biography

Jonathan M. Adelman has practiced in the areas of insurance defense, insurance coverage, insurance fraud, motor vehicle liability, trucking liability, general liability, and civil/commercial litigation. He represents individuals, corporations, and insurance companies in state and federal courts, both at the trial and the appellate levels. Mr. Adelman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from Georgia State University. Mr. Adelman served as a lead articles editor on the Georgia State University Law Review.

Mr. Adelman has been lead counsel in more than 150 jury trials. In addition, Mr. Adelman has presented arguments to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

Mr. Adelman was one of two attorneys designated by Georgia insurance companies to foster a legislative fix to Georgia’s growing problem involving tactical conditional settlement demands. Mr. Adelman’s efforts resulted in the successful passage of O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1.  Also, in 2015, Mr. Adelman again successfully represented the interests of insurance companies in the legislative process by testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in opposition of a bill designed to overhaul Georgia’s uninsured motorist insurance bad faith statute for the sole purpose of creating a financial windfall to claimants at the extreme detriment of insurance companies.  In 2019, Mr. Adelman testified before “The Senate Study Committee on Reducing Georgia’s Cost of Doing Business” about a variety of tort reform/consumer protection topics, including, but not limited to, medical funding, phantom damages, and “gotcha” settlement demands.  In 2020, Mr. Adelman testified before the Georgia Senate Insurance Committee and the House Judiciary Committee in support of bills seeking to regulate and/or curb “gotcha” settlement demands and medical funding companies and was instrumental to obtaining amendments to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1 in 2021.

Mr. Adelman is a frequent lecturer and is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell.  He is a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (“FDCC”), American Board of Trial Advocates (“ABOTA”), Atlanta Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, the Atlanta Claims Association, and the National Association of Professional Insurance Investigators. For each year since 2009, Mr. Adelman has been named a Super Lawyer by his peers in Atlanta Magazine. Mr. Adelman is routinely named as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Georgia. Also, on four separate occasions, Mr. Adelman’s successful case results have been featured in front page articles of the Daily Report, Georgia’s legal periodical.

Law School:
Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., Lead Articles Editor – Georgia State University Law Review

Undergraduate:
University of Georgia, B.B.A. in Finance, Recipient: Alumni Scholarship

Practice Areas

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Appellate
• Bad Faith Litigation
• Catastrophic Injury Litigation
• Civil Litigation
• Insurance Coverage
• Insurance Defense
• Insurance Fraud
• Personal Injury
• Premises Liability
• Trucking Litigation

Professional or Trade Affiliations

• State Bar of Georgia
• Defense Research Institute
• Georgia Defense Lawyers Association
• Atlanta Bar Association
• National Association of Professional Insurance Investigators
• Atlanta Claims Association
• Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel

Admitted to Practice

• Superior and State Courts of Georgia
• Georgia Court of Appeals
• Supreme Court of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• Eleventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals

Honors & Awards

• “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Georgia Super Lawyers (each year since 2009)
• Top 100 Georgia Attorneys, Georgia Super Lawyers (each year since 2019)
• Best Lawyers (each year since 2021)

In the News

• “State Farm Nets $2 Million In Insurance Fraud Suit,” Fulton County Daily Report (May 9, 2006);
• “Brain Damaged Man Denied Award,” Fulton County Daily Report (October 13, 2009);
• “Jury Not Convinced Wreck Caused Injuries,” Fulton County Daily Report (October 24, 2011);
• “Defense Verdict in Tragic Fulton Accident,” Fulton County Daily Report (August 7, 2012);
• “Secret Group Drafting Bill Over Bad Faith Claims,” Fulton County Daily Report (January 29, 2013).

• “How Can Insurance Companies Balance Georgia’s Mirror Image Settlement Rule and Georgia’s Negligent/Bad Faith Failure to Settle Law,” Various Insurance Companies in Atlanta, Nashville, Dallas, and Tampa (2011 – 2022)
• “What Insurers Need to Know About Bad Faith in the Context of Bodily Injury Claims,” Various Insurance Companies in Atlanta, Nashville, and Tampa (2009 – 2011)
• “Inside the Courtroom: The Trial of a Personal Injury Case,” Institute of Continuing Legal Education (2013)
• “Introduction to Georgia Motor Vehicle Insurance Issues,” Various Insurance Companies in Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and California (2015 – 2016)
• “Settling Our Differences in Bad Faith,” Atlanta, Georgia (2017)
• “Funding Companies”; NICB Meeting, Alpharetta, Georgia (2019)
• “The Senate Study Committee on Reducing Georgia’s Cost of Doing Business,” Young Harris, Georgia (2019)
• “Gotcha Settlement Demands,” Dallas, Texas (2019)
• “Emerging Issues in Litigation and Why Your Company Should Care,” Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, New York City, New York (2022)
• “The Explosive Rise of Nuclear Verdicts,” Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, New York City, New York (2023)

• Petrenko v. Moseri, 333 Ga. App. 14, 775 S. E. 2d 272 (2015)
• Wellstar Kennestone Hospital v. Roman, 344 Ga. App. 375, 810 S.E. 2d 600 (2018)
• Sherman v. Dickey, 322 Ga. App. 228, 744 S.E.2d 408 (2013);
• Lankford v. State Farm, 307 Ga. App. 12, 703 S.E.2d 436 (2010);
• Harden v. State Farm, 339 Fed. Appx. 897, 2009 WL 2168948 (2009);
• Kelley v. Blue Line Carriers, 300 Ga. App. 577, 685 S.E.2d 479 (2009);
• Smith v. Stoddard, 294 Ga. App. 679, 669 S.E.2d 712 (2008);
• Gates v. Navy, 274 Ga. App. 180, 617 S.E.2d 163 (2005);
• Wolfork v. Tackett, 241 Ga. App. 633, 526 S.E.2d 436 (1999);
• Hudson v. Mehaffey, 239 Ga. App. 705, 521 S.E.2d 838 (1999);
• Chamlee v. Henry County Bd. of Educ., 239 Ga. App. 183, 521 S.E.2d 78 (1999);
• Terry v. State Farm, 269 Ga. 777 (1998).