Patrick A. Dawson, P.C. - Trial Attorney

As lead counsel and as associate counsel while at other law firms, Patrick Dawson has handled numerous cases involving personal and corporate liability and personal injury. Some of those cases include:

Products Liability. Defective products kill and injure thousands of people each year. Since the 1950s, products liability cases have grown to be an important safeguard against manufacturers who simply do not care. Our firm handles a wide variety of products liability cases, including automotive design cases, crashworthiness cases, handling and stability ("rollover") cases, door latch cases, and medical products cases. We have been involved in a number of noteworthy automotive products cases, including the GM fuel tank case in Georgia ($105 million verdict) and the Suzuki Samurai rollover case in St. Louis ($90 million verdict). Other cases include Ford Bronco II rollover cases, Suzuki Samurai rollover cases, Chrysler minivan liftgate latch failure cases, and GM Type III door latch cases.

Family Law. Our firm handles complex family law matters, including divorce, separation, alimony, paternity, child support, custody, debt division, simple and complex property division, relocation issues, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. Following your divorce, we can assist with contempt actions, recalculation of child support, custody modifications, and visitation modifications. Where necessary, we put together a team of accountants, consultants, investigators, and psychologists to best present your case to your spouse, the judge, jury, and/or mediator.

Food and Water Borne Illnesses. Sicknesses from food borne pathogens such as E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes are growing annually. Exposure to these dangerous organisms can cause serious and disabling illnesses. Food manufacturers and restaurants all too often engage in unsanitary practices that put consumers at risk. Our Firm represented one of the young children infected with the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria at the White Water Park outside of Atlanta, Georgia. As an HEW registered Medical Laboratory Technologist, Patrick Dawson is uniquely suited to handle such cases. He is an Honor Graduate of the U.S. Air Force's School of Health Care Sciences. While serving in the Air Force, Mr. Dawson spent more than five years in the clinical medical laboratory, concluding his final year of service in the microbiology department. While there, Mr. Dawson cultured and identified many types of bacteria from patient samples, including E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shigella species, Staphylococcus aureus, and various pathogenic streptococcus species. During college, Mr. Dawson conducted protease enzyme research at the University of South Alabama School of Medicine. While there, he performed various state-of-the-art analytical procedures, including gel electrophoresis, gel chromatography, and radioimmunoassays.

Medical Malpractice Cases. Contrary to what you hear in the mass media, the real medical malpractice crisis in this country is the incredible amount of untreated and undiscovered medical malpractice that occurs. If you think you have been the victim of medical negligence, please seek advice promptly. As in all cases, there are statutes of limitation that can cut off your right to sue or seek legal remedies.

Motor Carrier Liability. Mr. Dawson handles cases involving wrongful death and serious injury due to negligent trucking collisions. These cases often entail more than ordinary automobile collision cases, since the trucking industry must follow various federal and state regulations on topics such as load capacity, equipment maintenance, and limits on driver's hours. Please contact him immediately if your potential case involves a collision with a trucking line vehicle. As with many such collisions, key evidence may be lost or destroyed if you do not act as soon as possible.

Premises Liability. Mr. Dawson has also handled cases involving negligent or non-existent security on commercial properties, such as malls, hotels, and restaurants. He's also handled cases involving defective stairs and stair design, slips, and falls. There are a growing number of cases involving falling stock in retail and discount warehouse type stores.

"Dram" Shop Cases. Mr. Dawson handles cases involving the improper sale of alcohol to minors and to persons who are too intoxicated to drive. A Georgia law prohibits any sale of alcohol to minors. That same law also prohibits bars and restaurants from selling alcohol to drivers who are noticeably intoxicated. Mr. Dawson encourages Georgia alcohol sellers to train their employees in the TIPS and TAMS programs for alcohol servers and sellers.

Wrongful Death Cases: Mr. Dawson handles cases in which a person is killed through the negligence or fault of another person or corporation.

Commercial Torts and Business Matters: Mr. Dawson represents small businesses in various commercial matters, including intellectual property matters, trademark infringement, and various unfair competition matters. He also handles some commercial torts, where one corporation has engaged in tortious or unfair treatment of another.

