Case Results
Success stories from people we helped throughout Georgia
We're humbled by our case results. Each success story shows how we truly made a difference in someone's life. To hear what our clients said about us in their own words, read their testimonials. In case after case, we have consistently helped clients obtain justice and restore dignity to their lives.
Many of our cases involve months or even years of hard work. Some law firms avoid such complicated cases. Johnson Greer Law Group proudly accepts them. That's because we truly want to help people who need our help the most.
If you or a loved one has sustained a serious injury due to negligence, contact our law firm right away. We can meet with you for free, and you'll only pay an attorney's fee if we win your case. We serve people throughout the entire state of Georgia.
DISCLAIMER: The settlements and verdicts listed here represent a sampling of the case results pursued and won by Johnson Greer Law Group. Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case. Nor does it mean that we win all of our cases - we don't.
$3.2 million recovery for wrongful death resulting from negligent security
$2.5 million recovery for personal injury victim who was killed
$1.5 million recovery for wrongful death resulting from medical malpractice
$1.5 million serious injury/negligent security recovery
$1.5 million recovery for victim who was sexually assaulted at apartment complex
$1 million recovery for personal injury victim who was killed
$900,000 recovery for wrongful death resulting from physician medical negligence
$650,000 serious injury/negligent security recovery
$650,000 elder abuse/wrongful death recovery
$600,000 recovery for wrongful death resulting from physician medication errors
$500,000 serious injury/negligent security recovery
$475,000 recovery for medical malpractice surgical error victim
$405,000 recovery for victim abused and neglected at an assisted living and nursing home facility
$375,000 recovery for victim of personal injury at apartment complex
$325,000 serious injury/negligent security recovery
$325,000 recovery for victim of abuse, neglect and wrongful death at multiple nursing home facilities
$300,000 elder abuse/wrongful death recovery
$300,000 elder abuse recovery
$270,000 recovery for victim of nursing home and hospital neglect
$250,000 nursing home abuse recovery
$225,000 recovery for victim of assisted living abuse and neglect
$200,000 recovery for victim of neglect and wrongful death at hospital facility
$175,000 recovery for victim of personal injury at apartment complex
This money serves a vital purpose for injury victims and their families. These settlements allow people to pay their bills and other expenses associated with serious accidents. These verdicts enable people to live their lives with dignity and respect.
Nursing Home Neglect Case Study
Nursing homes have the responsibility to care for those who are too old or too ill to care for themselves. While the vast majority of these facilities are well run and provide compassionate care, there are cases every year that result in injury, suffering, even death for reasons that should have been preventable. Our firm is dedicated to assisting the victims of these cases.
Edward P's grandfather died in a nursing home, and Edward soon discovered evidence that his grandfather had not received proper care. There were terrible bedsores, and other evidence of neglect. Edward and his family were distraught, upset and trying pick up the pieces of their lives. Then came the revelation that Edward's grandfather had suffered a broken leg-possibly some weeks before his death-that was never cared for. The nursing home staff had not bothered to check it, and the patient could no longer communicate for himself. Edward's family knew this was wrong. But they had no idea what to do.
Our firm investigated the situation and determined there was a high probability the nursing home was at fault. With our help, Edward's family was able to confront the nursing home staff, and use the legal system to hold the nursing home management accountable. In addition to a significant cash settlement, Edward and his family received the comfort that others would not have to suffer as their grandfather did.
Assisted Living Case Study
Yolanda M. nearly died in a personal care home. She fell and broke her hip. She was in pain and unable to get up. There were phones and a panic button in the room, but should could not reach them. The staff of this assisted living facility was supposed to do safety checks every shift. None were done. As a result, this poor woman was left helpless on the floor for so long, her skin was sticking to the floor.
Yolanda's life was never the same afterwards. She never walked again. She was scarred for the rest of her life. But Yolanda had a savior-her sister had the courage to step in. She asked tough questions and hired a lawyer. She and George S. Johnson intervened and took the negligent facility to court to hold them accountable for this terrible neglect. Yolanda's family obtained a monetary settlement. More importantly, they exposed the truth and brought about changes in the facility's behavior so that the same travesty doesn't happen again.
Surgical Error Case Study
Medicine is not a perfect science. We all know that even the best of care cannot prevent bad outcomes. We put a lot of trust in our doctors and we naturally expect to be taken care of without needless harm when we consent to their care.
While it is true that medicine is not a perfect science, we never consent to negligent care or needless mistakes at the hands of our doctors. Johnson Greer Law Group is dedicated to helping the victims of medical malpractice, and their families, obtain justice and dignity.
