In the last five years, ride share services such as Uber have effectively changed the way that millions of Americans move around in our cities. The advent of nontraditional ride share services as an alternative to traditional taxicabs, however, has created a number of issues regarding insurance coverage in states across the country. Among those issues are policy exclusions for car-for-hire activities, the incentive for ride share drivers to commit insurance fraud, compulsory minimum liability limits, the primacy of any commercial policy over a ride share driver’s liability or collision coverage, and the primary duty to defend the insured. In an effort to address those issues, the Georgia Legislature passed a law that was signed by Governor Deal on May 6, 2015. The new law will go into effect on January 1, 2016 as O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24. Ride share services such as Uber and Lyft operate online networks that allow a prospective rider to hail a ride using GPS location services. In order to use a service such as Uber or Lyft, a rider has to create a member account and store payment information. A driver can connect to Uber or Lyft via an online app, and when connected, a driver can see and pick up prospective riders who have requested a ride. Once a driver picks up a rider, the ride share service tracks the route via GPS and automatically bills the rider for the cost of the ride. Generally, any policy of insurance issued in Georgia to the […]

We are pleased to announce that John Alday has been named a partner of the firm.

As published in Atlanta Magazine, seven of our lawyers have been named Georgia Super Lawyers for 2015. These lawyers are Russell D. Waldon, Jonathan M. Adelman, Trevor G. Hiestand, Daniel C. Prout, Jr., Kimberly A. McNamara, Ashley Rice, and Rakhi McNeill.

We are pleased to announce the opening of our Southeast Georgia office in the heart of Historic Downtown Savannah at 100 Bull Street.  We are committed to growing our Southeast Georgia practice by striving to make client access and satisfaction top priorities.  Please continue to direct all communications to our Atlanta Office.

Jonathan Adelman and Kevin Reardon published an update on Auto Insurance Liability Law in the Georgia Defense Lawyer publication, Volume XI, Issue II, Summer 20014.  Click to view the article: Summer 2014 GDLA Article

After two (2) days of trial and one and one-half (1½) hours of deliberations in the State Court of DeKalb County, Jonathan Adelman successfully limited a plaintiff’s verdict to $12,774, considerably less than the pre-trial offer of $45,000 and plaintiff’s request to the jury in the amount of $110,000. This was a case of clear liability on the part of the defendant. The plaintiff claimed ongoing injuries to her neck, low back, and sacroiliac joint, despite the fact that she showed up at trial wearing four inch heels.  She was transported from the scene of the accident, which involved a significant impact, by ambulance.   She followed up with an orthopedist, who administered four (4) sacroiliac joint injections between July of 2011 and March of 2014.  The favorable result was largely due to very effective cross-examinations of plaintiff’s doctor and plaintiff and some significant gaps in treatment.