Legal Question in Personal Injury in South Carolina

my fiance was hit by drunk driver 10 years ago and was paralyzed,he was represented by an attorney in augusta georgia by the name of gregory smith he was attacked by a dog which forced him out in the street and the boy who was 16 years old and drunk ran him over the lawyert who represented him come to find out was a relative of the boy but ricky didnt actually find out this information until after his case was settled wasnt this a conflict of interest or something this happened 11 years ago but i dont think that it was fair to him (the lawyer) not to tell him this in the beggining also the lawyer never did get to sue the people who were the owners of the dog because they moved in the middle of the night. if he were to find those people today could he sue them now since they ran when they knew they were going to be sued I just dont feel like he was served fairly by this lawyer and he is paralyzed for the rest of his life. he was only 19 when this occoured and i think that it wasnt fair is it to late to act on this, was this case a conflict of interest? Is it to late to find the owners of the dog who escaped justice in the middle of the night i am just curious?


Asked on 10/23/09, 7:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Johnston Law Offices of Robert J. Johnston

Please don't take offense, but I had to read your question 3 times before I was comfortable that I understood it. It wasn't until about the last 2 or 3 lines that you started using punctuation. It is probably easy for you to understand it because it is your thoughts. But its not so easy for someone like me. I have to constantly stop to try and figure out where all of the sentences start and stop.

I do not know if it is a conflict of interest or not. You didn't say exactly what the family relationship was. Obviously if it was father and son, it is a conflict. But if it is some distant cousin, then maybe not. It would also be helpful to know how well he was acquainted with this relative.

Another thing that would help is to know how much the case was settled for and how much money was available. If he settled for the maximum amount of money then it might be hard to accuse him of having a conflict of interest. Also, if he settled againt an insurance company and not an individual, then that might make a big difference too.

As far as finding the owners of the dog, you need to consult with a Georgia lawyer on the Statute of Limitations. You posted your question for South Carolina and lawyers only know the law in their particular states.

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Answered on 10/28/09, 7:51 pm


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