Jason L went to his doctor for routine gall bladder surgery. Unfortunately, the doctor simply cut too far and too deep when trying to remove Jason's gall bladder and cut an artery. If not for a more senior surgeon who happened to be on call at the hospital and who came to repair the first doctor's mistake, Jason would have died on the operating table. As it was, Jason had to endure months of painful rehabilitation and was unable to live the active life he used to have.
Fortunately, Jason's family hired George S. Johnson to take the doctor to trial. It was a challenging case, but finally when the doctor saw that the case was going badly for him, he accepted the reality of his mistake, and we settled the case out of court. The result didn't bring back the priceless treasures he lost, but it did provide strong compensation for Jason's injuries and pay for the added care he needed to live his life after this catastrophe.
Failure to Diagnose Case Study
We expect medical professionals to exercise all due care when it comes to treating our medical conditions. Unfortunately, some medical doctors fail to provide their patients with the level of care they need. A case we handled in early 2017 illustrates this reality.
Our client, a woman in her early fifties, went to her primary care doctor complaining of numbness and tingling in her left foot and left leg. Over the course of the next year, she went back to the same doctor six different times, with her condition visibly worsening each time. She went from walking normally, to walking with a cane, to barely being able to move at all with a wheeled walker. Yet the doctor continued to insist she was suffering from arthritis or shin splints and did not refer her to a specialist, even though she had no prior history of trauma or surgery that could have explained her symptoms.
When our client was finally evaluated by an orthopedist, her new provider immediately diagnosed a spinal cord injury that was the result of a disc protrusion with central canal stenosis. Unfortunately, this diagnosis was too late to prevent her from sustaining serious, irreversible injuries, leading to permanent disability and partial paralysis.
Our firm immediately went to work to seek fair compensation for this patient. We worked directly with her medical provider and retained a doctor in the same field as her original physician who produced a signed affidavit stating that her care did not meet established standards of care. Although we were fully prepared to take this case to trial, we were able to successfully negotiate and recover a substantial sum for our client within six to eight months – a very short timeframe for this type of medical negligence case – without even filing a lawsuit. Our strong reputation for handling medical malpractice cases was a key factor in reaching this efficient resolution.
The recovery has given our client a new lease on life. When we first met her, we had to drive to her apartment because she was unable to come to us due to her disability. She could not work and was struggling to keep up with her bills, living on only her disability benefits. With the compensation we recovered, she was able to purchase an accessible home and a reliable vehicle with modifications to accommodate her disability, allowing her to regain much of her independence and quality of life. We were also able to help her keep her disability benefits to ensure that she has a reliable income. While there is no way to truly compensate for the permanent damage done to her health, we were glad to be able to give her the opportunity to rebuild her life.
Negligent Security Case Study
All property owners have a responsibility to keep their premises safe, and that includes providing adequate security. When they fail to do so, people can be seriously hurt, as one case we handled in 2017 shows.
Our client, a school bus driver in her fifties, was leaving a motorcycle club in DeKalb County late one night when a firefight broke out and she was caught in the crossfire. She was struck by two bullets; one hit her in the face and the other became embedded in her leg. When she was brought to the hospital, doctors were unable to remove the bullet from her leg because of the way it had entered, fearing that they would cause more damage.
Fortunately, she recovered from her injuries and was able to return to her job driving a school bus, but the incident left her with a permanent limp as well as scarring across her nose. She retained our firm to pursue a negligent security case against the club. Despite a long history of similar altercations on the property and adjacent properties, the club had absolutely no security presence, and we were able to prove that the incident could have been stopped if the club had security in place.
We sent letters to the LLC that owned the club asking for information on their liability insurance, but received no response. At that point, many attorneys would have dropped the case, as it is almost impossible to recover from an uninsured defendant. But we took a “leap of faith” and filed a lawsuit against the club. On the last possible day to respond to the lawsuit, we heard back from a prominent Georgia insurance defense firm, confirming that the club had insurance after all. We then immediately submitted a demand letter for the full policy limits, knowing that the club had only limited coverage and any additional claims would reduce the amount of insurance available for our client. They tendered the full policy without further issue.
Because we took immediate action in this case, we were able to resolve our client’s situation quickly without the need for depositions or other time-consuming legal procedures. Our client was grateful not only for the compensation we discovered, but also that we were able to take care of her legal needs quickly so that she could focus on her physical recovery, her children and grandchildren, and her ailing mother.
Wrongful Death Case Study
No experience is more painful than the death of a loved one, especially when the death involves the needless loss of a child. Wrongful death caused by someone's negligence happens in many ways-motor vehicle accidents, medical or nursing home neglect and abuse, or by the negligence of the owners of property or premises to name just a few. Our firm handles many of these tragedies. Susan, a bright and promising 19-year-old, is a sad example.
