Trial lawyer, pals form Fried Rogers Goldberg
THREE PLAINTIFFS’ lawyers who’ve been making a name for themselves with some big verdicts have joined forces. Joseph A. Fried, who’s been in solo practice for about a year, united with Brian D. “Buck” Rogers and Michael L. Goldberg of Rogers & Goldberg to form Fried Rogers Goldberg on July 1.
Rogers and Goldberg said their specialty is handling injuries from truck accidents. They also represent plaintiffs in other vehicle accidents, medical malpractice cases and other catastrophic personal injury cases. Fried focused his practice on auto products liability cases until branching out into trucking and other catastrophic injury suits.
Rogers, 41, said that he and Fried, 42, have been close friends for some time. “From a practical standpoint, we’ve been in each other’s practices
for years. We’ve just never been official about it,” he said.
Rogers said he and Goldberg have competed with Fried for commercial vehicle cases since Fried started taking them. “Time and time again [prospective clients] were leaving his office to interview us and vice versa,” said Rogers.
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Trucking case settles for $14M – Fried Rogers Goldberg Attorneys snag third multimillion-dollar settlement in S.C. this year
Joseph A. Fried of Fried Rogers Goldberg has reached a $14.25 million settlement for a Georgia family in a South Carolina wrongful death case against a trucking company.
The details of the settlement were made public because of settlement requirements in South Carolina that differ from Georgia, where lawyers can simply withdraw lawsuits by saying they’ve been resolved and keep settlement terms confidential. In South Carolina, withdrawal of a wrongful death case must be approved by the courts, according to Fried. “South Carolina makes it very difficult to have confidential settlements because the court approvals are required,” Fried said.
Because the case involved multiple plaintiffs and minor children, several court orders were required. Judge J. Michelle Childs of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina approved the settlement in June. “It took forever to get the court to approve the settlement,” said Fried, who noted the parties reached an agreement in April.
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East Point appeals $16M death verdict – City hit with default judgment in case of man who died days after being released from city jail
Claiming it was not served properly with the suit, the city of East Point is appealing a $16 million default judgment awarded to the family of a man who died several days after being bonded out of the city jail with a badly bruised face and head and evidence of brain damage.
Johnathan Battle, 24, was arrested in East Point on Jan. 6, 2008, “while attempting with others to remove custom wheels from an automobile,”
according to court filings.
“He rebuilt old cars,” said attorney Michael L. Goldberg of Fried Rogers Goldberg. “He thought some boys had stolen some parts from him and
had gone to get them back. They saw him and called the police and had him locked up.”
When Battle’s mother, Millicent Takyi, arrived to bond him out, her son was “confused and disoriented, obviously beat up,” said Goldberg. Takyi immediately took her son to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for multiple fractures and swelling of the brain, said Goldberg. Battle lapsed into a coma and never regained consciousness, said Goldberg, dying 11 days later.
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Jury rules Marta must pay for escalator injury
A FULTON COUNTY jury as awarded more than $500,000 to a woman who said she was injured when a MARTA escalator suddenly accelerated, shooting her off the end and causing the heavy bag around her neck to wrench her neck.
In court filings, MARTA said that the only reported incident on July 11, 2003, involved the stopped escalator being used as a stairway upon which “an elderly gentleman became dizzy and fell,” causing “a domino effect which caused the individuals on the escalator to run off.”
“MARTA claimed the accident never happened,” said lead plaintiff’s attorney Michael L. Goldberg of Fried Rogers Goldberg, describing the version his client told. “Essentially, she was on that 75-foot escalator at the Peachtree Center station, shopping for her business at the Apparel Mart, and about one-third of the way down, the escalator starting speeding up,” said Goldberg.
“Everybody star ted yelling and screaming, the lady behind her gave her baby to a big man behind her to hold, then a MARTA security guard came up and hit the emergency stop,” said Goldberg. Goldberg’s client, Cynthia McCarty, who was in Atlanta shopping for the country club she manages in Lakeland, Fla., “hit the floor running,” the attorney said.
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$10M awarded to family in wreck – Attorney for parents of two children killed in crash says question is whether defendant’s insurer will pay
THE PARENTS OF TWO children who were killed when an oncoming car crossed the median on Interstate 85 in Jackson County and hit the car they were riding in were awarded more than $10 million by a federal jury last month.
