Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

Okay, in an earlier post I was discussing the differences and similarities between types of law. I briefly outlined civil case procedure and was highlighting the basics of criminal cases. We left off at burden of proof, wherein a Plaintiff is responsible for proving a Defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt through the introduction of evidence into the criminal proceedings.

Now typically, when a criminal Defendant is indicted for a crime, the indictment is handed down (or, 'issued') by a grand jury. A grand jury consists of a group of citizens that is appointed for a specific span of time to meet and decide the merits of criminal cases. In short, it's up to the grand jury to decide whether or not there might be enough evidence to make it worthwhile to go ahead with the prosecution of a defendant.

The grand jury hears a presentation from the Plaintiff's attorney; remember, the Plaintiff is a government entity bringing a case against the accused. The Defendant has a presumption of innocence (and not much more) as their defense at this point. The grand jury then makes a decision as to whether there is enough evidence involved to bring an indictment. An indictment is basically an official or formal accusation that a person has committed a crime.

If the grand jury decides 'no', then that's usually the end of the case. If they decide 'yes', then the Defendant is indicted and the prosecuting attorney (in Georgia, this would be a District Attorney) then takes the case. At this point, many different things can happen, depending on the case in question.  'Messier' cases will have things like motions to suppress (a request to keep certain evidence away from a trial jury) and introductions of prior crimes. Every case is different; so different, in fact, that there is not space to go into it at any length here. Most criminal cases in Georgia have very limited discovery (the obtaining of evidence from the opposing party) and depositions are a rarity in all but the most unusual circumstances.

There can only be one of three results to a criminal trial: Guilty, not guilty and a hung jury.  Here in Georgia if a defendant is guilty then the Judge decides the sentence (the Defendant's punishment) based on both the criminal code and their review of any special circumstances.  Many of these cases go into appeals (an official questioning of the jury verdict and/or judge's sentence) so that any perceived mistakes by the Court can be argued.

A hung jury occurs when the trial jury could not unanimously decide, despite repeated requests from the judge, the outcome of the case that is being tried. A hung jury means that most of the time the prosecutor will begin the trial process all over from the beginning.
If the defendant is found not guilty, that typically is the end of things.

I hope I've helped you to understand civil and criminal procedure a little better through these posts. Get in touch with my Atlanta law office if there is anything law-related you have a question about and I'll do my best to accommodate you!

Atlanta injury attorney Michael Moebes has released the well-received Compulator app for Google Android phones this week. Previously, the litigation tool was only available for iphones and ipads.

You can download the 'Droid version of the Compulator app here.  

Features include a date calculator that figures the number of weeks between dates; this assists in totaling past due workers' compensation disability benefits or future disability exposure for 350 or 400 week cases.

There's a present value calculator function for tallying the present value of a lump sum settlement covering several years of future earnings.

A life expectancy calculator uses the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) data to analyze remaining life expectancy based on age and gender.

For mediations, the settlement worksheet feature allows clients and attorneys to get a "net to the client" figure after costs and contingency fees. 

The mediation tracker feature shows midpoints between dollar amounts offered and demanded; then it tracks and charts the upward (or downward) progression of these midpoints.

Look for The Compulator by Moebes Law at the Google marketplace today!

Avvo.com is a website that provides a forum for laypersons to ask questions that qualified  attorneys can answer.  The site also has a rating system based on factors such as experience, expertise, speaking and writing engagements, peer reviews, client reviews, etc.  The highest rating an attorney can receive is a 10.0, and this rating has been bestowed upon Michael Moebes of Atlanta's Moebes Law, LLC injury law practice. 

Congratulations!

The law is intimidating and confusing to most normal people (but not me, because I'm exceedingly brilliant). Because I am mostly an awesome guy, I like to help others. Because I love the law, I want you fine people to be as familiar with and comfortable with it as possible. That's a big part of the reason why I maintain this website and try to relay as much information about the law as I can through anecdotes and current events.

You might want to have a basic understanding of civil litigation in Georgia, so I will cover the basics of it today. I would like you to feel less intimidated by the law and any civil cases you may be presented with in the future. You may even be facing one now, and that's how you found this Georgia law blog.



Other than that, though, they're systems of justice addressing totally different parts of our society. Georgia workers' compensation attorneys work in a specific subset of law governed by Georgia workers' compensation law. There's an administrative law board rather than jury trials; case law and rules of evidence are different than for criminal law.

Criminal law is a type of law whose basic function is to decide between what are and are not criminal actions. It deals with things as seemingly small as a driving citation and things as large as murder, as well as every shade of law-breaking in between. The Plaintiff (the person or people bringing about the lawsuit) in the case will always be a government entity; the sole aim of the case is to figure out the guilt or innocence of a Defendant (the person the lawsuit is against) and an appropriate punishment if they are found guilty as charged. So then: Criminal law is pretty much solely about crime and punishment.

