attorney

We help those who have recently had the unfortunate experience of being in a car accident in the Atlanta region. Hopefully, you have never had to suffer through the experience before. If not, you may wonder about what to expect from an Atlanta car accident attorney. Of course, every situation and client is different. We like to customize our services to each client and each case, yet in general, there are a handful of expectations to meet on our end.

We offer free consultations. As your aspiring Atlanta car accident attorney, each member of our practice desires to know the basic facts of your case. You must have a ton of questions, and our initial consultation involves answering a number of them to provide you with a practical outlook of how things will develop further.

Professionalism is something we do not take lightly. We know our clients expect a courteous, knowledgeable, and experienced Atlanta car accident attorney, and that is what we strive to provide to you. In addition to your specific attorney, we understand that you expect the same level of professionalism from our entire office through the complete process.

Those who have been in a car accident need a specialty lawyer. The law is divided into many facets. For instance, you wouldn’t necessarily seek a foot doctor to address an issue involving your shoulder. Following the same reasoning, you wouldn’t want just any lawyer focusing on your car case; you would want an Atlanta car accident attorney. We have years of experience focusing on car accident cases.

We understand the initial anxiety of our clients. You want answers to your questions. The law can be intimidating, and in some cases, not immediately understandable. We are forthcoming with our answers and try to address your questions in a timely manner. We understand we are working for you; there is a level of demand and expectation we must meet to serve you well.

Lastly, you want results. No one wants a case that drags on for months. You want an Atlanta car accident attorney that addresses your case with aplomb and unfettered attention. We promise to provide a practical outlook of possible conclusions, and strive to attain optimal compensation for our clients.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Matter More Than Type of Case

Personal injury is a broad topic. Depending on the predicament, Atlanta personal injury lawyers may address a case from different perspectives. Lawsuits are filed for wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accidents, and other reasons. Plaintiffs may be rewarded millions of dollars or next to nothing depending on the nature of the case and the Atlanta personal injury lawyers’ abilities to organize a case and make a persuasive argument. Compensation matters less about the type of case and more about the severity of the accident and the ability of lawyers.


It is crucial to recruit experienced and reputable Atlanta personal injury lawyers for your case. For instance, a slip and fall accident may seem minor, yet if it contributes to a chronic condition that influences your ability to provide for your family, the level of compensation can be huge. On the other hand, an accident caused in part to the plaintiff’s negligence, may yield much less compensation regardless of the severity of the injuries. A good lawyer is able to structure a good case and let the plaintiff know the realities of potential compensation.


Atlanta personal injury lawyers will tell you that the timeline of filing a case may influence the outcome and rewards. For instance, if you arrive at your lawyer’s doorstep years after a car accident, animal bite, etc., the statute of limitations may influence, or in some cases deny, your ability to seek compensation.


Your case may involve an incident or recurring incidents where many people are involved. Atlanta personal injury lawyers may suggest organizing a group action suit to improve your odds of getting a settlement from a large entity such as a big business. For instance, lawsuits against cigarette companies and pharmaceutical companies usually end up being group personal injury cases or class action suits.


Have you been injured in an accident? It’s vital that you seek the help of experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyers. There is varied information available on the Web; in addition, friends and family members may provide advice or opinions of varying degrees. Filling your head with amateur information will only make you confused and anxious. The best thing to do is seek counsel from professionals. Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers are available to you and want to help you seek proper compensation for your injury. Contact our law offices to gain a better perspective on your accident and potential for compensation.

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Goodman & Goodman, LLP
6445 Powers Ferry Road, N.W.
Suite 265
Atlanta, GA 30339
770.952.0400
866.565.9098