Articles Posted in Uncategorized

Although we generally confine our blog posts to developments in the law from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama (as well as law firm announcements), this California case is worthy of comment. In Alexander v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., a major decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (August 27, 2014) the Court determined that…

“ . . . it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose” (Jerry Garcia) Cases involving a tractor trailer (18-wheeler, semi, big rig) or other commercial motor vehicle(s) should not be handled like the typical car wreck case! In an article just published in the The Tennessee Trial Lawyer, the journal of…

Effective June 6, 2017, self-driving or “robot” cars are legal in Tennessee, provided a human being is in the car, and provided that the vehicle is covered by at least $5,000,000 in liability insurance (Senate Bill 151). The new law defines “automated driving system” or “ADS” as “technology installed on a motor vehicle that has…

Hubert Hamilton recently posted (2/6/14) the following comment to Regulations.gov concerning the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly as to the dramatic limitations on the scope of discovery as well as shortening the time to complete service of process: “These changes seem designed to tilt the playing in favor of defendants…

On Wednesday afternoon, November 9, 2011, a Hamilton County jury returned a $784,676.65 verdict in Circuit Court in favor of Norma O’Neal, whose Chattanooga home at 1706 Estrellita Circle went up in flames just two weeks before Christmas Day in 2009. Hubert Hamilton and Patrick Cruise served as trial counsel for the Plaintiff. Mrs. O’Neal…

The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 requires drug and alcohol testing of safety-sensitive transportation employees in aviation, trucking, railroads, mass transit, pipelines, and other transportation industries. Mandatory drug testing is required for five specific categories of drugs (referred to as the SAMHSA 5, previously called the NIDA-5): 1. Cannabinoids (marijuana, hash) 2. Cocaine…

The Georgia Supreme Court has held that an arbitration clause signed by the decedent (or by a person having power-of-attorney for the decedent) in a nursing home case is enforceable and requires the decedent’s wrongful-death beneficiaries to arbitrate their claims, United Health Services v. Norton, S16G1143 (3/6/17). The Court of Appeals had held otherwise, 336…

MCG Health filed a $36,177.68 lien against the plaintiff’s cause of action in MCG Health v. Kight, 2015 Ga. LEXIS (3/2/15) pursuant to the Georgia Hospital Lien law, OCGA § 44-14-470 et seq for the “reasonable charges” of hospital care furnished to the plaintiff. However, at that time, the Hospital had been compensated by insurance…

A motor carrier engaged in interstate commerce and subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) must have minimum liability coverage of $750,000. The insurer must provide a MCS-90 endorsement to the liability policy, and that endorsement is supposed to be filed with FMCSA. In Grange Indemnity Insurance Company v. Burns, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS…

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled 6-1 on Tuesday (7/5/11) in Flores v. Exprezit! Stores 98-Georgia, LLC, that a convenience store can be held liable for selling a 12-pack of beer to a noticeably intoxicated customer who was involved in a motor vehicle wreck which killed five other people. The Supreme Court overturned a lower court…