The complex where Susan and her parents lived had a history of violent crime — on its property as well as the surrounding community. Susan's neighbors complained to the apartment owners about the crime — the fences around the property were in such disrepair that trespassers could come and go at will.
These circumstances led to disaster when Susan was sexually assaulted and murdered on the property as she was getting out of her parent's car. Security cameras were in place, but broken. The security officer left his post and was asleep when he should have been on duty. Our firm investigated and found out that other assaults had occurred there before. Not only did Susan's family get a strong settlement to hold the owners of this complex accountable, they made the facility and community safer for the rest of the residents there. No settlement fixes the pain of losing a child, but the results of this family's case were a great way to honor Susan's legacy.
Hotel Wrongful Death Case Study*
In many personal injury and wrongful death cases, the amount of damages (financial compensation) to be awarded is not under dispute. Rather, the plaintiff's attorney's job is to hold the right person or business accountable for the accident in order to actually recover that compensation for the victim.
Alanna D was killed by a drunk driver while seated in a poolside cabana structure at a hotel. Alanna, who was seven months pregnant with the couple's first child at the time of the accident, and her husband, Michael, were on an all-expenses-paid vacation. The drunk driver was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.24, which is three times the legal limit.
We represented Michael, who was the personal representative of his wife's estate, in his wrongful death suit against both the driver and the hotel. Our case against the hotel centered on the legal doctrine of premises liability - that is, the hotel had failed to maintain its premises (in this case, the cabana structure) in a safe condition. Our investigation found that the cabana was too close to the roadway and was built in violation of the state building code. We also found that the cabana was located just off a sharp curve in a road with a high volume of traffic, creating a dangerous condition that the hotel knew existed - hotel management had called the road a "race track" - and could have remedied.
The hotel's attorneys argued that the driver was 100 percent responsible for the accident due to her high level of intoxication and reckless speed. We retained a structural engineer who stated that the hotel could have easily remedied the dangerous condition, either by building a barrier such as a guardrail that would have stopped the vehicle from striking the cabana, or by moving the cabana itself to a location closer to the pool.
The jury awarded Alanna's estate $24 million in damages, including $2 million for the loss of future support and services due to Alanna's death and $22 million for Michael's loss of his wife's companionship as well as his mental pain and suffering. Taking our argument and expert's testimony into account, the jury found the hotel 15 percent negligent, leaving them responsible for $3.6 million.
Fatal Car Accident Case Study*
Losing a loved one is never easy, especially when the death is the result of someone else's reckless behavior. In some cases, the ensuing legal battle can make the experience even more difficult for the family. That's where a determined and compassionate attorney can make a huge difference.
On Labor Day, 2013, Hilary M and Robert L were riding a tandem bicycle in Clearwater, Florida when they were struck and killed by a drunk driver. The motorist in question was an employee at Shephard's Beach Resort who had consumed a significant amount of alcohol after his work shift ended before getting behind the wheel. He was later charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The victims' families filed lawsuits against Shephard's, alleging that the resort negligently supplied the driver with alcohol and was thus liable for the two deaths. Our investigation revealed that the employee had a significant history of consuming alcohol in front of other resort workers. Florida's "dram shop" law holds bars liable for accidents when they serve alcohol to a person who is "known to be habitually addicted to alcohol."
Our investigation also showed that several other Shephard's employees knew that the driver was under the influence of alcohol when he left the resort the morning of the accident, yet no steps were taken to stop him from getting behind the wheel. Moreover, we uncovered reports showing that the resort had a long history of impaired drivers leaving the bar and subsequently causing accidents, dating back to 2002.
Based on the facts of the case, we negotiated a settlement that awarded a total of $7 million - $3.5 million for each family. However, Indemnity Insurance Corp., which insured Shephard's at the time of the tragedy, was liquidated in April 2014, making them unable to pay the settlement. As such, the legal battle continues, with the resort filing a lawsuit against former insurer Wells Fargo alleging that they placed the insurance policy with a non-viable agency.
We remain involved in the case against Wells Fargo on behalf of the estates of the two victims. “In this situation, there is a minimum due diligence that should have been performed” by Wells Fargo, he said. The case against the broker alleges that multiple serious red flags regarding Indemnity Insurance’s financial viability were ignored before and after Wells Fargo placed the Shephard’s policy with them, and as a result of that negligence, the families of the victims have yet to receive any of the compensation they were awarded.
Unfortunately, it is quite common for issues that have little to do with the facts of the original case, such as an insurance company being liquidated, to delay payment to a grieving family for months or years. In these circumstances, it is vitally important to have an attorney who will continue the fight for as long as it takes to get a positive outcome.
*Case handled by attorney George S. Johnson in his capacity as an "Of Counsel" attorney at a law firm distinct from Johnson Greer Law Group.