Okay, in every case the government --at any level: Federal, State, City, etc.-- as the Plaintiff files suit against an individual or group. This individual or group is the Defendant in the case, and is then charged with the crime. They then have the option of hiring a criminal defense lawyer, having a criminal defense lawyer appointed by the court if they can't afford an attorney on their own, or representing themselves.

The Plaintiff has the burden of proof. It's the government's job, then, to bring evidence in the form of testimony, photos, or documents to trial in order to convince a jury of the Defendant's guilt. Burden of proof in a criminal case, incidentally, is much higher than in a civil case. Enough evidence must be brought to prove to that jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant is responsible for the crime they are accused of. If you were to represent this
in percentages, the jury would have to be something like ninety percent (!) convinced of a Defendant's guilt.

I hope I've brought about a basic understanding and comfortableness about the differences between criminal and civil proceedings for you thus far. I don't want to throw too much information to you all at once, so in my next post, I'll discuss criminal law procedure further.

Our Atlanta law office recently got a phone call like this:
Him:  "I just busted my ass at the hardware store!"
Me:  "You brought your donkey to the hardware store?  Are you Amish?"

So you've slipped, you've fallen, and you've gotten up only to find yourself in a bad situation physically. Sometimes mere accidents turn into something bigger than the sum of their parts, and you may have to seek assistance from a property owner or business when you've taken a spill in their domain.

How are you supposed to proceed in these instances? What does the law expect of both you and the business or property owner? Further, what does Georgia state law do to both recognize and uphold your rights as a victim in a slip and fall situation? Is your injury claim a viable one?

Say you were walking along in a grocery store and you slip on a puddle of clear liquid, fall, and break your foot. Your doctor tells you that you will need surgery. The outcome of one trip to the market is far cry from the grabbing of some milk and eggs that you initially set out to do. It's at this juncture that you might start to wonder, "I'm pretty seriously injured, here. What are my rights?"

Slip and fall laws in Georgia are pretty straightforward. The reason that you were on a property dictates the property owner's obligation(s) to you. If you were trespassing, you don't have a whole lot of rights. If you received an invitation to be there as a benefit to the owner  --which you are, where most retail establishments are concerned-- then you are owed what is known as reasonable care, where the owner keeps the place you are visiting free from known and obvious hazards.

Secondly, Georgia laws want to know what you slipped or tripped on and whether or not the Defendant (property owner) had a greater knowledge about potential hazards than you did. This means that generally a Plaintiff should be able to recover damages caused by a fall, because it is typically assumed that a Defendant will have greater knowledge of circumstances and things that will cause a fall than a Plaintiff will.  You will need to prove either actual knowledge or constructive knowledge.

The former is exactly what it sounds like: Actual, concrete knowledge of a hazard (for example, observing it themselves). The latter is a bit more complicated, because constructive knowledge is assumed by the court if a) a Defendant doesn't have evidence of a 'reasonable' inspection  process to comply with the understanding of their duty toward ordinary care and b) despite the exercising of ordinary care a Plaintiff had no knowledge of a hazardous situation because of actions or conditions within a Defendant's control.

In short, a Plaintiff has to show both knowledge (actual or constructive) on the part of a Defendant as well as the fact that he didn't learn of the hazard despite exercising reasonable care. There's no pat answer as to whether or not you'll be able to win on a slip and fall claim without seeking legal counsel or representation.

Reach out to our Atlanta injury lawyers' office for our advice...that's what we're here for! We'll answer your questions and guide you in any way we can.

There was much talk last year of overhauling the Georgia workers' compensation system. Some interests planned (and perhaps still plan) to ask the Legislature to further regulate medical treatment under the Georgia worker's comp system by imposing medical treatment guideline regulations. This is a bad idea for many reasons, but I want to discuss of a few of these here.


Government-mandated medical treatment guidelines would further involve the government in the lives of Georgians who get hurt on the job, because they would impose even more governmental regulations on the healthcare of injured workers.


Georgia has some really great boasts to make about our system as it stands:

• Our businesses pay the second-lowest comp assessment in the Southeast!
• Georgia businesses also enjoy the third-lowest  comp costs per worker in the Southeast.
• We have the number one lowest frequency of 'lost time' claims in the Southeast: Our workers return to work more quickly after injury, and this lowers costs to businesses.
• Georgia's ratio of medical costs to overall costs is better than the national average and much better than the ratios of other Southeastern states, which also lowers costs to businesses.
• Both comp insurance Premium Volume and Premium Rates in Georgia are on a five-year decline, which equals additional savings to our businesses.
• Our most recent Workers' Comp Rate Filing sought a 7.9% reduction in rates for Georgia businesses, which in turn results in further savings.

These are just a few of the ways that our Workers' Compensation System is working here in Georgia. In contrast, there is no solid data showing any cost savings for businesses in those states that have adopted medical treatment guidelines. In fact, it's quite the opposite: In those states, businesses pay higher workers' comp premiums overall.

Georgia doctors already deliver quality care under the Georgia Workers' Compensation system. Our doctors, patients, and businesses haven't asked for these further regulations. It doesn't make sense, then, that some folks want an overhaul. Why would you fix something that's working?