Charles M. Cork, III has written over seventy appellate briefs in a variety of
fields of law, on several occasions as amicus curiae. The briefs covered significant
issues of public policy as well as the more typical applications of law to the case.
Torts and Tort Reform
- Robinson v. Kroger Co.,
268 Ga. 735, 493 S.E.2d 403 (1997)
(reversing the Court of Appeals effectively overruling scores of decisions of the
Court of Appeals, and making slip-and-fall premises liability cases viable; in addition,
I successfully asked that the Supreme Court go beyond the issue on which certiorari was
granted to address other problematic issues in this field of law).
- Cleaveland v. Gannon,
284 Ga. 376; 667 S.E.2d 366 (2008), affirming
288 Ga. App. 875, 655 S.E.2d 662 (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)
- EHCA Cartersville, LLC v. Turner,
280 Ga. 333, 626 S.E.2d 482 (2006)
(striking down part of the tort reform statute that allowed a medical malpractice
defendant to transfer venue to the county in which the tort occurred automatically)
- R.J. Taylor Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Beck,
280 Ga. 660, 631 S.E.2d 684 (2006)
(requiring defendants seeking a change of venue under OCGA 9-10-31.1 to make an
evidentiary showing, holding that mere numbers of witnesses in the respective
counties does not suffice).
- Thompson v. Thompson,
278 Ga. 752 (2004)
(reversing the Court of Appeals and rejecting the part of the proximate cause
charge in the prior Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions using the phrase
“dominant cause”).
- Beach v. Lipham,
276 Ga. 302, 578 S.E.2d 402 (2003)
(qualifying the use of the standard “presumption of due care” charge
in medical malpractice cases to avoid some misleading implications about the
evidence and the burden of proof).
- 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).
- Duren v. Paccar, Inc.,
249 Ga. App. 758, 549 S.E.2d 755 (2001)
(ruling that federal regulations concerning anti-lock breaking systems do not
preempt Georgia’s product liability law).
- Wesleyan College v. Weber,
238 Ga. App. 90, 517 S.E.2d 813 (1999)
(reversing the grant of a new trial, upholding a verdict, and establishing
the liability of owners of trees near roadways for failing to inspect trees
from all sides, not just the roadway side).
- Kissun v. Humana, Inc.,
267 Ga. 419, 479 S.E.2d 751 (1997)
(reversing a Court of Appeals decision that would have exempted parent
corporations from liability under the doctrines of apparent agency and
joint venture).
Insurance-ERISA
- BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina v. Carillo,
372 F.Supp.2d 628 (N.D.Ga. 2005)
(holding that ERISA does not allow plans to seek reimbursement as "appropriate
equitable relief"), affirmed after Sereboff in
Popowski v. Parrott,
461 F.3d 1367 (11th Cir. 2006)
(holding that BCBS's claim was properly dismissed because the plan's language
did not seek a specific fund of money, but instead sought a level of reimbursement
that could be much higher than settlement proceeds). A report on the oral
argument is
here.
- Davis v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc.,
271 Ga. 508, 521 S.E.2d 815 (1999)
(reversing the Court of Appeals and establishing that, where the tort recoveries
are insufficient to make the victim whole and reimburse the victim’s health
insurer, the public policy of Georgia in favor of complete compensation for
insured victims is paramount over express terms in a policy that would give
priority to the insurer’s reimbursement claim, even before the 1997 statute
that regulated the field).
- Gordon v. Atlanta Cas. Co.,
279 Ga. 148, 611 S.E.2d 24 (2005)
(construing the uninsured motorist statute to mandate coverage for the deaths of
"persons," not just "insureds," for which the policyholder has a right to recover).
- Reid v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co.,
223 Ga. App. 204, 477 S.E.2d 369 (1996), affirmed
268 Ga. 432, 491 S.E.2d 50 (1997)
(allowing a plaintiff to cure the failure to serve an uninsured motorist carrier
within the time provided by law -- in this case because the liability carrier
became insolvent after the statute of limitation expired -- by dismissing and
refiling the suit under Georgia’s renewal statute, thus freeing plaintiffs
from serving the uninsured motorist carriers in every case; the problem was later
legislatively solved).
- White v. Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.,
266 Ga. 371, 467 S.E.2d 332 (1996)
(reversing a Court of Appeals decision that would allow insurers to circumvent
the statutory policy permitting “stacking” of uninsured motorist
policies).
Condemnation and Real Property
- Harper Investments, Inc. v. Dept. of Transportation,
251 Ga. App. 521, 554 S.E.2d 619 (2001)
(establishing that rights of access to property survive in spite of the enactment of
commercial driveway regulations and arguably restrictive “temporary”
right-of-way deeds).
- Hillman v. Dept. of Transp.,
257 Ga. 338, 359 S.E.2d 637 (1987)
(rejecting a trend in Court of Appeals decisions that prohibited a land owner from
recovering damages to the remaining property caused by the taking of a temporary
construction easement).
- Hall v. Christian Church of Georgia,
280 Ga. App. 721, 634 S.E.2d 793 (2006)
(setting aside an award of over $28,000 in damages under OCGA 9-15-14, the frivolous
litigation statute, in a land line dispute).