Now, says one of winning attorneys, the question is whether the defendant’s insurer, State Farm, will make good on the judgment, or face a “bad faith” action to force it to pay since it failed to respond to a policy-limit demand within the required time period.
“We’re in negotiations with State Farm right now,” said Michael L. Goldberg of Fried Rogers Goldberg, who tried the plaintiffs’ case with partner and lead counsel Joseph A. Fried on behalf of Joseph and Carolyn Gargiulo and another minor child injured in the crash.
Goldberg said he believes there is a “pretty high likelihood” the insurer will settle. An attorney who has followed the case for State Farm did not respond to requests for comment, but Goldberg said that in pre-trial discussions the insurer felt the case should have a $3 million to $4 million value.
The case was particularly tragic, said Goldberg, because two children in the car driven by the defendant, Connecticut resident Bellande Domercant, also were killed in the wreck, and Domercant remains devastated by its outcome.
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Young lawyers sharpen trial skills at clinic
In the quarter century since it began, the annual training course for young lawyers at the University of Georgia School of Law has become an institution itself, evolving as a legacy of and for attorneys across the state and now renamed for one of its longtime leaders.
The Gary Christy Memorial Trial Skills Clinic was held June 23 through June 26 at the law school, drawing 48 young lawyers for four days of intensive practice, critiques and mentoring by 27 experienced attorneys from around the state. Many of the mentors knew and worked with Gary C. Christy, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 52 after complications from surgery. The young lawyers who didn’t know Christy learned about him along with their trial training.
“Gary Christy was a spellbinding storyteller,” said Stephen J. Harper, director of programs for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia and chairman of the clinic. “I’ve seen him take the notes out of a student’s hand and say, ‘Now, talk to the witness and we’ll get through this.’” Even in closing arguments for mock civil trials, Christy never failed to deliver “goose bumps,” Harper said.
“Gary Christy believed that it’s part of our duty to help other lawyers become good. You don’t get that in law school,” said Joseph A. Fried of Fried Rogers Goldberg, one of the clinic’s mentors.
“I don’t think anyone ever had a superficial conversation with Gary,” said another mentor, Michael S. Carlson, deputy chief assistant district attorney for the gang prosecution unit in DeKalb County. “His hopefulness about
people in general helped his practice and inspired his students.”
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Attorney Joe Fried Named To Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Foru
The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is pleased to announce that attorney Joseph A. Fried of Atlanta GA has been certified as a life member of both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. The organization was founded in 1993 and there are approximately 4000 members located throughout the country. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. Forum membership acknowledges excellence in advocacy, and provides members with a national network of experienced colleagues for professional referral and information exchange in major cases. Members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case in which their client has received a verdict, award or settlement in the amount of one million dollars or more.
Members of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum must be Life Members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case which has resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict, award or settlement. Mr. Fried has been approved for membership in both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi- Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Joseph A Fried is a graduate of University of Georgia School of Law. His national practice focuses on major injury (spinal, brain and burn injuries, severe pain syndromes), disability and wrongful death, with strong emphasis on truck collision cases.
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13 on the rise Georgia Lawyers under 40 to watch
Even before plaintiffs’ lawyers Brian D. “Buck” Rogers and his young partner Michael L. Goldberg joined forces with friendly rival Joseph A. Fried three years ago to form Fried Rogers Goldberg, they were winning substantial
awards for clients. Since then, the personal injury boutique has been racking up millions in verdicts and settlements in Georgia and across the country, finding particular success in the specialty of trucking accidents, including a $10 million verdict in federal court last year.
“Anytime we have a case of disputed liability that looks like it’s going to trial, it’s best to get Michael in early,” says Rogers. Expressing admiration for his younger colleague’s trial technique, Rogers says Goldberg “only
has one weakness in front of a jury: kryptonite.”
A conversation with Goldberg soon reveals what may be the key to his success in the courtroom: He loves a good yarn and has even written a number of children’s stories based on the characters he dreamed up for his
own kids’ bedtime tales.
“I’ve always been a storyteller,” says Goldberg, kicking back in his firm’s conference room with an easy grin. “I think it started with my dad; he always told me stories: Uncle Remus, B’rer Rabbit—I guess I’ve incorporated that into my own stories.”
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