A key pretrial ruling by Fulton County State Court Judge Diane Bessen on a novel question of Georgia product liability law may have paved the way for a settlement following a $29 million compensatory damages verdict in a recent wrongful death case. Efrain Hilario and Gabina Martinez Flores v. Newell Recycling of Atlanta, Inc. (12EV015400).

Covington, GA—A man whose outpatient gall bladder operation turned into over eight months of hospitalization and six years missed from work lost his Newton County Superior Court med mal case against the surgeon who performed the initial operation. William Ron Aiken and Sherri T. Aiken v. Newton Health System, Inc., and Steven Whitworth, MD (2011-SU-CV-2533-1)

Many legal experts credit Johnny Cochran’s well-known quote, “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit” as being instrumental in helping win an acquittal for O.J. Simpson. More recently, another well known quote, “If you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen,” mentioned in regard to a medical practice’s alleged “paltry documentation,” may have led to a $3.5 million wrongful death verdict in a Clayton County State Court case. Pamela Douglas Banks v. South Atlanta Neurosurgery PC (2008 CV 08001).

According to the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words, but in a recent Fulton County State Court case, a model proved to be worth almost $73 million for a badly injured plaintiff. Stephen Wells v. Aslan Commons, LLC, and WSE, LLC (12EV014728).