Representative Injury Cases

Patrick Dawson has participated in the following representative cases and matters as lead counsel, co-counsel, associate counsel and/or amicus counsel:

Neel v. Hood, M.D., Fulton State Court. Represented patient whose rectal cancer was misdiagnosed by his physician. This medical malpractice case settled for a confidential amount.
Apunte v. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., Buncombe County Superior Court, North Carolina. Represented insurance executive who suffered a burst fracture of her T8 vertebrae after a Lowe's employee dropped a fifty-pound box of tiles on her head as she passed by a shelf. The case settled for a confidential amount, primarily after the plaintiff initiated discovery about other "dropped stock" cases at Lowe's.
Moore v. Al Fair's Family Restaurant, Inc., Cobb State Court. Represented an elderly man who slipped on "black ice" at a restaurant, which had cleared the sidewalk, but then allowed the ice to re-form. The case settled for $120,000.
Hart v. General Motors Corp., Northern District of Georgia. Represented the widow and estate of a passenger killed when the door hinge on his GM pickup truck failed in a collision, thus permitting him to be ejected. The case settled for a confidential amount.
Creamer v. Arnall, Fulton State Court. Represented the estate of a young woman who received facial and mandible injuries after a teenage motorist failed to yield the right of way. The case settled for $94,000.
Davis v. Senter, Cobb State Court. Represented businessman who was injured when a motorist entered the highway but failed to yield the right-of-way. The case settled for $65,000 on special damages of approximately $8,000.
Harris v. Ford Motor Co., Northern District of Georgia. Represented the estate of a young man killed in a rollover of a Ford Bronco II sport utility vehicle. The case settled for a confidential amount.

McLennon v. Toyota Motor Corp., Fulton State Court. Appeared pro bono and successfully helped the plaintiff oppose Toyota's motion to dismiss for insufficiency of service of process under The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Nov. 15, 1965, 20 U.S.T. 361, T.I.A.S. No. 6638, 658 U.N.T.S. 163.

Rose v. Figgie International, Inc., Georgia Court of Appeals. Represented the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association in preparing and filing an amicus curiae brief on the issue of whether substantially similar other incidents are admissible when the product is destroyed in that incident.

Rodriguez v. Suzuki Motor Corp., City of St. Louis, Circuit Court. Represented a young woman who became a quadriplegic after she was injured in a Suzuki Samurai rollover. After an eleven week trial, the jury returned a verdict of $90 million.

Moseley v. General Motors Corp., Fulton State Court. Represented the estate of young man killed because of defective side saddle fuel tank design. In a 1991 trial of the case, the jury returned a verdict of $105 million against General Motors.

Malautea v. Suzuki Motor Corp., Southern District of Georgia. Represented the wife of a police officer who suffered severe brain injuries after the rollover of his Suzuki Samurai. Suzuki was caught in a series of discovery abuses, and the judge entered a default judgment against Suzuki. It was upheld on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Malautea v. Suzuki Motor Corp., 148 F.R.D. 361 (S.D. Ga. 1991), aff'd, 978 F.2d 1538 (11^th Cir. 1993). Suzuki later paid one of the largest single settlements in Georgia history. The settlement is confidential at Suzuki's insistence.

Guinn v. Suzuki Motor Corp., Southern District of Georgia. Represented the estate of a high school girl killed after the rollover of a Suzuki Samurai. Suzuki paid $3 million to settle the case.

McGray v. Hooters of America, Inc., Fulton State Court. Represented the estate of a young woman killed by a drunk driver who had been served four to five pitchers of beer in under two hours by Hooters. Part of the case ended up on appeal, and plaintiff prevailed. Bowling v. Gober, 206 Ga. App. 38, 424 S.E.2d 335 (1992). The case later settled for a confidential amount.

Wall v. Gwinnett County, Northern District of Georgia. Represented a businessman and his family who had their business destroyed when the Gwinnett County Police conducted an illegal search and seizure of that business. Gwinnett County paid a settlement of $9.8 million, one of the largest settlements ever paid under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (civil rights statute).

