Goodman McGuffey Partner James Hankins and Associate Samantha Mullis argued in the Georgia Court of Appeals, asking the Court of Appeals to affirm the trial court’s dismissal of a punitive damages claim against their client. Video footage of the COA Oral Argument in the can be accessed by clicking HERE.
In the case, Michael Crann v. Local Mechanical, et. al., a former employee allegedly consumed drugs or alcohol, and then that employee stole a work vehicle and the work vehicle was involved in a multi-vehicle collision. One of the claimants injured in the series of accidents filed a lawsuit, and when James and Sam filed an answer for their client, they filed a partial motion to dismiss the claim of punitive damages, arguing that per the text of punitive damages statute, punitive damages were not legally recoverable against their client. The trial court agreed with their argument and dismissed the punitive damages claim. On appeal, James and Sam asked the Court of Appeals to affirm the trial court’s order.
Good Luck team!
