Banner Image
Bringing the Right Experience and Legal Insight to Georgia

by

866408_jet_ski.jpg
It seems that every major holiday we hear or read of an injury caused by the improper use of a personal watercraft (PWC) on the lakes of Georgia. Typically, these events occur on high traffic inland lakes such as Lake Lanier and Alatoona. Yesterday, July 21, 2012, the stepson of Usher, the R&B singer, succumbed to his injuries as the result of a traumatic incident involving a watercraft on Lake Lanier.

The weather following the holiday period of July 4th was a hot one. It was expected that a substantial number of folks would flock to and use Lake Lanier. As expected, Lake Lanier had heavy traffic of powerboats, sailboats, jet skis and other personal watercraft.

It was during this period that Kile Glover, an 11-year-old, had come to Lake Lanier with a group of people to take part boating on the lake. Kile had waited his turn to be pulled on the inter tube behind the powerboat. Kile got into the water and secured himself to the inter tube. At some point during the period that he was being pulled on the inter tube by the powerboat, a man who was part of the same group and who has been identified as Frank Hubbard of Atlanta, negligently operated a jet ski in violation of state law and struck Kile and another person on the lake causing injuries to both including a traumatic brain injury to Kile.
Continue Reading

by

18929841_BG3.jpg

On July 1, 2012, Brittany Sailors exited a neighborhood along with two passengers and attempted to turn left onto Lakeview Road near Grayson, Georgia when an oncoming motorist collided into the driver’s side of Ms. Sailors’ vehicle. The force of the impact to Ms. Sailor’s vehicle was so great that the damage totaled her vehicle and sadly ended her life at the scene of the crash.

Ms. Sailors had been operating a 2000 Mitsubishi Diamante and the other motorist, Matujah Paasewe, was operating a 1998 Bonneville. In comparison, the Bonneville model is a larger and somewhat heavier vehicle than the Mitsubishi. From the video shown in the AJC article, it appears that the Bonneville was traveling at fairly high speed. In contrast, Ms. Sailors was probably traveling at a slower speed as she was entering an intersection.
Continue Reading

by

1314902_medical_doctor.jpg

Many of my clients ask the same question. They want to know whether or not the at-fault insurance company will pay for their medical bills when these bills become due and payable. The short answer is generally no. Let’s look at this dilemma from several different viewpoints
Injured Person Does Not Have Medical Insurance

A majority of the cases involve injured people who simply do not have insurance coverage. Due to the injuries received in a car wreck, an individual may typically treat with a hospital and perhaps several other doctors over an extended period of time. In some instances, injured folks treat with two to four doctors at different locations and these doctors will mail out bills at different points in time.
Continue Reading

by

Thumbnail image for 1308588_motorway_at_twilight.jpg

On February 1, 2012, a U.S. Congressional Committee rejected a proposal to increase the weight limit of trucks operating on the nation’s highways. The proposed plan in the house committee had sought to raise the weight ceiling for truck-weight limits from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds. Advocates of the plan including trade associations which argued that increasing the weight limit would increase the amount of goods transported and lessen the number of trucks on the highways. Opponents, including railroads and travel and safety groups, argued that increasing the weight load would create further risks for car motorists and increase the wear and tear and need for repair on the nation’s highways and bridges. The decision of the committee was critical to the bottom line of companies that rely on big trucks to transport their goods.
Continue Reading

by

1225930_mobile_phone_1.jpg

Congress helped create what would eventually be the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in 1926 with passage of the Air Commerce Act. Initially, the NTSB investigated the cause of aircraft accidents. In time, Congress combined various transportation agencies which were created by the Act into the Department of Transportation (DOT). In turn, the DOT established the NTSB as an independent agency within the DOT that would promote safety within the broad framework of national transportation. Today, NTSB is viewed as an independent United States Federal Government Agency.