Williams v. General Motors Corp., Southern District of Georgia. Represented a game warden who became a paraplegic after he was thrown from a GM truck that contained the defective Type III door latch. Part of the case involved the deposition of a former GM employee. Plaintiff successfully prevented GM from concealing the former employee's testimony. Williams v. General Motors Corp., 147 F.R.D. 270 (S.D. Ga. 1993). At GM's request, the case settled for a confidential amount.

Willis v. Nissan, Northern District of Georgia. Represented the family of a young man killed by a defective header and t-top on a Nissan 280ZX. Before the jury returned a verdict of $2.75 million, the case settled for a confidential amount.

Patty/Neal v. Toyota Motor Corp., Northern District of Georgia. Represented a woman and her daughter who were injured in a defective Toyota. The manufacturer contested service of process under The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Nov. 15, 1965, 20 U.S.T. 361, T.I.A.S. No. 6638, 658 U.N.T.S. 163. The plaintiff prevailed. Patty v. Toyota Motor Corp., 777 F. Supp. 956 (N.D. Ga. 1991).

Barnes v. General Motors Corp., Fulton State Court. Represented the estate of a man killed when he was thrown from his GM car, which contained the defective Type III door latch, after an intersection collision. At GM's request, the case settled for a confidential amount.

Sexton v. Country Cupboard Foodstores, Inc., Forsyth State Court. Represented a young man killed in a car driven by a minor who had been sold alcoholic beverages by a convenience store. After plaintiffs used a minor to buy alcohol in a videotaped sting operation, the store settled for $1.68 million.

Chandler v. Glazer, Fulton State Court. Represented the estate of a graphics artist killed in the Peachtree 25th Building fire. The premises liability case, which involved inadequate fire safety in the high rise building, settled for $2.75 million.

LaFontaine v. DeBartolo, Fulton State Court. Represented a young woman who became a quadriplegic after she was shot by a patron at the DeBartolo's mall in Augusta, Georgia. Although the shooter had been wandering around the mall with a shotgun in a large bag, the sole mall security guard, who saw the patron, never made him leave the property. This inadequate security case resulted in a structured settlement with a lifetime value of $43 million.

