Common Types of Slip and Fall Accidents in Georgia

Compensation that May be Available through a Slip and Fall in Georgia

3 Types of Claims a Slip and Fall Attorney in Georgia Can Handle

3 Considerations When Selecting Your Slip and Fall Attorney in Georgia

Slip and Fall Accident in Peachtree City, Georgia, on Residential Property

Indoor Slip and Fall Accident in Peachtree City, Georgia: 4 Danger Areas

5 Factors That Could Lead to a Slip and Fall in Fayetteville

When a Hip Fracture Occurs After a Slip and Fall in Fayetteville

Conditions and Causes for Indoor Slip and Fall Accidents in Georgia

Property Owners’ Negligence and Your Indoor Slip and Fall Claim in Georgia

Atlanta Rape and Sexual Assault Lawyer - Sexual Assault Victims Find Few Avenues for Justice on College Campuses

As an Atlanta premises liability lawyer, I should be immune to the high sex crime incident rates on college campuses.  But the numbers never fail to horrify me. Approximately one in every five female college students will be the victim of a rape or attempted raped by the time she graduates.

According to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, most of the victims do not report these crimes to the police or to the campus authorities. In fact, more than 95 percent of students who are sexually assaulted chose not to report the crime at all.  They encounter barriers when they approach their local law enforcement authorities, who tend to avoid such cases because they sometimes involve drug or alcohol use. Campus authorities prefer to hide these incidents from unwelcome public attention, placing barriers of secrecy that students find difficult to cross.

The report says that few of these victims even have a campus hearing. Those victims who choose to contact campus authorities about their assault frequently find that the campus justice system involves disciplinary proceedings conducted in secret, and negotiations that are not on the record. Not surprisingly, such practices can discourage students from following up on their complaints.  In other cases, they feel compelled to agree to a gag order.

The Center found that such practices leave no room for any accountability and often end with barely any punishment or no punishment at all for the alleged perpetrators of the assault.  The college years are the most formative period in a person's life and shouldn't have to be marred by experiences like this. One in five women falling victim to sexual assault is a shameful statistic.

Jason Schultz is an Atlanta premises liability lawyer, helping victims of assaults and rapes in apartment complexes and colleges seek justice.

Shooting Death of Student leads to Suit against Clark Atlanta University for Inadequate Premises Security

It's a parent's worst nightmare - getting the news that the child you've sent off to college has been killed.  For Jasmine Lynn's parents, that nightmare became reality when their daughter, a Spellman College student, was killed in September outside a dorm at the Clark Atlanta University campus. A fight had broken out on the campus, and shots were fired. A stray bullet struck Lynn, killing her.

Her parents have now announced their plans to file a lawsuit against the university. Lynn's parents are suing the university for wrongful death and neglecting to provide adequate security.

Georgia's premises liability laws can apply to a range of claims, including slip and fall accidents, electrical injuries, assaults, and rapes on other's property. Maintaining safe premises includes not just maintenance of the physical structure of the property to prevent any trips falls, electrical hazards, falling loads etc., but also providing adequate security to visitors, guests, residents and customers.

Premises must have adequate numbers of security guards stationed at entry and exit points.

Premises owners must hire safe and competent employees.

Security gates must be strong and impossible to breach.

Parking lots and common areas must have adequate lighting.

Failure to provide adequate security can be the basis for a claim against the property owner. In Lynn's case, Clark Atlanta authorities had the duty to provide a safe campus for students who had enrolled at the institution. Their failure to do so may have cost a promising young student her life, and the institution should be held accountable for her death if they were negligent in failing to make the campus safe.

Jason Schultz is an Atlanta premises liability lawyer, helping victims of slip and fall accidents, assaults, and rapes on other's properties, recover the compensation that's due to them.

Eight Years After Increased Safety Measures, Atlanta Escalator Injuries Continue to Rise

While reports of ripped toes and disfigurements make it to the front page, those accidents that occur every week on Atlanta's escalators but don't involve maiming, hardly receive a mention.  Yet the truth is that every week, several people have their limbs and clothing snagged in the city's many escalators, many times leading to more than simple bruising.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution examined at least 140 such escalator injury reports that occurred till August of this year, and found that many of them took place in facilities that had multiple escalators, like the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or the biggest shopping malls in Atlanta.  A majority of these, safety experts at Georgia's Department of Labor which is responsible for the licensing and inspections of these escalators say, is caused because of the riders themselves, and cannot be blamed on failure of the equipment. Even so, they warn that just because an escalator functions in the manner in which it's supposed to, doesn't make it completely safe.  A majority of these injuries occur when clothing or footwear gets snagged in the gaps at the sides of a moving escalator. A woman recently had her trench coat caught in the gap, pulling her down to the ground as the escalator headed down, and eventually leaving her with a dislocated shoulder before the machine could be switched off.  A 3-year-old child was injured when her Crocs shoes were sucked into the gap, leaving her with a severed toe, and unimaginable trauma.

Many injuries involving little children and escalators have been blamed on the Crocs shoes that victims were apparently wearing in most of the accidents.  Now, experts say that we might just be focusing responsibility and blame for these incidents on the wrong target.  Escalators shouldn't come with these gaps that pose a potential entrapment hazard. Period. 

Eight years ago, after one such incident, the escalator industry responded to these concerns with a set of standards for the size of these gaps, as well as an increase in friction along the edges of the escalator steps.  In 2008, there is still no information on whether these measures have actually helped reduce the number of escalator injuries, because of the lack of any serious studies or evaluations conducted since then.   We have only the escalator industry's defense of the safety of their equipment to rely on.  Meanwhile, injuries continue to occur on Atlanta's numerous escalators.

Escalator injuries can result in severe maiming, including loss of limbs and amputation of toes.  Both children and adults can be at risk when they slip through the escalator gaps, or have their limbs or clothes caught in these.  Liability for these injuries can extend from the makers of the equipment to the companies responsible for maintaining and operating these, as well as a premises liability lawsuit against the building itself.

If you've suffered injuries as a result of an escalator accident, contact an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.

New Anti Drowning Law for Pools and Hot Tubs

Thousand of pools and hot tubs could be closed unless new anti drowning drain covers are installed.  The new drains are designed to prevent drain suction from trapping children under water.  The rules apply to all pools and spas used by the public.  The improved drain systems were outlined in legislation passed by Congress a year ago.  The legislation bans the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

New models use a hump-shaped drain cover rather than the flat style that more easily attains suction with a child's body. Pools with just one drain also are required to install a second drain system, or external shut-off.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday the agency will focus initially on public baby pools and wading pools, as well as in-ground spas that have flat drain grates on the bottom and just one drain system.

The National Swimming Pool Foundation, a nonprofit group in Colorado Springs, Colo., said about 80 percent of the 300,000 public pools and spas in the United States do not comply with the new rules and may have to close.

Georgia wrongful death and serious injury attorney Jason R. Schultz represents drowning victims and their families.  If you or a loved one have suffered serious personal injuries or death due to a pool operators carelessness or failure to comply with the law, please call (404) 474-0804 for a free consultation