Auto Accident Attorneys North Georgia

Ex-State Farm Defense Stalwart Joins Plaintiffs Bar

After 32 years as an outside defense lawyer for State Farm, Thomas D. Harper has officially gone to the other side. He became a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association on June 13.

State Farm dropped Harper last year after he protested the company's decision to start paying its outside defense counsel flat fees instead of by the hour. Harper subsequently left the insurance defense firm he co-founded, Harper, Waldon & Craig, in December.

Harper said he'd initially thought he would handle defense cases as well as plaintiffs' work and mediation when he went out on his own, garnering a steady income from the defense work. "I'd thought I could have a happy medium doing hourly [defense] work and developing a plaintiffs' practice," he said. "I've been doing defense work for 32 years. That's what I felt comfortable with."

"When you make your living doing hourly work, it's a big change to doing contingent fee work," Harper explained, especially without an established pipeline of cases. "Part of it is psychological -- you go from being paid by the hour to hoping to get paid more money over a longer period of time. Someone might ask me to associate on a really good case -- but the really good case has not been filed yet," he said.

But Harper said the plaintiffs' work has developed faster than the defense work. While he's worked on a few defense cases, as an expert witness and handling an appeal, Harper said he saw more opportunity on the plaintiffs' side. He is winding up the three defense cases in which he's still involved.

"I've gotten a lot of encouragement from people in doing plaintiffs' work and some pretty good success in mediation work," he said, noting that as a neutral he's hired by both claimants and insurance companies.

While it is common for new lawyers to work for an insurance defense firm before representing plaintiffs, there are few like Harper, 59, who switch to plaintiffs' work after a defense career.

Harper said his former law partner, Gary M. Cooper, who became a plaintiffs' lawyer at the beginning of 2008, "broke the ice" for him. "Gary showed what a benefit he could be to the plaintiffs' bar because of his background -- and not despite [it]," he said.

Cooper said handling both plaintiffs' and defense cases in the personal injury world is very difficult because "it's warfare" between the plaintiffs' lawyers and the insurance companies. "The insurance companies are waging a war. The plaintiffs' lawyers are trying to represent the clients," he said.

Motor vehicle accident in Georgia injures five | Athens Car ...

As we have mentioned before on this blog, it is very important for motorists to do what they can to prevent motor vehicle accidents. This is because motor vehicle accidents can be very harmful. Recently, a car accident occurred in Georgia which resulted in several people suffering injuries.

The accident happened in Columbia County on Wednesday. That afternoon, a tractor-trailer was stopped on Columbia Road because it was waiting for a vehicle to make a left turn. The tractor-trailer was being driven by a 50-year-old man. Then, a delivery truck which was going along this road stopped behind the tractor-trailer. The delivery truck was being driven by a 42-year-old man.

Then, a pickup truck reportedly collided into the delivery truck. Reportedly, this initial collision resulted in the delivery truck striking the back of the tractor-trailer. The pickup truck was being driven by a 31-year-old individual. An 18-year-old woman and a 38-year-old woman were passengers of the pickup truck.

All five of the individuals mentioned above suffered injuries as a result of this three-vehicle accident and were taken to a hospital after it occurred. Reportedly, none of these injuries were life-threatening.

As this crash illustrates, motor vehicle accidents can result in the passengers and drivers involved suffering injuries. This is one of the many reasons why it important for motorists to practice safe and responsible driving when on the roads. This includes making sure to obey all applicable traffic laws when driving. It also includes making sure to drive attentively and to respond appropriately to actions taken by other vehicles.

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