General Civil Practice

Mr. Cork has been employed to represent clients or to associate or consult with other lawyers in a broad range of civil practice matters. Such employment occurs on a broad range of hourly, fixed or contingent fees.

Published Texts and Articles

Reforming Jury Instructions, The Verdict, Spring 2012, pp. 28-36.
Appearance, Reality and Product Safety, The Verdict, Spring 2009, pp. 33-34.
Jury Instructions on Trial, Calendar Call, p. 12 (Spring 2008).
Jury Instructions, Ch. 10 of GTLA Trial Practice Manual, 5th ed. 2005 and 6th ed. 2007.
A Better Orientation For Jury Instructions, 54 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2002), in Mercer's PDF. Cited in Norfolk Southern Ry. v. Sorrell, 549 U.S. 158, 180 n.2 (2007) (Ginsburg, J., concurring); Imperial Foods Supply, Inc. v. Purvis, 260 Ga. App. 614, 617 n.8 (2003); State of Wisconsin v. Hubbard, 742 N.W.2d 893, par. 19 (Wis. App. 2007); State of Maryland v. Smith, 374 Md. 527 n.16, 823 A.2d 664 (2003); The "Plain English" Project of the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee - Civil, 60 Ala. Lawyer 369 n.14 (2007).
Contributor to Macon Bar’s Professionalism Efforts, Georgia Bar Journal, December 1997, p. 74.
Co-author of Wrongful Death Damages for Decedents with Limited Earning Capacities, The Verdict, January 1993, p. 24.
Compiler and publisher of a summary of recent cases in each edition of the Macon Bar newsletter since 1986.

Seminar Presentations

Jury Instructions, GTLA Trial Practice Manual Seminar, September 25, 2013.
Jury Charges and Charge Conference, ICLE, 12th Annual General Practice and Trial Institute Seminar, March 16, 2013.
Procedural Pitfalls, GTLA, 2013 Essential Torts Workshop, February 15, 2013.
Jury Instructions, GTLA Trial Practice Manual Seminar, September 25, 2012.
Procedural Pitfalls, GTLA, 2012 Essential Torts Workshop, February 17, 2012.
Reforming Jury Instructions, GTLA Annual Convention, May 5, 2011.
ERISA Reimbursement & Legal Ethics, Arizona Association for Justice, The Trial Lawyers' Annual Lien Seminar, January 28, 2011.
Professional and Ethical Dilemmas in Litigation, ICLE, September 24, 2010.
Jury Instructions, GTLA Trial Practice Manual Seminar, Atlanta, February 11, 2005 and September 19, 2007.
Update on Federal Jurisdiction, “Survey of Federal Practice” Seminar, Federal Bar Assn., Middle District of Georgia Chapter, Macon, October 3, 2003.
Recent Developments in Tort Law, “Recent Developments in Georgia Law” Seminar, Mercer Law School - Macon Bar, Macon, March 14, 2003.
Update on Federal Jurisdiction, “Survey of Federal Practice” Seminar, Federal Bar Assn., Middle District of Georgia Chapter, Macon, October 24, 2002.
Seminar Paper, Venue Considerations and Alternatives in Trucking Cases, GTLA Trucking Law Seminar, Atlanta, November 30, 2001.
Jurisdictional Battlegrounds: Staying In or Out of Federal Court, “To Be or Not To Be in Federal Court Seminar, Federal Bar Assn., Middle District of Georgia Chapter, Macon, October 5, 2001 (seminar chair).
Senate Bill 20 and Other Efforts to Regulate “Ambulance Chasing,” GTLA “New Laws” Seminar, July 23, 1999.
Products Liability, Macon Bar - Mercer Law School Seminar, May 29, 1984.
Monthly mini-seminar (about 5 minutes) on some legal development of interest at Middle Georgia Trial Lawyer Meetings.

