The Cooper Firm was recently featured in the Daily Report. (Click on Daily Report.pdf to view the article.)
A Client’s Patience Pays Off
Seven years after our client, Lisa Krebs, was severely injured in a automobile collision, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed a jury decision in her favor. The case arose out of a motor vehicle collision which occurred in April 2005. Lisa was a passenger in a Chevrolet Trailblazer which was hit by another vehicle, driven by Carmen McReynolds, and subsequently rolled over. Lisa’s passenger side door opened during the rollover accident causing her to be partially ejected.
We originally sued Ms. McReynolds, as well as General Motors. We settled with GM. We then proceeded to trial against Ms. McReynolds. Ms. McReynolds’ lawyer wanted to blame GM at trial, but did not present any evidence to prove GM was at fault. Therefore, the trial court did not permit Ms. McReynolds’ lawyer to blame GM at trial.
Furthermore, after the trial, the trial court did not permit McReynolds to set off from the verdict the amount of the settlement Lisa received from GM.
McReynolds appealed and asked the Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court’s decision. We argued on behalf of Lisa Krebs that a new law passed in 2005 required McReynolds to prove that GM caused Lisa’s injuries and that any jury verdict would not be set-off by the amount of the GM settlement. The Court of Appeals agreed with us and McReynolds appealed the case to the Georgia Supreme Court.
On March 23, 2012, the Georgia Supreme Court also agreed with the trial court’s decision and affirmed the jury verdict in favor of Lisa Krebs.
Hopefully, Lisa will finally receive the compensation she is entitled to under Georgia law.