WHAT’S NEW AT CONLEY GRIGGS LLP

FULTON COUNTY JURY AWARDS $1.47 MILLION TO CONLEY GRIGGS’ CLIENT IN BUSINESS TORT
CASE; AWARD OF FEES AND EXPENSES BRINGS TOTAL JUDGMENT TO $1.76 MILLION

On January 11, 2005, after a five-day trial and over three hours of deliberations, a Fulton County (Ga.) Superior Court jury awarded David J. Romeo and his business, Global Nutrients, Inc., damages in the amount of $1,472,486 in a business torts case against Atlanta-based AHD International, LLC and its President, John Alkire. The case arose from a dispute over the dissolution of the business relationship between the two companies, both of which are involved in the sale and marketing of nutritional ingredients. The jury’s verdict included $1,404,486 in compensatory economic damages and $68,000 in punitive damages. The jury also determined that attorneys’ fees and expenses for the suit should be awarded to counsel for Romeo and Global Nutrients, in an amount to be determined by the trial judge. In April 2005, after hearing, the trial judge entered an order granting those fees and expenses of over $295,000, bringing the total judgment entered to $1,768,458.75.

Cale Conley, a partner in Conley Griggs LLP, served as counsel at the trial of the case for Romeo and Global Nutrients along with Christopher B. Hall of the Atlanta law firm of Cook, Hall & Lampros, LLP. Conley Griggs LLP partner Richard Griggs was also actively involved in trial preparation and trial strategy, and CG paralegal Bonnie Young played an integral role in both the trial and in pre-trial preparations.

For more information about this case, or if you believe you may have a case involving wrongful business practices, please contact Cale Conley at 404-467-1155.

RICHARD GRIGGS NOMINATED TO POST IN NATIONAL ORGANIZATION

This spring Richard Griggs was nominated to serve as a Vice-Chair of Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee ("CTLC"), a committee within the American Bar Association's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. The installation of this position will be completed at the ABA Annual Meeting in August 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. The CTLC examines the liabilities and obligations of all forms of commercial carriers, including regulatory and accident issues. The committee also publishes a newsletter, conducts continuing legal education (CLE) programs, and assists in planning the Transportation MegacConference, which is held every other year.

RICHARD GRIGGS SERVES AS FEATURED SPEAKER
AT ABA TRUCKING MEGACONFERENCE IN NEW ORLEANS

In March of 2005, Richard Griggs was a featured speaker at the Transportation MegaConference VII – Trucking and Motor Carrier Litigation in New Orleans. This seminar was sponsored by the Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. Richard gave a presentation on the subject of accident reconstruction entitled “Lights, Camera, . . . Action! – Presenting How the Wreck Occurred Visually at Trial.” His fellow panelists on the segment, called Accident Reconstruction – the State of the Art Meets the State of the Law, included Judge Lance M. Africk, of the United State District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, Roger McCarthy, Ph.D., a nationally known engineer and expert witness from Menlo Park, California, and John Hannigan of White Plains, New York. This national seminar enjoyed over 500 attendees including people from the trucking industry, insurers of trucking companies, lawyers for plaintiffs and defendants in trucking and commercial or common carrier cases, experts in the field, and litigation support services.

For a copy of the paper presented at the MegaConference, click here. For more information about the presentation or if you have been involved in an accident involving a collision with a tractor-trailer or commercial vehicle (i.e., delivery van, company-owned vehicle), please contact Richard Griggs at 404-467-1155.

CALE CONLEY NAMED A “SUPER LAWYER”
IN MARCH 2005 EDITION OF ATLANTA MAGAZINE

In the March 2005 edition of Atlanta Magazine, CONLEY GRIGGS LLP Partner Cale Conley was named one of Atlanta’s “Super Lawyers” -- one of only 10 lawyers in the State of Georgia to be so honored in the specific area of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury for Product Liability cases. Cale was selected as a “Super Lawyer” by the votes of other lawyers in Georgia, after review by an additional “Blue Ribbon Panel” of Georgia lawyers. For more information about the selection process and to read the published biography for Cale, you can got to www.superlawyers.com or check out the March 2005 edition of Atlanta Magazine.

If you believe that you have been seriously injured as the result of a product failure or a product defect, please contact Cale Conley or Richard Griggs at 404-467-1155.

