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Published on today’s front page at Buzzfeed an article on our courageous client Ms. Zahara Green.

Civil rights attorney Mr. Mario Williams is representing Ms. Green who was admitted into special security/protective custody because a violent rapist, child molester, high profile gang member repeatedly targeted her for sexual assault. Then Georgia Dept of Corrections’ guards purposefully allowed him to enter and let loose in her solitary, protective cell for nearly 24 hours in spite of security checks every 30 minutes. Ms. Green is exceedingly brave and seeks justice for what has been done.

To read more on the story, click here.

Today the Daily Report featured an article on Mr. Mario Williams’ oral argument before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Williams represents Delma Jackson, a woman who was retaliated against by the Department of Corrections wardens and commissioners and given indefinite denial of visitation to her spouse as a result of her alleged involvement at a rally at the state Capitol concerning the prison strike held to protest prison abuse.

The District Court held the defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity for denying Jackson visitation rights after her husband discontinued his hunger strike. The judge declared that at some point the threat of any strike-related disruption disappeared.

Read more: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202665294530/Prison-Hunger-Strikers-Wife-Denial-of-Visits-Unconstitutional#ixzz3AmbXsV8j

Mario Williams, attorney at Williams Oinonen LLC had one of his civil rights cases recently featured in a news article written by John Rudolf of the Huffington Post.

Mr. Williams represents Terrence Dean, a plaintiff who was subjected to brutal torture and abuse that left him in a coma and disabled in violation of his constitutional civil rights.

Mr. Mario Williams is a human rights attorney and partner at Williams Oinonen LLC. He regularly handles various types of Civil Rights cases under the federal statute 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.

Mario Williams and Julie Oinonen congratulate our clients’ Congressman John Lewis, CEO of DeKalb County Burrell Ellis, and Senator Hortensia Tate in their recent primary election wins on July 31st.

Williams Oinonen LLC provides opponent research and political campaign strategy to national, state and locally elected officials each election season. For more information on what we do, please read:

our article here.

Bullying Complaint Williams Oinonen LLC_split_1

Good Georgia Lawyer was featured on the Channel Two six o’ clock news regarding a bullying lawsuit their clients were forced to sue against Clayton County School District for failure to comply with the Georgia Bullying Statute and the Georgia Open Records Act.

Good Georgia Lawyer invites you to attend a free movie screening of the fantastic film “Hot Coffee” at Emory University School of Law and hear film director Susan Saladoff speak.

Please view the following invitation by clicking here: Hot Coffee flyer.pdf

Williams Oinonen LLC is one of the sponsors of this event presented by the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at Emory University School of Law, 1301 Clifton Road in Atlanta, Georgia.

Good Georgia Contract Lawyers will explain that one of the primary purposes to incorporate your business or create an LLC is to protect yourself from personal liability for business debts and claims. While business owners who incorporate or convert their business into an LLC enjoy limited personal liability for many of their business transactions, this protection is not absolute.

Despite having one’s business incorporated or formed into an LLC, an owner can be held personally liable if he or she: personally injures someone; personally guarantees a bank loan or business debt on which the business later defaults; intentionally does something considered fraud, illegal, or reckless that harms the company or someone else, or co-mingles funds: i.e. treats the LLC as an extension of his or her personal affairs, rather than as a separate legal entity.

This type of conduct is also called “piercing the corporate veil.” The reason for this term is because your legal entity is considered a veil or shield that protects you from personal liability. Once you violate the rules surrounding it, the veil is considered “pierced” just as if a sword had stuck into it. Once the corporate veil is pierced, it can no longer protect you as a business owner.

Thus, it is important to carefully protect yourself and your business by avoiding such conduct that would be considered veil-piercing.

In Soerries v. Dancause, 248 Ga. App. 374 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001), a sole business owner of a nightclub was sued when the family of an intoxicated 18-year old girl left the nightclub severely drunk. Although a city ordinance prohibited individuals under 21 years old from entering nightclubs, it is undisputed that the club employees did not check the girl’s identification to establish her age. After drinking that night, the girl left at approximately around 3:00 a.m. with a beer in her hand and was killed when she lost control of her car and struck a tree.

The jury pierced the corporate veil and found the business owner jointly liable with his corporation because he had commingled individual and corporate assets by personally assuming the corporation’s financial liabilities, waiving corporate rental payments, and using corporate funds to directly pay his personal mortgage notes and other expenses.

Therefore, the Court ruled that the jury could disregard the corporate entity and that there was evidence to sustain the verdict finding him personally liable for compensatory and punitive damages.

In Pazur v. Belcher, 290 Ga. App. 703 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008), the Georgia Supreme Court stated that an officer’s personal liability for corporate debts due to a piercing of the corporate veil rests on the notion that a corporate officer, or owner, who has abused the corporate form by commingling personal and corporate assets, should be held liable for corporate debts and liabilities. The Court explained that the focus in that type of liability is the abuse of the corporate form, not the personal participation of the officer in the tortious conduct at issue.

