MGC attorneys Ashley Howard and Breanna Petroutson successfully defended a bifurcated wrongful death case in a multi-day trial before a DeKalb County jury in Decatur, Georgia, returning a complete defense verdict for MGC’s client. The client, a hired security guard, was patrolling an apartment complex in their vehicle when they struck an unsupervised five‑year‑old child who ran into the parking lot from behind a passing car. The child later passed away. The plaintiff asserted claims for wrongful death, negligent training, negligent hiring and negligent retention, and initially sought punitive damages and attorney’s fees—both of which the defense successfully eliminated before trial.
Policy limits were tendered pre‑suit and again during litigation but were rejected. At trial, the defense argued that while the outcome was tragic, the event was an accident and the plaintiff failed to meet their burden of proof to establish any negligence. Despite demands totaling over ten million dollars, MGC was able to secure a full defense liability in a very dangerous jurisdiction.
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