News

Proving Invisible Injuries
By Howard Spiva
Reprinted from Alta Trial Magazine

It's human nature to trust what we can see and doubt what we can't. Clients and jurors need your help to identify and understand invisible injuries.

Many jurors find it hard to accept the validity of injuries they can't see, especially those not well supported by objective medical evidence. Nonetheless, these injuries are real, and treatment costs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Plaintiffs suffering from these injuries often endure lifelong pain and are unable to lead normal lives. This can lead to severe depression and even suicide.

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Attorney Buys Roller Coaster to Preserve Evidence
in Amusement Park Suit
By Bob Katz, Lawyers Weekly Inc.

Howard Spiva (left) and Clay Davis won a favorable settlement for Camille Lloyd, who was thrown from a roller coaster and dragged by her foot for 80 feet.

When the initial mediation session in an amusement park injury case appeared deadlocked, plaintiff's attorney Howard Spiva of Savannah, Ga., had all the advantages of a college student with an advance copy of the exam questions.

Spiva was already engaged in a lawsuit against the same amusement park owner -- a case that involved an earlier accident in the same seat of the same car of the same ride coming around the same curve at Tybee Island Amusement Park in Tybee Island, Ga.

"When [the defendant] said they weren't going to pay a thing, we were ready to file our suit within an hour," says Spiva, who went on to negotiate a $790,000 settlement in the case.

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Driver Collides With Tractor; Accident Covered by 'Uninsured Motorist' Policy: Applies to Snowmobiles, ATVs, Golf Carts, Etc.
Lawyers Weekly Inc.

When a driver collided with a tractor that was being used to haul a mobile home, her injuries were covered by her uninsured motorist policy, stated the Georgia Supreme Court, reversing the Court of Appeals' decision. The policy must cover collisions with vehicles that aren't designed for use on public roads, so long as they are on a road at the time of the accident, the court said. The state courts that have considered this question are split.

The policy said it would cover collisions with an "uninsured motor vehicle." A state statute defines "motor vehicle" as a vehicle "designed primarily for operation upon the public streets, roads and highways." The insurance company relied on this definition to deny coverage, since the tractor wasn't designed to be used on public roads. But the court said this definition conflicted with the purpose of the uninsured motorist statute. "The remedial purposes of the uninsured motorist statute mandate that the term 'motor vehicle' be construed broadly to provide financial protection to innocent motorists who are injured by irresponsible drivers," it said.

The court cited similar rulings from Arizona and North Carolina. (Chase v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 641 P.2d 1305 (Ariz. 1982); Autry v. Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance Co., 242 S.E.2d 172 (N.C. App. 1978).)

The ruling could apply to accidents with golf carts, snowmobiles, ATVs, riding lawnmowers, and "anything designed for off-road but being used on-road," Lawyers Weekly USA is told by Howard Spiva of Savannah, Georgia, one of the attorneys who represented the plaintiff.

Reprinted courtesy of: Lawyers Weekly.

Shaken baby case results in multimillion dollar settlement
Savannah Now

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Kmart held liable in injury case
Savannah Now

A slip in a Kmart store turned out to be worth a lot more than a blue light special for a Savannah man, who was awarded $900,000 last week after a Chatham County jury blamed the store for the accident. Jeff Jenkins, 51, won the judgment against the Victory Drive store Friday, after a five-day trial in Superior Court. Jenkins fell three times in the store Feb. 2, 1994, injuring a shoulder rotator cuff and requiring surgery. He also damaged his jaw, head and a disc in his neck.

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Living with hospital's $6 million mistake
Savannah Now

A medical malpractice suit against Memorial results in a hefty verdict for the Brooklet couple.

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'Invisible Injury' Lawyers Share Voir Dire Strategies
Lawyers Weekly Inc.

Ask any trial lawyer and they'll agree that picking a jury can be the most important part of trial. In this issue, Lawyers Weekly USA continues its series on jury selection, this time with a focus on "invisible injury" litigation.

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Jurors Seem Mostly Unaffected By Sept. 11
Corporate Scandals Have More Impact
Lawyers Weekly Inc

One year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks "changed America forever," their effect on juror attitudes remains extremely subtle - when it's detectable at all.

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Amusement Park Litigation on the Rise
Lawyers Weekly Inc.

Zipora Jacob was having a blast celebrating her nephew's Disneyland bar mitzvah until she climbed off the Indiana Jones Adventure ride. Feeling like her head was going to explode, she projectile vomited.

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