Appellate Advocacy

FMG attorney Elissa Haynes secured an appellate victory in the Georgia Court of Appeals, which unanimously affirmed summary judgment in a wrongful death action arising from a fatal fall at an electrical battery plant. The Court held that the decedent, an experienced electrical foreman who fell while working above the ceiling without using the proper safety equipment, had actual knowledge of the specific hazard posed  and voluntarily exposed himself to that risk by failing to use the safety equipment, despite repeated training, written safety policies, a job safety analysis identifying the hazard, and contemporaneous warnings from co‑workers. The Court rejected arguments that alleged changed site conditions or reassurances created a jury issue, emphasizing that a worker’s misjudgment does not negate prior actual knowledge of a known hazard.

Daniella Mejia v. BrandSafway Solutions, LLC et al.; Georgia Court of Appeals; Case No. A25A2164

FMG attorney Will Covino prevailed in the Massachusetts Appeals Court on behalf of a local accounting firm, defeating an accounting‑malpractice claim in which the plaintiffs sought millions of dollars in damages tied to purported below‑market valuations and allegedly fraudulent gift‑tax returns used to transfer securities. The Superior Court dismissed all claims against the accounting firm, which the Appeals Court affirmed, delivering a complete appellate win for the client.

Mark Kinchla, et al. v. Hildred Pennoyer, Michael Kinchla, and O’Connor & Drew, P.C.

In a collaboration among FMG’s Labor & Employment, Government Law and Appellate Advocacy practice groups, attorneys Jack Hancock, John Bennett, Kirsten Daughdril and Michael Freed obtained a reversal of a federal district court’s ruling denying qualified immunity to a county commissioner. That commissioner, along with two others, voted to terminate the employment contract of the county’s chief financial officer. She sued the county and the three commissioners claiming she was terminated in retaliation for her husband’s political activities in violation of her First Amendment right to intimate association. FMG argued that its client was entitled to qualified immunity because the plaintiff failed to allege a violation of clearly established law. The district court denied this argument, but after appeal, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with FMG, reversed the district court’s order, and ordered that the commissioner should be dismissed from the case.

Bivins v. Hambrick et al.; United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; Case No. 23-13029

FMG attorneys Scott Anderson, Jacob Madsen and Cameron Regnery recently obtained a victory in the Court of Appeals of Georgia, receiving a judgment affirming dismissal of all claims against a Georgia insurance broker. The plaintiff, a commercial trucking company, alleged that the insurance broker caused its denial of insurance coverage. Asserting claims for breach of fiduciary duty and negligence, the plaintiff sought over $200,000 in damages. The trial court dismissed the case, holding that the insurance broker did not cause the denial of coverage. The Court of Appeals agreed and affirmed the dismissal of all claims.

Atarod Trucking Company, LLC v. Renegade Insurance LLC, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Case No. A25A1457

FMG attorneys Sun Choy and Wes Jackson prevailed on all claims in wrongful death civil rights action on behalf of four deputies at a metro-area county jail. The plaintiffs claimed the four deputies failed to provide adequate medical care to their father and brother, who died in the jail from a perforated ulcer. However, the deputies had relied on the advice of contract medical professionals at the jail. The plaintiffs sought $50 million in a pre-suit demand. The trial court granted summary judgment to the officers on all counts. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous, published decision, held as a matter of law that a nonmedical jail officer cannot be found liable for deliberate indifference when the officer reasonably relies on the advice or opinion of a medical professional, and because the deputies in this case reasonably relied on the nurses’ diagnosis, they were not deliberately indifferent.

Tiffany Wingo et al. v. Major Branson Harris et al., Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 24-10933.

FMG attorneys Phil Savrin and Bill Buechner secured summary judgment in favor of an insurance company that had been sued for millions of dollars in claimed property losses. The lawsuit was filed in 2019 and took several years to make its way through the federal courts, including a trial on two claims that resulted in a defense verdict on the question of bad faith and the dismissal of the remaining claims by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Transworld Foods v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 24-11121, Federal Court – Northern District of Georgia and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

FMG attorneys Dana Maine, Kevin Stone and Katie Taylor obtained a win in the Georgia Court of Appeals in a tort and breach of contract case against a governmental entity and its development authority. The plaintiff, a subsidiary of a national real estate management corporation, sought over $1.4 million in damages. The Court of Appeals agreed with FMG and held the plaintiff’s tort claims were barred by sovereign immunity and the plaintiff failed to state a claim for nuisance, inverse condemnation or breach of contract.

DeThomas Investments, LLC v. LMRK PropCo, LLC, A25A0848, 2025 WL 1923873 (Ga. App. July 14, 2025)

Michael Sanders, Brad Purcell and Sophie Stevanovich obtained a favorable decision from the Illinois Appellate Court affirming the use of exculpatory clauses. Plaintiff broke her ankle after falling while top rope climbing at an indoor facility. Plaintiff argued the exculpatory agreement she had signed should be voided because it was prohibited by Illinois’ Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety Act (the “Act”), which requires facilities licensed under the Act to have $1 million in liability insurance. Brad Purcell obtained summary judgment in favor of FMG’s client in the trial court. FMG attorneys Michael Sanders and Sophie Stevanovic defended our client on appeal and convinced the appellate court to reject each of the Plaintiff’s arguments. In a case of first impression, the appellate court found that the Act does not prohibit exculpatory clauses. 

Amy Taylor v. Brooklyn Boulders LLC, and Chicago Climbing Gym Company, LLC; Case No.: 2025 IL App (1st) 231912

Doug Holthus and Cara Wright received an affirmed summary judgment in Ohio’s Third District Court of Appeals in favor of FMG’s client, a local school district board of education, in a slip and fall case. Plaintiff alleged that the school district was negligent in electing not to use a removable step at the end of the bleachers, resulting in the last step between the bleachers and the gym floor to be about twice as high as the rise between the other steps. The appellate court affirmed that the difference in riser height was open and obvious and rejected Plaintiff’s argument that other circumstances (a trash can placed on the floor near the stairs and the basketball players warming up) distracted the Plaintiff and negated the open and obvious nature of the condition.

Bradshaw v. North Union Local School District Board of Education