Articles Posted in Patrick Cruise

Georgia law provides special venue rules for lawsuits against motor carriers. While those provisions are commonly associated with tractor-trailer companies, they may also apply to businesses whose primary operations involve something other than transportation. In a recent case handled by The Hamilton Firm, the State Court of Fulton County determined that a furniture retailer qualified…

In Transcontinental Carriers, Inc. v. Bennett, No. A26A1643 (Ga. Ct. App. Sept. 9, 2026), the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict awarding $7 million in damages and $1,546,500 in attorney fees after a serious tractor-trailer collision on Interstate 75. Background On July 1, 2020, James Evans was driving a tractor-trailer for Transcontinental Carriers…

I have recently been working on the revision and update of the Trucking Accident Litigation chapter for Handling Motor Vehicle Accident Cases: Treatise and Forms, published by Thomson Reuters. The assignment has involved reviewing and updating a substantial body of material concerning commercial motor vehicle litigation, including federal regulations, state law, statutes, and case authority.…

After a serious accident, the injured person is often the best source of information about what the injury has actually done to their life. How much pain do they experience? What activities can they no longer perform? Can they still work the way they did before the accident? Have ordinary activities such as sleeping, exercising,…

A trucking company’s driver safety policy is more than paperwork. A well-designed and properly enforced safety policy can help prevent crashes and protect drivers and the public. According to SambaSafety, an effective driver safety policy should address several critical areas, including: A driver safety policy should not simply sit in a file cabinet. It should…

When a family is facing the aftermath of a catastrophic truck accident, experience matters. Commercial trucking cases are unlike ordinary automobile accidents. They involve federal safety regulations, corporate defendants, electronic data, multiple insurance policies, accident reconstruction experts, and legal issues that many lawyers rarely encounter. For more than two decades, Patrick Cruise has dedicated his…

At The Hamilton Firm, we believe that recognition is earned one client at a time. We are honored to announce that Patrick Cruise has been selected to the Super Lawyers Tennessee Top 100, a distinction awarded to only a small percentage of attorneys in the state. While awards are never the reason we practice law,…

The Hamilton Firm is proud to announce that attorney Patrick Cruise has been selected to Super Lawyers for the 13th time in his legal career. This honor reflects Patrick’s dedication to representing individuals and families who have suffered serious injuries as a result of trucking accidents, motor vehicle collisions, and other acts of negligence throughout…

Per O.C.G.A. 40-1-117, “except in those cases where the Constitution requires otherwise, any action against any resident or nonresident motor carrier for damages by reason of any breach of duty . . . may be brought in the county where the cause of action or some part thereof arose.” Georgia Court Applies Motor Carrier Venue…

Patrick A. Cruise of The Hamilton Firm was published in the Winter 2026 edition of the Journal of Trucking Litigation, a publication of the American Association for Justice’s Trucking Litigation Group. The article discusses Cruise’s experience litigating a trucking case involving the MCS-90 endorsement, an important federal financial responsibility provision that can play a critical…