CONLEY GRIGGS LLP TO CHAIR SECOND ANNUAL SEMINAR ON “HANDLING WRONGFUL DEATH
CASES IN GEORGIA”

For the second year in a row, Cale Conley and Richard Griggs have been asked by Lorman Education Services to chair and moderate a day-long program focusing on “Handling Wrongful Death Cases in Georgia.” This year’s seminar, to be held on July 12, 2005 and moderated by Richard Griggs, will feature presentations by Cale and Richard as well as presentations by judges, lawyers from both the Plaintiffs’ and Defense bar, and specialists in the area of structured settlements and trusts. The seminar will cover a wide array of topics related to wrongful death actions in a number of practice areas, including the impact of recent Georgia legislation on such cases. For more information about the seminar or to register to attend, you may go to www.lorman.com or contact Conley Griggs LLP to obtain a registration brochure.

If you have recently lost a family member and believe their death was the result of the negligence of another person, please contact Cale Conley or Richard Griggs at 404-467-1155.

CALE CONLEY FEATURED ON SKYRADIO’S
“AMERICA’S BEST LAWYERS” PROGRAM

If you were on an American Airlines flight anywhere in the United States in March 2005, we hope you tuned into SkyRadio’s Forbes network for a program called “America’s Best Lawyers.” Cale Conley of CONLEY GRIGGS LLP was selected as one of nine lawyers from across the country interviewed for that program, in which he discussed myths versus realities in today’s legal system and dispelled some common misconceptions about the current “tort reform” movement in this country. To hear Cale’s interview, you can click here or go to www.skyradionetwork.com, click on the section for “America’s Best Lawyers,” and scroll down to Cale’s picture and a link to the interview. If you missed the interview on American Airlines, you can also tune in for a similar interview on a United Airlines flight in May or June 2005 anywhere in the United States, also featured as part of the SkyRadio Forbes inflight network.

If you want more information about the myths behind “tort reform”, we encourage you to go to www.gtla.org or www.atla.org for more information.

CONLEY AND GRIGGS TAKE LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
IN THE GEORGIA TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (GTLA)

Showing their commitment to work both for their clients and the development of the practice of law among plaintiffs, both Cale Conley and Richard Griggs are taking leadership roles in the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association for 2005-2006. Cale, a member of the Executive Committee for the past four years, will serve as GTLA’s Secretary for 2005-2006. Richard, a prior co-chair of the GTLA Trucking Committee, will serve as a co-chair of the Membership Committee for the coming year.

To join GTLA or learn more about its efforts to protect consumers and the civil justice system, we encourage you to go to www.gtla.org.

RICHARD GRIGGS PRESENTS AT SEMINARS ON ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION, WITNESS
PREPARATION AND DAMAGES

On January 21, 2005, Richard spoke at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia’s Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Practice seminar at the Sheraton Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to submitting a paper, he presented two PowerPoint presentations, which included Accident Reconstruction – Basic Concepts and Terms and Effective and Alternative Methods for Presenting Accident Reconstruction Evidence.

On February 11, 2005, at the State Bar of Georgia headquarters in Atlanta, Richard presented a Chapter on the subject of Witnesses at the Georgia Trial Lawyers’ Association’s seminar teaching attendees about GTLA’s new Trial Practice Manual.

On March 11, 2005, Richard spoke at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia’s Proving Damages seminar at the Sheraton Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on the subject of Products Liability Damages.

CONLEY GRIGGS EARNS REVERSAL AND NEW TRIAL
FOR CLIENT IN FORD EXPLORER ROLLOVER CASE

Demonstrating their will to fight for their clients not only through a jury verdict but also on appeal, CONLEY GRIGGS LLP served as lead appellate counsel in Hockensmith v. Ford, a Ford Explorer rollover case tried in June 2003 to a defense verdict. In August 2004, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that judgment and ordered a new trial, finding that multiple harmful errors occurred during the first trial. The case, involving the wrongful death of a young woman after her Ford Explorer rolled over, has now been set for retrial July 11, 2005. A copy of the opinion (unpublished), in which the Court clarified the standards for the use of statistical evidence in products liability cases, can be found on Westlaw at the cite 2004 WL 1799628.

If you have been seriously injured or lost a loved one in an incident involving a Ford Explorer or any other automobile, please contact Cale Conley or Richard Griggs at 404-467-1155.