Representative Appellate Cases

Malpractice

Thomas v. Emory Clinic, Inc., 321 Ga. App. 457 (2011) (finding that a trial court committed error in admitting the testimony of one doctor that other, non-testifying doctors reviewed the same slides and saw nothing that the defendant doctor should have seen).
Cleaveland v. Gannon, 284 Ga. 376 (2008), affirming 288 Ga. App. 875 (2007) (whole court) (authorizing suit for the metastasis of a cancer that the defendant doctors failed to diagnose more than two years earlier, upholding the "new injury" concept, against objections that individual had symptoms of cancer more than two years before the discovery of the cancer).
Thomas v. Gastroenterology Assocs. of Gainesville, P.C., 280 Ga. 698 (2006) (reversing the Court of Appeals and holding that a professional negligence affidavit filed under OCGA Section 9-11-9.1 is valid even though it was notarized by a person whose notarial commission expired weeks before the execution of the affidavit).
Thompson v. Thompson, 278 Ga. 752 (2004) (reversing the Court of Appeals and striking down a former pattern instruction that the proximate cause was the dominant cause).
Beach v. Lipham, 276 Ga. 302 (2003) (restricting the use of the "presumption of skill" jury instruction in medical malpractice cases).
Gray v. John R. Vaughn, P.C., 217 Ga. App. 872 (1995) (reversing trial court and holding that company providing emergency room doctor to hospital could be liable for doctor's acts based on contract provisions).
Beck v. Dennis, 215 Ga. App. 728 (1994) (reversing judgment below and holding that statute of repose in medical malpractice case could be avoided by proof of fraud on doctor's part).
Crumpton v. Kelly, 185 Ga. App. 245 (1987) (reversing judgment on jury verdict because trial court failed to excuse from jury the attorney for county board of commissioners in medical malpractice case against county hospital authority).

Premises Liability

Robinson v. Kroger Co., 268 Ga. 735 (1997) (reversing Court of Appeals, and implicitly overruling scores of cases, by authorizing a plaintiff to recover in a slip-and-fall case where the defect was visible, where the plaintiff was not looking at the floor at the time of the fall and where the plaintiff was looking at the defendant's goods).
Valentin v. Six Flags Over Georgia, 286 Ga. App. 508 (2007) (reversing summary judgment due to fall on inadequately secured rug).
Kitchens v. Keadle Lumber Enters., 249 Ga. App. 831 (2001) (reversing summary judgment for owner of timber processor that knew of holes in ground into which plaintiff fell and that such holes were covered by mud).
Wesleyan College v. Weber, 238 Ga. App. 90 (1999) (upholding large verdict in wrongful death claim based on failure to inspect and remove dangerous trees near road, and reversing trial court's grant of new trial).
Burke v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 212 Ga. App. 115 (1994) (reversing summary judgment because evidence was sufficient that store failed to use due care to patrol aisles for spills).
Stone v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 193 Ga. App. 752 (1989) (reversing summary judgment because of inconsistencies in store manager's testimony about steps used to check floors).

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Dial v. Natalizi, 246 Ga. App. 97 (2000) (reversing judgment below and finding sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove that defendant's vehicle did not stop in the road, as he claimed, due to engine failure).
Glenn McClendon Trucking Co. v. Williams, 183 Ga. App. 508 (1987) (upholding large jury award in motor vehicle accident against various challenges, including a finding that punitive damages were appropriate based on repairs to truck using improper tools).
Bellamy v. Edwards, 181 Ga. App. 887 (1987) (upholding large jury award in motor vehicle accident against various challenges, including a holding that the lead driver in a "race" on public roads could be liable for a collision caused by the negligence of a trailing driver).
Haynes v. Huff, 165 Ga. App. 192 (1983) (reversing judgment on jury verdict because trial court improperly allowed investigating officer to testify to hearsay remarks of others).

Product Liability

Underwood v. Select Tire, Inc., 296 Ga. App. 805 (2009) (establishing the liabilities of resellers and installers of used products in Georgia).
Duren v. Paccar, Inc., 249 Ga. App. 758 (2001) (reversing judgment below and holding that Georgia products liability law was not preempted by federal safety standards for anti-lock brakes).
English v. Crenshaw Supply Co., 193 Ga. App. 354 (1989) (reversing summary judgments and holding that one defendant, though a distributor, could be held liable as a manufacturer because it put its color on the defective scaffolding, and holding that defects in the scaffolding could be a concurrent proximate cause of the plaintiff's fall and injuries).

Railroad Accidents

Tadlock v. Tadlock, 290 Ga. App. 568 (2008) (establishing the rights of a non-dependent adult child to participate in the survival action under FELA due to injuries to his father, and the effect of a prenuptial agreement).
Southern Ry. v. Hand, 216 Ga. App. 370 (1995) (upholding large verdict for worker against numerous challenges).

Governmental Liability

Vann v. Finley, 313 Ga. App. 153 (2011) (holding a city's electrical inspector liable against his claim that he acted in a discretionary capacity and his assertions of various kinds of immunity).
Georgia Dept. of Transp. v. Miller, 300 Ga. App. 857 (2009) (upholding department's liability for allowing drainage culvert to be clogged, resulting in water hazard on highway during rain events, leading to a fatality; rejecting claims for immunity in the exercise of discretionary functions; rejecting Daubert challenges to the plaintiff's experts; etc.).
Medical Center Hospital Authority v. Andrews, 250 Ga. 424 (1982) (holding that hospital authorities lack sovereign immunity).

