Congratulations to our partners, Rolfe Martin and Mike DiOrio, for a defense verdict in the State Court of Cobb County.  Plaintiff alleged that a nurse practitioner and supervising physician failed to diagnose and treat timely a testicular torsion.  The team obtained a directed verdict for the physician and after deliberating for 45 minutes, the jury returned with a defense verdict for the nurse practitioner and practice.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Atlanta partners Michael DiOrio, Eric Frisch and Rolfe Martin attended the State Bar of Georgia's 35th Annual Medical Malpractice Liability Institute in Amelia Island, FL.  This conference offered various opportunities to network with and learn from peers in medical malpractice litigation.  Additionally, physicians and medical professionals from around the country shared their insight and perspective with attendees. For more information on this Institute or the State Bar of Georgia, please click here.

Carlock, Copeland & Stair are proud to announce the following attorneys selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2018. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers®. The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers®, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers® undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.   Super Lawyers® Thomas S. Carlock - Civil Litigation: Defense Wade K. Copeland - Civil Litigation: Defense Eric J. Frisch - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense Johannes S. Kingma - Professional Liability: Defense D. Gary Lovell, Jr. - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense Rolfe Martin - Personal Injury General: Defense David F. Root - General Litigation Douglas W. Smith - Personal Injury General: Defense Kent T. Stair - Professional Liability: Defense Frederick M. Valz, III - Insurance Coverage Rising Stars® is a listing of exceptional lawyers who are 40 years of age or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less, and have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 2.5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are honored on the Rising Stars® list. Rising Stars® Lauren Meadows - Civil Litigation Defense Jay M. O'Brien - Personal Injury General: Defense

Copeland Stair Kingma & Lovell, LLP is pleased to announce our Attorneys named to 2021 Best Lawyers_® lists in multiple categories and office locations.

• Erin E. Gomez, 2021 Best Lawyers_®; Ones To Watch recognition for Litigation - Labor and Employment; Professional Malpractice Law in Chattanooga, TN
• Johannes S. Kingma, 2021 Best Lawyers_® recognition for Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants in Atlanta, GA
• Gary Lovell, Jr., 2021 Best Lawyers_® recognition for Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants in Atlanta, GA and Charleston, SC
• Rolfe M. Martin, 2021 Best Lawyers_® recognition for Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants in Atlanta, GA
• Dan B. Millman, 2021 Best Lawyers_®; Ones To Watch recognition for Commercial Litigation in Atlanta, GA
• Kent T. Stair, 2021 Best Lawyers_® recognition for Construction Law and Legal Malpractice Law – Defense and Litigation - Construction in Atlanta, GA and Charleston, SC
• Fred M. Valz, III, 2021 Best Lawyers_® recognition for Insurance Law in Atlanta, GA

Copeland, Stair, Kingma & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2020. Super Lawyers® recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.  Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® list. Our Super Lawyers® are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch Johannes S. Kingma D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Charles M. McDaniel, Jr. William D.  Newcomb David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz, III Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here are ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey Stephen J. Cohen Michael P. DiOrio Tawny D. Mack Claire A. Sumner  

Blog Posting by Rolfe Martin. Medical malpractice insurance carriers, defense lawyers and the doctors they work with can expect an uptick in the number of lawsuits being filed within the next year alleging our doctors negligently prescribed OxyContin and other opioids or failed to counsel patients appropriately to prevent their addiction. With the Attorneys General of several states suing the companies which sell these opioids and the president declaring a national emergency due to the rising rate of opioid addiction, we can expect plaintiff’s lawyers to take notice. Class actions against the pharmaceutical companies are already brewing and spin off malpractice litigation is inevitable. Our pain management doctors are most vulnerable to these claims given the volume of patients to whom they prescribe but they generally have better procedures in place with respect to opioid prescriptions since they have been cracked down on by most state medical boards over the last few years. It is the occasional prescriber who may be least prepared to defend these allegations. They are more often criticized for failing to refer patients to a pain management specialist. Juries may now view these cases with slightly more sympathy for the plaintiffs given that the media is  stressing the “inevitable” addiction associated with opioid use. We must adjust to this change in perception and perhaps alter the way we defend these cases at trial. Please click here for more information on our Health Law & Regulation Update Blog.