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		As lead counsel and as associate counsel while at other law firms, Patrick Dawson has handled numerous cases involving personal and corporate liability and personal injury. Some of those cases include: Products Liability. Defective products kill and injure thousands of people each year. Since the 1950s, products liability cases have grown to be an important safeguard against manufacturers who simply do not care. Our firm handles a wide variety of products liability cases, including automotive design cases, crashworthiness cases, handling and stability ("rollover") cases, door latch cases, and medical products cases. We have been involved in a number of noteworthy automotive products cases, including the GM fuel tank case in Georgia ($105 million verdict) and the Suzuki Samurai rollover case in St. Louis ($90 million verdict). Other cases include Ford Bronco II rollover cases, Suzuki Samurai rollover cases, Chrysler minivan liftgate latch failure cases, and GM Type III door latch cases. Family Law. Our firm handles complex family law matters, including divorce, separation, alimony, paternity, child support, custody, debt division, simple and complex property division, relocation issues, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. Following your divorce, we can assist with contempt actions, recalculation of child support, custody modifications, and visitation modifications. Where necessary, we put together a team of accountants, consultants, investigators, and psychologists to best present your case to your spouse, the judge, jury, and/or mediator. Food and Water Borne Illnesses. Sicknesses from food borne pathogens such as E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes are growing annually. Exposure to these dangerous organisms can cause serious and disabling illnesses. Food manufacturers and restaurants all too often engage in unsanitary practices that put consumers at risk. Our Firm represented one of the young children infected with the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria at the White Water Park outside of Atlanta, Georgia. As an HEW registered Medical Laboratory Technologist, Patrick Dawson is uniquely suited to handle such cases. He is an Honor Graduate of the U.S. Air Force's School of Health Care Sciences. While serving in the Air Force, Mr. Dawson spent more than five years in the clinical medical laboratory, concluding his final year of service in the microbiology department. While there, Mr. Dawson cultured and identified many types of bacteria from patient samples, including E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shigella species, Staphylococcus aureus, and various pathogenic streptococcus species. During college, Mr. Dawson conducted protease enzyme research at the University of South Alabama School of Medicine. While there, he performed various state-of-the-art analytical procedures, including gel electrophoresis, gel chromatography, and radioimmunoassays. Medical Malpractice Cases. Contrary to what you hear in the mass media, the real medical malpractice crisis in this country is the incredible amount of untreated and undiscovered medical malpractice that occurs. If you think you have been the victim of medical negligence, please seek advice promptly. As in all cases, there are statutes of limitation that can cut off your right to sue or seek legal remedies. Motor Carrier Liability. Mr. Dawson handles cases involving wrongful death and serious injury due to negligent trucking collisions. These cases often entail more than ordinary automobile collision cases, since the trucking industry must follow various federal and state regulations on topics such as load capacity, equipment maintenance, and limits on driver's hours. Please contact him immediately if your potential case involves a collision with a trucking line vehicle. As with many such collisions, key evidence may be lost or destroyed if you do not act as soon as possible. Premises Liability. Mr. Dawson has also handled cases involving negligent or non-existent security on commercial properties, such as malls, hotels, and restaurants. He's also handled cases involving defective stairs and stair design, slips, and falls. There are a growing number of cases involving falling stock in retail and discount warehouse type stores. "Dram" Shop Cases. Mr. Dawson handles cases involving the improper sale of alcohol to minors and to persons who are too intoxicated to drive. A Georgia law prohibits any sale of alcohol to minors. That same law also prohibits bars and restaurants from selling alcohol to drivers who are noticeably intoxicated. Mr. Dawson encourages Georgia alcohol sellers to train their employees in the TIPS and TAMS programs for alcohol servers and sellers. Wrongful Death Cases: Mr. Dawson handles cases in which a person is killed through the negligence or fault of another person or corporation. Commercial Torts and Business Matters: Mr. Dawson represents small businesses in various commercial matters, including intellectual property matters, trademark infringement, and various unfair competition matters. He also handles some commercial torts, where one corporation has engaged in tortious or unfair treatment of another. Representative Injury Cases Patrick Dawson has participated in the following representative cases and matters as lead counsel, co-counsel, associate counsel and/or amicus counsel: *Neel v. Hood, M.D., Fulton State Court.* Represented patient whose rectal cancer was misdiagnosed by his physician. This medical malpractice case settled for a confidential amount. *Apunte v. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., Buncombe County Superior Court, North Carolina.* Represented insurance executive who suffered a burst fracture of her T8 vertebrae after a Lowe's employee dropped a fifty-pound box of tiles on her head as she passed by a shelf. The case settled for a confidential amount, primarily after the plaintiff initiated discovery about other "dropped stock" cases at Lowe's. *Moore v. Al Fair's Family Restaurant, Inc., Cobb State Court.