Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Good Georgia Lawyer is very concerned about the Governor's new plan to turn the emergency lane on the Ga. 400 into a travel lane. Governor Nathan Deal announced this new project to convert the highway shoulder that is typically used for an emergency lane as an additional lane for traffic. The emergency shoulder is currently used for ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars who need a speedy bypass for getting through congested traffic to reach an emergency or get a patient to the hospital in time.

Emergency services operators are all expressing their alarm. Even those who simply need to use the emergency lane in the event of a car break down now will not have an option to do so, thus increasing the dangers on this particular freeway significantly. Firefighters, police officers, and ambulance drivers are against the new plan believing it will put the public at risk.

Ga. 400 rush-hour commuters know how difficult this freeway can be as it has been recently ranked as one of the nations most unreliable commutes. Nevertheless, experts say that converting the emergency lane into a traffic lane will not ease the traffic that significantly and critics contend that the heavy price tag made up of safety losses make it not worth it.

Good Georgia Lawyer regularly represents Georgians who have been seriously injured or tragically killed because of a dangerous highway condition and thus we urge the Governor and Department of Transportation to consider other solutions before sacrificing highway safety.

For example, we recently represented a U.S. military sergeant who nearly lost her life due to a tragic automobile accident on a Georgia interstate when she was hit by a reckless driver, an admitted drug addict, who had been weaving in and out of traffic. She rolled through several freeway lanes of traffic before tumbling into the emergency lane and flipping into an embankment.

Fortunately for her, other witnesses and Good Samaritans had an emergency lane during the time of this collision where they were able to pull over and assist her in while they waited for emergency medical personnel to arrive.

This client of ours sustained serious medical injuries that she will sadly suffer the rest of her life. Shortly after the automobile collision, she retained a lawyer who wanted her to settle her claim for $30,000. Dissatisfied with the legal service she was rendered, she terminated him as counsel and subsequently retained her firm. We were very honored to be able to represent her and aggressively litigated the case preparing for trial. As a result of hard work and preparation, we were able to settle her case for the full policy limits, at a confidential six figure settlement.

She recently wrote to us the following:

"I was in a horrific car accident in 2009. I was hit by a drug addict. My car did 'three-sixties' on the highway and flipped over into an embankment. My car was totaled. By the grace of God I had no broken bones but I had several other injuries.

Hopefully I will not have to use their services again...but if I ever need an attorney, I will definitely use them an no one else! Remember this name "Williams Oinonen LLC. They are the truth!!!!"

While we are grateful and honored to have been able to represent this United States Military Sergeant, we are also grateful that her injuries were not more severe. One reason this particular automobile accident did not turn out worse then it did was because the Good Samaritans and ambulance personnel who helped her had access to an emergency lane.

Good Georgia Lawyer urges the Governor and Department of Transportation to reconsider this plan for the Georgia 400. Nothing is worth more than keeping the safety of our Georgia residents first.

A family in Gwinnett County are very upset when their 13-year-old child was suspended after voluntarily turning in a pocket knife he had found in his school bag. After complaining, school officials agreed to decrease the number of days he was suspended and rethink the suspension policy.

The young child found the pen knife in the backyard that his aunt had bought second hand at a yard sale and given him as a Christmas gift. As soon as he found the knife, he immediately turned it into his teacher.

Even though it was obviously not the young man's fault, common sense did not follow and the school foolishly gave the boy a four day in school suspension for violating the school policy on weapons.

Since then, though, school officials have now reduced the boy's suspension to two days and claim they will "rethink" the policy. Says the boy's father: "He is a very good child. We've never had a discipline problem with him; he is in Boy Scouts, he is very good natured." Additionally, he told his son, "Jack, you did the right thing. What else could you have done?"

Severe and automatic punishments evolved from the 'zero-tolerance' movement which started in the eighties in keeping with the federal anti-weapons and drug policies. But as the AJC reports: over the years, Georgia students have been suspended under zero tolerance "for kissing a girl on the forehead, wearing a studded belt, bringing a French teacher a gift-wrapped bottle of wine and carrying a Tweety Bird wallet with a chain on it."

