Legal Blog
Georgia Court of Appeals Overturns Massive $54M Verdict Against Avis for Crash Following Employee’s Theft of Vehicle
In a recent pair of companion cases, Avis Rent A Car System v. Johnson, 352 Ga.App. 858 (2019) and Avis Rent A Car System v. Smith, 353 Ga.App. 24 (2019), the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed massive jury verdicts totaling $54M on the grounds that an Avis employee’s theft of a rental vehicle cut off Avis’s liability for the employee’s subsequent crash that injured the bystander plaintiffs.
Summary Judgment in Rainy Day Slip and Falls May be a Thing of The Past
Plaintiff testified that she slipped on “standing water,” but could not describe the depth, width, or quantity of water.
Court of Appeals Allows a Vague "Demand Letter" to Get Past Summary Judgment in an Insured's Claim for Negligent or Bad Faith Refusal to Settle
The result of this case underscores the extreme caution and diligence a liability insurance carrier must exercise in reviewing any communications whatsoever from Plaintiff’s attorneys.
Court of Appeals Reverses Itself on Lay Witness Opinion of Speed
On July 28, 2015, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed itself on the issue of whether lay testimony as to speed, based only on the experience of impact, constituted admissible evidence to defeat summary judgment.
Police Reports are Now Admissible as Business Records in Georgia
The Georgia Court of Appeals has recently decided that the statements contained within a police report are admissible as a business record, even without the officer’s personal testimony.
No Summary Judgment When Defendant Can be Construed to Have "Set The Stage" for The Injury
The take-away: property owners should be aware that even when there is evidence of plaintiff’s own negligence, such as deviation from a prescribed path, defendants may still need to prove that they did not set the stage, i.e., in some way entice the guest to the hazard.
Court Rejects Plaintiff's Speculative Liability Theories in Slip and Fall Case
The defense of this case was helped in large part by the maintenance of routine inspection records and video surveillance.
Emergency Medical Services and The Applicable Standard of Care
The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether “the Court of Appeals err[ed] in its application of the gross negligence standard for emergency room malpractice under OCGA § 51-1-29.5(c).”