* Represented an elderly man who slipped on "black ice" at a restaurant, which had cleared the sidewalk, but then allowed the ice to re-form. The case settled for $120,000. *Hart v. General Motors Corp., Northern District of Georgia.* Represented the widow and estate of a passenger killed when the door hinge on his GM pickup truck failed in a collision, thus permitting him to be ejected. The case settled for a confidential amount. *Creamer v. Arnall, Fulton State Court.* Represented the estate of a young woman who received facial and mandible injuries after a teenage motorist failed to yield the right of way. The case settled for $94,000. *Davis v. Senter, Cobb State Court.* Represented businessman who was injured when a motorist entered the highway but failed to yield the right-of-way. The case settled for $65,000 on special damages of approximately $8,000. *Harris v. Ford Motor Co., Northern District of Georgia. Represented the estate of a young man killed in a rollover of a Ford Bronco II sport utility vehicle. The case settled for a confidential amount. McLennon v. Toyota Motor Corp., Fulton State Court.* Appeared pro bono and successfully helped the plaintiff oppose Toyota's motion to dismiss for insufficiency of service of process under The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Nov. 15, 1965, 20 U.S.T. 361, T.I.A.S. No. 6638, 658 U.N.T.S. 163. *Rose v. Figgie International, Inc., Georgia Court of Appeals.* Represented the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association in preparing and filing an amicus curiae brief on the issue of whether substantially similar other incidents are admissible when the product is destroyed in that incident. *Rodriguez v. Suzuki Motor Corp., City of St. Louis, Circuit Court.* Represented a young woman who became a quadriplegic after she was injured in a Suzuki Samurai rollover. After an eleven week trial, the jury returned a verdict of $90 million. *Moseley v. General Motors Corp., Fulton State Court.* Represented the estate of young man killed because of defective side saddle fuel tank design. In a 1991 trial of the case, the jury returned a verdict of $105 million against General Motors. *Malautea v. Suzuki Motor Corp., Southern District of Georgia.* Represented the wife of a police officer who suffered severe brain injuries after the rollover of his Suzuki Samurai. Suzuki was caught in a series of discovery abuses, and the judge entered a default judgment against Suzuki. It was upheld on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Malautea v. Suzuki Motor Corp., 148 F.R.D. 361 (S.D. Ga. 1991), aff'd, 978 F.2d 1538 (11^th Cir. 1993). Suzuki later paid one of the largest single settlements in Georgia history. The settlement is confidential at Suzuki's insistence. *Guinn v. Suzuki Motor Corp., Southern District of Georgia.* Represented the estate of a high school girl killed after the rollover of a Suzuki Samurai. Suzuki paid $3 million to settle the case. *McGray v. Hooters of America, Inc., Fulton State Court.* Represented the estate of a young woman killed by a drunk driver who had been served four to five pitchers of beer in under two hours by Hooters. Part of the case ended up on appeal, and plaintiff prevailed. Bowling v. Gober, 206 Ga. App. 38, 424 S.E.2d 335 (1992). The case later settled for a confidential amount. *Wall v. Gwinnett County, Northern District of Georgia.* Represented a businessman and his family who had their business destroyed when the Gwinnett County Police conducted an illegal search and seizure of that business. Gwinnett County paid a settlement of $9.8 million, one of the largest settlements ever paid under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (civil rights statute). *Williams v. General Motors Corp., Southern District of Georgia.* Represented a game warden who became a paraplegic after he was thrown from a GM truck that contained the defective Type III door latch. Part of the case involved the deposition of a former GM employee. Plaintiff successfully prevented GM from concealing the former employee's testimony. Williams v. General Motors Corp., 147 F.R.D. 270 (S.D. Ga. 1993). At GM's request, the case settled for a confidential amount. *Willis v. Nissan, Northern District of Georgia.* Represented the family of a young man killed by a defective header and t-top on a Nissan 280ZX. Before the jury returned a verdict of $2.75 million, the case settled for a confidential amount. *Patty/Neal v. Toyota Motor Corp., Northern District of Georgia.* Represented a woman and her daughter who were injured in a defective Toyota. The manufacturer contested service of process under The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Nov. 15, 1965, 20 U.S.T. 361, T.I.A.S. No. 6638, 658 U.N.T.S. 163. The plaintiff prevailed. Patty v. Toyota Motor Corp., 777 F. Supp. 956 (N.D. Ga. 1991). *Barnes v. General Motors Corp., Fulton State Court.* Represented the estate of a man killed when he was thrown from his GM car, which contained the defective Type III door latch, after an intersection collision. At GM's request, the case settled for a confidential amount. *Sexton v. Country Cupboard Foodstores, Inc., Forsyth State Court.* Represented a young man killed in a car driven by a minor who had been sold alcoholic beverages by a convenience store. After plaintiffs used a minor to buy alcohol in a videotaped sting operation, the store settled for $1.68 million. *Chandler v. Glazer, Fulton State Court.* Represented the estate of a graphics artist killed in the Peachtree 25th Building fire. The premises liability case, which involved inadequate fire safety in the high rise building, settled for $2.75 million. *LaFontaine v. DeBartolo, Fulton State Court.* Represented a young woman who became a quadriplegic after she was shot by a patron at the DeBartolo's mall in Augusta, Georgia. Although the shooter had been wandering around the mall with a shotgun in a large bag, the sole mall security guard, who saw the patron, never made him leave the property. This inadequate security case resulted in a structured settlement with a lifetime value of $43 million.
	Home \| Attorney Profile \| Practice Areas \| Cases & News \| Publications \| Research \| FAQs \| Contact Us Copyright © 2006 - Patrick A. Dawson, P.C.