In many personal injury cases involving older accident victims, the dispositive issue is whether the plaintiff’s back or neck pain was caused or aggravated by the accident or whether it is a natural byproduct of the aging process that results in degenerative disc disease. Often juries have to evaluate the conflicting testimony and opinions of expert witnesses retained by the defense and those of the plaintiff’s treating physicians. However, in the recent DeKalb County State Court case of William Rice v. Frankie Gilmore (13A48441), the defense was able to bolster its case by using the video deposition of a somewhat unusual witness.

Atlanta—A physician whose patient died of liver failure after being prescribed Lamisil for athlete’s foot won a wrongful death medical malpractice case in Fulton County State Court brought by the deceased patient’s relatives. The case was titled Samuel J. Moody v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation et al. (07EV002473) when filed. However, due to substitution of parties and dismissals, the case proceeded to trial under the name Eunice White et al. v. Timothy Young, M.D., et al.

Atlanta—An altercation that began in the parking lot of a Mexican bar/restaurant in Cumming in July, 2010, ended in Fulton County State Court this week when, following a bench trial, Judge Jay Roth entered a judgment against the two remaining defendants in the case. Jacqueline Shelley v. Douglas Todd Laponzina and Desiree Anglin (12EV015068).

The plaintiff’s “home field” advantage of making the final closing argument allowed an attorney in one recent DeKalb County State Court case to powerfully turn an ill-chosen phrase in the defense’s closing statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy and secure a large verdict for his client under a difficult set of circumstances. Jewel Wicker v. American Family Insurance et al. (13A47336).