As part of its duties, the NTSB issues safety recommendations related to transportation safety in the United States, including the roadways of America. On December 13, 2011, the NTSB issued a historic news release following a board meeting on that same day in which it proposed a complete nationwide ban on drivers using portable electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle. However, the ban is not a law.
Continue Reading

by

1125087_person_jail.jpgWayne Williams was a managing partner for a personal injury law firm in town. Recently, he pled guilty to over 20 counts of theft by taking and 19 counts of forgery. He was proscecuted successfully by the Fulton County District Attorney,

According to the AJC article, Mr. Williams converted the firm’s funds to his own use over a period of three years from 2004 – 2007. Specifically, Williams forged 24 checks that had been made payable to his employer and deposited these checks into his personal checking account. The theft was discovered when the firm conducted a review of the bookkeeping.

Consequently, Mr. Williams has been ordered to surrender his law license, write a letter of apology to the firm, serve 18 months in prison and 20 years of probation, repay $145,000.00 and perform 500 hours of community service. I believe the punishment fits the crime inasmuch as Mr. Williams intentionally and deliberately continued to steal from his employer over a three year period. I think it goes without saying that Mr. Williams will never be able to practice law in the State of Georgia again.

Continue Reading

by

1040136_justice_srb_1.jpg

On November 30, 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court disbarred Thomas C. Sinowski and Steven F. Freedman and removed their names from the rolls of attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia. The Georgia Supreme Court adopted the special master’s findings of fact that these attorneys paid “runners” (non-lawyers who recruit, recommend or direct people to the services of a given lawyer in return for a fee or other compensation from the lawyer) from April 1995 through April 1999 to secure clients. Under O.C.G.A. 33-24-53(a), lawyer shall not compensate a person or organization to recommend or secure his/her employment by a client (excluding bona fide lawyer referral service).
Continue Reading

by

1289757_road.jpg

A report prepared by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. in Besthesda, Maryland for AAA was released in November of 2011 and focused on the costs of traffic congestion and the costs of injuries from traffic collisions. The three key findings (based on 2009 traffic data across the country) in the report included the following: the total cost of traffic crashes was 3x more than the cost of congestion ($299.5 billion for crashes and $97.7 billion for congestion); the crash costs per person exceeded the costs of congestion in every city studied; and the costs of crashes per person actually decreases as the size of the metropolitan area increases.
Continue Reading

by

this pic.jpg
Yesterday morning, a 25-year-old man was killed near Dacula, Ga., when his vehicle traveled off the roadway and hit a tree. The Atlanta Journal Constitution article indicates that the motorist, Bernard F. Jacques, apparently lost control of his 1997 Honda Civic while driving on New Hope Road near Alcovy River Drive and Palm Creek. Gwinnett County Police Department Cpl. Edwin Ritter indicated that the cause of the crash was unknown and that neither drugs nor alcohol were contributing factors to the crash. The impact from the crash must have been significant as Mr. Jacques died at the scene. It was noted in the investigation that Mr. Jacques was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the wreck.

Our thoughts go out to Mr. Jacques’ family.
Continue Reading

by

teen_dies_1156664l.jpg

On October 8, 2011, a Gwinnett County high school basketball player and three members of his family died in an SUV rollover in Florida. Darrian George was a 17-year-old boy who played basketball for the Norcross High School basketball team. Eight people, including Darrian, were traveling down to Miami for the weekend. Only one of the eight persons was wearing a seatbelt.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Darrian was operating a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe just before 3 a.m. and was traveling on I-75 South near Ocala, Florida, when he allegedly lost control of the vehicle causing the truck to travel across three southbound lanes of traffic and overturning several times until it came to rest on its hood in the northbound lane. Darrian took evasive action including braking and steering to the right in an unsuccessful attempt to gain control of the truck. However, the truck hit the median guardrail and overturned. Six of the eight persons in the SUV were thrown from inside the vehicle. Three people died including two children who were siblings and Darrian’s mother, Tiffany Bradshaw.
Continue Reading

Contact Information
Atlanta, Georgia
2894 Piedmont Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
Phone: (404) 869-6969 Phone: (877) CAR-S911 (877-227-7911) Toll Free: (855) 529-3673 (LAW FORD)
Lawyer.com*No Recovery No Fee refers only to fees charged by the attorney. Court costs and other additional expenses of legal action usually must be paid by the client. Contingent fees are not permitted in all types of cases.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Law Offices of Kevin C. Ford
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design