Vicarious Liability

Kissun v. Humana, Inc., 267 Ga. 419 (1997) (reversing Court of Appeals and allowing parent and subsidiary corporations to be liable on theories of apparent agency and joint venture).

Fraud

Dunn v. Five Star Dodge-Jeep-Eagle-Mazda, Inc., 245 Ga. App. 378 (2000) (reversing trial court's erroneous reduction of verdict in fraud case).

Workers Compensation

Johnson v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 231 Ga. App. 627 (1998) (reversing trial court's use of wrong standard of review of rulings of appellate division of workers compensation board).

Alternative Dispute Resolution/Arbitration

Life Care Ctrs. v. Smith, 298 Ga. App. 739 (2009) (defeating attempt to compel arbitration of nursing home dispute by showing that person with durable power of attorney for health care lacked the right to bind the patient to arbitration).

Jurisdiction and Procedure

Hyperdynamics Corp. v. Southridge Capital Management, Inc., 305 Ga. App. 283 (2010) (reversing dismissal of case against numerous nonresident defendants for lack of jurisdiction on the basis of conspiracy among them, along with resident defendants, to defraud Texas corporation).

Evidence and Trial Practice

Thomas v. Emory Clinic, Inc., 321 Ga. App. 457 (2011) (finding that a trial court committed error in admitting the testimony of one doctor that other, non-testifying doctors reviewed the same slides and saw nothing that the defendant doctor should have seen).
Pointer v. Roberts, 288 Ga. 150 (2010) (reversing Court of Appeals and holding that a trial court need not grant a continuance when a party adds an expert soon before trial, and then announces that the expert cannot attend the scheduled trial).
Bell v. Austin, 278 Ga. 844 (2005) (upholding validity of the medical narrative statute against constitutional attack).
Collins v. Davis, 186 Ga. App. 192 (1988) (reversing judgment on jury verdict because of admission of evidence of plaintiff's insurance coverage, and holding that plaintiff should have been allowed to prove that defendant's medical expert had been paid a large amount of money for a short examination of the plaintiff).

Damages

Sightler v. Transus, Inc., 208 Ga. App. 173 (1993) (cert. dismissed as improvidently granted) (reversing trial court and holding that employer's liability for punitive damages based on acts of employee was not defeated by death of the employee).

Sanctions: Attorneys Fees and Contempt

In re Hadaway, 290 Ga. App. 453 (2008) (reversing contempt sanctions against attorney who zealously represented her client's interests in obtaining custody of a child, despite judge's objections to such custody by a lesbian).
Hall v. Christian Church of Ga., Inc., 280 Ga. App. 721 (2006) (reversing grant of $34,000 in attorney fees under OCGA Section 9-15-14).

Settlements

Roberson v. Henderson Chemical Co., 171 Ga. App. 722 (1984) (reversing trial court's summary judgment based on plaintiff's signing a general release, when he only meant to release property damage claim).

Real Estate

Second Refuge Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. v. Lollar, 282 Ga. 721 (2008) (reversing quiet title ruling because of invalidity of deeds purporting to convey title to church property).
Byrd v. Shelley, 279 Ga. App. 886 (2006) (upholding verdict in land line dispute against claim thatadverse possession issue should have been submitted to jury).
Gambrell v. Buxton, 200 Ga. App. 641 (1991) (upholding summary judgment in land line dispute).

Domestic relations

Tadlock v. Tadlock, 290 Ga. App. 568 (2008) (establishing the rights of a non-dependent adult child to participate in the survival action under FELA due to injuries to his father, and the effect of a prenuptial agreement).
In re Hadaway, 290 Ga. App. 453 (2008) (reversing contempt sanctions against attorney who zealously represented her client's interests in obtaining custody of a child, despite judge's objections to such custody by a lesbian).

Contract disputes

Coleman v. Retina Consultants, P.C., 286 Ga. 317 (2009) (striking down noncompetition provisions in contract between employer and software developer).
Middle Georgia Bank v. Continental Real Estate & Associates, Inc., 168 Ga. App. 611 (1983) (upholding summary judgment for broker in bank's action by invoking parol evidence rule to prevent bank from proving oral agreement contrary to terms of check).