Mar 21, 2023 | Civil Matters
On March 15, 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state’s $250,000 punitive damages cap in a closely watched case. The appeal stemmed from a jury’s award of $50 million in punitive damages to the estate of Tia McGee, who was sexually...
Mar 17, 2023 | Government Contract
On March 9, 2023, the Georgia Court of Appeals remanded to the Superior Court of DeKalb County the unresolved aspects of a tumultuous case that had originally resulted in a more than $6 million verdict against the City of Brookhaven, its Mayor and City Manager. The...
Mar 13, 2023 | Criminal Matters
On March 8, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a former Georgia police officer’s sexual harassment lawsuit because the complaint was drafted as a “shotgun pleading.” The Eleventh Circuit is well known for its disapproval of and...
Mar 13, 2023 | Health Care Fraud
On March 10, a federal jury convicted former physician, Frederick Gooding, 71, of Wilmington, Delaware, for his role in a $5 million health care fraud scheme. Gooding first worked as a medical practitioner in Delaware from 1996 to 2013. In 2010, the Delaware medical...
Mar 8, 2023 | False Claims Act
Due to inflationary pressures, on January 30, 2023, the Department of Justice increased penalties for violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) for the second time in less than a year. As of January 30, 2023, the minimum penalty for a FCA violation is now $13,508, up...
Mar 8, 2023 | White Collar Crime
On March 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the first insider trading prosecution based exclusively on Rule 10b5-1 Trading plans. As stated plainly in a Harvard Law School post, “Rule 10b5-1 plans are passive investment schemes (plan holders relinquish...
Mar 6, 2023 | White Collar Crime
On October 14, 2022, a federal jury convicted the former City of Atlanta Commissioner of Watershed Management, Jo Ann Macrina, of conspiracy and federal program bribery for accepting bribes from an Atlanta contractor in exchange for steering city business worth...
Feb 27, 2023 | Election Law
Last December, U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert granted a preliminary injunction to two nonprofit entities, one a 501(c)(3) and another a 501(c)(4), that challenged the enforcement of Georgia’s campaign finance laws against the entities. The injunction...
Feb 23, 2023 | Government Investigations
On February 22, federal prosecutors unveiled a new policy to incentivize and encourage companies to disclose misconduct by its employees or agents. The new United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy, which is effective immediately, details the...
