Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Chris Dronett has filed suit against the NFL on behalf of her deceased husband, former Atlanta Falcon Shane Dronett. After playing for 10 seasons, Shane retired from the NFL in 2003. In 2006, he began to suffer from paranoia, confusion, fear and rage. He subsequently had surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2007. Shane's condition continued to worsen resulting in his tragic suicide in the couple's Duluth, Georgia home in 2009.

The Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy confirmed that Shane was suffering from a degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) linked to repetitive head trauma.

Researchers believe the beating Shane took as an NFL lineman led to his brain's deterioration. It is estimated that a NFL lineman takes 1,000 or more hits every season accumulating to tens of thousands of ultimately subconcussive hits, resulting in overt concussion symptoms such as dizziness, short-term memory loss and confusion but could still cause brain damage.

The number of subconcussive hits Shane Dronett took likely started when Shane played youth and high school football continuing to accumulate as he became an All-American at The University of Texas. Increasing awareness and understanding of the dangers of concussions have shaped a more proactive approach to the problem on a professional level, but the overwhelming majority of head injuries are suffered by student athletes in a broad range of sports.

There are 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions per year among teenage athletes and as many as 80% go unrecognized or are not treated properly. The NFL has the funds to keep physicians on staff, but most high school athletic departments do not. Students feel pressure to return to the field in hopes of impressing scouts and receiving scholarships. Therefore it is imperative for coaches and parents to monitor the activities of these student athletes and seek the proper medical attention if a head injury occurs.

If you or a loved one experience a head injury, it is important that you see a doctor for appropriate diagnosis especially if you notice a change in sleep patterns, confusion, fatigue or mood swings. If in fact you have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury such as a concussion, seeking help quickly will increase your chances of a full recovery. Athletes with multiple concussions were 7.7 times more likely to experience a major drop in memory performance.

Smart phones are only getting smarter and more popular but which device do you prefer? iPhone? Android? Blackberry? Windows Mobile? Most of these phones use similar technology for calling grandma, emailing a client and running countless applications to keep users entertained.

Taking issue with these similarities, Apple filed a lawsuit with the United States International Trade Commission in Washington, DC, claiming that HTC, a Taiwanese based Android manufacturer, infringed 10 iPhone patents. The International Trade Commission ruled in Apple's favor last month, finding that HTC infringed one of Apple's patents. Specifically, the "data-tap" technology that allows users to dial a number in a text message or email by simply clicking on the number.

The ruling means that HTC can no longer import phones with this dialing technology, starting April 19, 2012. This ends a two year legal battle for Apple, as they are developing a reputation for aggressively protecting their intellectual property through lawsuits. Apple recently lost similar patent cases in Australian Federal Court and U.S. District Court in San Jose, California against Samsung Electronics.

Four former National Football League players have filed suit in Atlanta against the league for personal injury, asserting that the NFL ignored years of evidence that repeated blows to the head were causing serious and traumatic brain damage to NFL players. The suits are the first of about 30 that will be filed on behalf of ex-NFL players and, in many cases, their wives.

The players claim that the NFL not only failed to take effective action to protect players from head injuries, but failed to inform players of the risks associated with concussions. Instead, the NFL chose to misrepresent and/or conceal medical evidence through its 'hand-picked' committee of physicians who were purportedly researching same, according to the plaintiffs. While athletes in other professional sports who had suffered concussions were being effectively 'shut down' for long periods of time or full seasons, NFL protocol was to return players who had suffered concussions to the very game in which they suffered the injury.

The four men say they continue to suffer from headaches, insomnia, dizziness and dementia. Plaintiffs include Jamal Lewis, Dorsey Levins, Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart. Lewis, 32, played for the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns and is one of only five players to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. Levens, 41, played for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers. Kuykendall retired in 1985 after 10 years with the Atlanta Falcons that earned him the nickname "Kaptain Krazy" for his enthusiastic assaults on opposing players. Stewart spent five seasons with the Detroit Lions and now commentates for ESPN.

If you or a loved one experience a head injury, it is important that you see a doctor for appropriate diagnosis especially if you notice a change in sleep patterns, confusion, fatigue or mood swings. If in fact you have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury such as a concussion, seeking help quickly will increase your chances of a full recovery. Up to 15% of those diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury have persistent disabilities.

Continue reading "Former NFL Players Sue Over Traumatic Brain Injuries" »

What is the value of police chases? How do you balance public safety with the apprehension of suspects? It's time to take a closer look at the offenses for which officers are racing through the streets and highways of Atlanta, sometimes at over 100 mph, to catch a nonviolent suspect. Although there are Georgia laws and guidelines in place to be followed by officers who are in pursuit, they are not applied consistently. There is a big difference between chasing a violent suspect and pursuing someone who ran a red light.

Yesterday, Scott Commander was interviewed by Atlanta WSB TV concerning two women killed as the result of a Clayton County police chase crash and his representation of their family. He stated that similar to the recent New Year's Eve police pursuit crash, the suspect in the Clayton County case was chased by police for a nonviolent traffic offense (impeding the flow of traffic). The Clayton County high speed pursuit ended when the suspect's car crashed into the victims.

Kathy Porter, the wife of Atlanta Braves athletic trainer Jeff Porter, was killed in a violent police chase car wreck on New Years Eve. On the way to the Chick-fil-A Bowl game at about 4:40 pm with their son and another friend, Mr. Porter had the right of way at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive in downtown Atlanta when his Ford Expedition was struck by a speeding Georgia State Patrol car. The trooper was en route to assist in an I-20 police pursuit of a motorcyclist who had failed to yield when he struck the Porter's SUV.

Police pursuits have become a controversial topic as more and more innocent bystanders are suffering injuries. Former Atlanta Police Chief and current Clayton County Commission Chairman, Eldrin Bell likened police pursuits to "firing a gun at a crowded shopping center." Bell has also suggested that police pursuits should be banned in Georgia due to the low probability of catching serious criminals, the use of more sophisticated technology, like traffic cameras, and high costs associated with lawsuits and damage to the city.

In 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a total of 743 fatalities due to car crashes involving police pursuit. Of that number, Georgia reported 25 fatalities due to the police chase of a suspect. The NHTSA acknowledges that its numbers are not complete due to the lack of a mandatory reporting system. There is no way to know exactly how many other deaths and injuries in Georgia were a result of police chases. In fact, the crashes that occur as a result of a police chase are often categorized as occurring after the chase terminated making the crash not "pursuit-related."

According to an FBI report, most police chases ending in a death or injury involve a traffic violation stop, not the pursuit of a violent offender. In Georgia, police agencies have guidelines in place for officers to follow in weighing the need to apprehend the suspect versus the danger involved to themselves and others. Generally, most guidelines do not allow for the high speed chase of someone who has committed a minor traffic infraction such as running a red light or speeding 30 miles over the limit. Unfortunately, innocent third parties are still often the victims of these high speed chase accidents.

When police pursuit ends in a car accident, particularly where there is a wrongful death or serious personal injury, a lawsuit is often filed against the county or city involved. Unfortunately, this can prove to be a difficult task due to the sovereign immunity granted to the state, its counties and municipalities by the Georgia Constitution. However, there is a very specific exception to sovereign immunity in Georgia that applies to the negligent use of government owned motor vehicles; hence police chases may involve a limited waiver of immunity. Further, due to statutory notice provisions, often referred to as "ante litem," families must act quickly to preserve their rights by providing notice of any potential claim to the state, county or municipality which has jurisdiction over the claim.

We have so many options available through technology to assist in the apprehension of nonviolent traffic offenders that it is time to put them to use and avoid the senseless loss of innocent victims. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Porter family.