The Court further enumerated that the concept of piercing the corporate veil is applied in the State of Georgia to remedy injustices which arise where a party has over extended his privilege in the use of a corporate entity in order to defeat justice, perpetuate fraud or to evade contractual or tort responsibility. To prevail based upon that theory, it is necessary to show that the shareholders disregarded the corporate entity and made it a mere instrumentality for the transaction of their own affairs; that there is such unity of interest and ownership that the separate personalities of the corporation and the owners no longer exist. Personal participation in the tort is irrelevant. Pazur v. Belcher, 290 Ga. App. 703 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008)

If you are a small to mid size business owner, you need to be aware of these important issues in order to protect yourself and your business by avoiding such acts that would be considered veil-piercing.
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Good Georgia business lawyers will tell you that starting a new physician practice in Georgia is like starting any other business, with some additional considerations.

The first step in starting any business is to develop a business plan and strategy. A physician practice’s business plan should involve details identifying a need in your community, anticipated payer mix, common codes with expected reimbursement, billing efficiency, anticipated growth, marketing strategy, referral strategy, and business development plans. Like any other business, you need to determine the need for your business in a community. You should do your research and planning before starting down any paths.

The next step is to incorporate the business. You need to decide between a corporation (whether a C-Corp, and S-Corp, or a Professional Corporation) and a limited liability company. The decision on which business entity to choose depends on multiple factors: general liability considerations, how many physicians will be part of the initial practice, how fast you wish to grow the practice, how much corporate maintenance you wish to do, and taxes. Ultimately, taxes and general liability are the top things to consider. Another step in the incorporation process is to obtain a tax payer ID number from the IRS.

Business accounts should be opened in the business’ name, and be kept separate from all personal accounts. Insurance should be obtained for the business. It is important to work with a competent local insurance broker or agent to meet your insurance liability needs. Consider, professional malpractice, general liability, disability, worker’s compensation, health insurance, and retirement plans.

It is also important for a new physician’s practice to start the credentialing and contracting process early. Government payors have long processing times. Get started on the Medicare/Medicaid paperwork at least four to six months before your expected opening date. You don’t want to open your practice and not be able to accept some patients because of credentialing or contracting delays. The credentialing process cannot be started without first setting up the corporate entity. You should also start the process of hiring non-physician staff, independent contractors, and administrative staff several months before your expected opening date.

Finally, it’s important to manage your practice like a business. Identify financial performance indicators, the red-flags that will alert you to trouble or give you assurance that everything is going according to plan. You should review your financial indicators and business plan on a monthly basis to ensure you are on track. You are running a business and a medical practice, so it is important to understand what your competencies are and hire experts where necessary.
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Good Georgia Personal Injury Lawyers Series on SUV Rollovers Continue:

NHTSA first addressed the problem of rollovers with the dynamic dolly rollover test in 1970. It was a voluntary standard, not mandated, and the auto industry used this to test vehicles for decades. In 1971, NHTSA “proposed a roof crush protection rule that would test both front corners of the roof on passenger vehicles.” To summarize: both sides of a roof get crushed during the rollover: (1) the “near side” which is the term for the side of the roof which hits the ground first and (2) the “far side,” which is the side of the ground that hits the ground last. During a rollover, both sides will end up very differently. The most serious injury to vehicle occupants occurs if they are sitting on the “far side” of the vehicle that makes contact with the ground last during the rollover. Thus, if you are under that “far side” of the roof during a rollover, you would likely end up suffering fatal injuries compared to if you were sitting on the “near side.” Consequently, performing testing that only crushes one side of the roof–the “near side” that hits the ground first– completely masks the true devastating results of the roof crush during a rollover.

Shockingly, however, General Motors Corporation (GM) and the Automobile Manufacturers Association (which later became the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers) have consistently and illogically argued that testing both sides of the roof was unnecessary because: ‘in most cases roof structure damage is distributed to only one side of the roof in an actual rollover and that, because the roof is symmetrical it makes no difference which side of the roof is selected for testing.'” While it is true that roof crush damage is unevenly distributed to one side of the roof, it is the “far side” of the roof that receives the most damage that contains these car companies have not even been testing. It is the author’s opinion that car companies sought to suppress the true results of a full and complete rollover test for fear that it would impact their bottom line in profits. Consequently, these auto manufacturers successfully pressured and lobbied for a one side roof crush test requirement, which NHTSA ended up adopting and which remains in effect today.

How can I protect my company’s secret information making sure my employees keep it confidential? This is a question that we are often asked by business owners in Georgia.

You established your business because you have a great product, technology, or service. You want to tell the world about it, but it is also important to protect your idea from competitors, particularly in the development stages of your business.

When you are looking for investors, working with others to develop a product, or otherwise turning your idea into a business, it is important to be careful about sharing information. You do not want to disclose confidential information and have it land in the hands of your competitors or be used against your interests.