In 2009, a similar incident happened when a middle school student accidentally brought a fishing knife to school and ended up being expelled, arrested, convicted of a felony and sent to an alternative program even though he voluntarily gave up the knife to the principal.

This is an example of the type of absurd, common-sense lacking decisions that sometimes occur among school districts as experienced by some of Good Georgia Lawyer's clients. Fortunately, in response to the 2009 incident, state Senator Emanuel Jones, a Democrat from Decatur, sponsored legislation that required a hearing before taking a student into custody and prohibits charging a student as a designated felon unless the weapon is used in an assault or it is a gun. This bill was signed into law in spring of 2010 by the Governor.

If your son or daughter becomes a victim of this type of common senseless injustice, it can be very helpful to contact an attorney right away to protect your child's legal rights. Georgia law provides that if there is the potential of a suspension longer than ten days, then O.C.G.A. § 20-2-753 requires a disciplinary hearing where the requirements of O.C.G.A. §20-2-754 are met including providing written notice, entitling the student to be represented by legal counsel and to present evidence.

In this instance, if the period of discipline is shorter than ten days, an attorney is still helpful to protect your child's rights in these types of extreme instances. If other issues are involved--such as violations of Georgia bullying law or federal disability laws--there can be even greater need to obtain legal counsel.

Continue reading "Good Georgia Education Lawyer Discusses Georgia School District's Unfair Discipline Of A Student " »

Williams Oinonen LLC is happy to report recent success in representing a Georgia educator with decades of experience who had her contract non-renewed with the Fulton County School District. To add insult to injury, the school district denied her employment benefits putting this divorced mother at risk of losing her home and not being able to provide for her young children right before the Christmas holiday.

Williams Oinonen LLC generally bills clients in all employment matters but in this case, we accepted this matter on a pro bono basis as this successful educator had been a loyal client of ours in the past and was in an emergency situation in need of urgent help. It was the least we could do to help a dedicated and committed educator who had served the Georgia public schools for so many years.

We are happy to say that we were able to win our client's appeal and she was awarded back pay and her unemployment benefits just in time for Christmas. We were humbled to receive from her the following email which she gave permission to share:

"Williams Oinonen LLC is a law firm whose attorneys command that justice be served. My case involved complex tactics on the defendant's part to undermine my professional integrity and years of service as an educator, including denying my rights to unemployment benefits in a tough job market.

Thank you again, Ms. Oinonen. You are a life saver! Everyone (my loved ones) is ecstatic with your work!"

Williams Oinonen LLC is committed to helping teachers, educators, parents, and students insure that their rights are protected under the law. If you are a Georgia teacher, Georgia parent, or Georgia student that is in need of legal assistance, don't wait till the situation gets worse.

Often times, we are able to do things before the injustice occurs to mitigate damages or prevent the worst from happening. If you suspect that your rights are being slowly violated, don't wait till negative action is taken such as through a non-renewal letter. Contact our office first to schedule an appointment in order to set in place the necessary protections to protect your legal interests.

Here is one letter that Williams Oinonen LLC recently received from a satisfied client who walked out of our office with a very fat check after hiring us to handle her case. This client was a school teacher who lost everything and was severely injured due to someone's negligence. While we can't tell you the Defendant's name or the amount of money they had to pay her to compensate her for these injuries due to a confidentiality agreement, we can share with you what she states in her own words about us:

"Hi, my name is Nicole and I retained services from Williams Oinonen LLC. This was my first time hiring a lawyer so naturally I was very skeptical. But, my experience with Williams Oinonen LLC has been a fantastic experience. When I first sought out a lawyer, I emailed countless of law firms and most law firms didn't even respond to my email. One law firm responded and told me I didn't have a strong case. Williams Oinonen LLC is the ONLY law firm that even considered taking my unique case.

Thank you for EVERYTHING !!! My family and I can now move on with our lives!"