Civil Prosecutions of DUI and Dram Shop Cases in Georgia

Mr. Brian DeVoe Rogers Related Seminars and Products

Rogers & Fite LLC

A native of Atlanta, Buck earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia in 1990 and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1994. Buck is a P.O.S.T. (Peace Officer’s Safety Training) Certified Guest Lecturer, Commercial Motor Vehicle Collisions and Law and holds his own CDL License.

?

Buck is the 55th president of the State Bar of Georgia and has been on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia since 2008. He works primarily as a civil attorney representing victims of catastrophic claims.

?

Buck was selected as one of the “14 Under 40” in the Fulton County Daily Report in 2006 and as one of the “Top 100 lawyers” in Georgia by Atlanta Magazine.  He was president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association from 2013 to 2014 and served on the Atlanta Bar Association’s Continuing Education Committee.

?

Buck is a graduate of the National College of Advocacy, the Ultimate Trial College in Washington, D.C., and the Trial Lawyers College. He is a Master in the Lamar Inn of Court.

Buck has devoted himself to community service. His philanthropic work includes serving on the Board of Directors for Roadsafe America (trucking safety advocacy group), Chair of the Board of Directors of the Civil Justice PAC Inc., State Council of Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) for which he is the Chair of Leadership, and the Shepherd Spinal and Brain Injury Center, where he is a Trustee and serves on the Auxiliary Board and the Advisory Board.

?

?

Education

?

J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 1994

B.A., University of Georgia, 1990

Mr. John Andrew Houghton Related Seminars and Products

The Houghton Law Firm LLC

Biography

John is a native Atlantan and a graduate of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science. John earned his Juris Doctorate at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.

Education

• Samford University School of Law, Birmingham, Alabama
  • J.D.

• Southern Methodist University
  • B.A.
  • Major: History
  • Major: Political Science

Practice Areas

• Tractor-trailer Collisions / Commercial Vehicle Accidents
• Auto Wrecks
• Premises Liability / Criminal Acts By 3rd Parties
• Insurance Coverage

Bar Admissions

• Georgia
• Superior Courts of the State of Georgia
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia
• Georgia Court of Appeals
• Supreme Court of Georgia

Honors

• Named to Super Lawyers, 2022
• Named to Super Lawyers - Rising Stars, 2011 - 2020
• Martindale-Hubbell - Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
• Top 40 Under 40 Trial Lawyers in the State of Georgia by the National Trial Lawyers

Pro-Bono Activities

• Member - State Advisory Counsel - Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• Chairman - Walk Like MADD Steering Committee, 2013 to 2014
• The Shepherd Center, Volunteer Cook

Professional Associations

• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), Member
• Civil Justice PAC, Member
• Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Member
• Atlanta Bar Association, Member
• American Association for Justice, Member

Ms. Carrie Lynn Christie Related Seminars and Products

Rutherford & Christie LLP

Carrie Christie is an AV rated, experienced trial attorney with over 30 years representing, consulting with and defending at trial some of America’s most loved brands. She serves as National Counsel for many well-recognized companies and has defended them in both state and federal court in more than 25 states, as well as Puerto Rico.

Carrie has obtained summary judgments in numerous death and serious injury cases in which plaintiffs were seeking seven to eight figure jury awards. She has precluded plaintiffs from presenting expert testimony, based on rigorous pre-trial cross examination and successful Daubert motions.

In admitted liability cases, Carrie has repeatedly secured verdicts well below that last negotiated offer at mediation.

Carrie is a current faculty member of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Trial Academy and serves as the only lawyer on the Board of the Restaurant Risk Management Summit, an industry-only forum serving more than 150 brands for risk, safety, claims professionals and general counsel.

Over the last 20 years Carrie has been the speaker at annual meetings of numerous risk management and claims organizations, to include the National Restaurant Association, RIMS, Tort & Litigation Practice Group, and the Restaurant Roundtable. She has served as a consultant to numerous national and international brands, helping to create written safe alcohol service policies and procedures and defending them in catastrophic injury and death resulting from dram shop claims, as well as premises security, food borne illness and construction defect claims.

Carrie represents major domestic and international U.S. airlines, having obtained summary judgment in death claims under the Montreal Treaty and Warsaw Convention, as well as trucking and construction companies. She successfully defended the “completed and accepted” doctrine before the Georgia Supreme Court in a death case, upholding 100 years of legal precedent in the state.

Carrie represents religious and educational entities on a variety of issues ranging from First Amendment, to misconduct of clergy and staff, premises liability and catastrophic injury.

Mr. Jacob Edward Daly Related Seminars and Products

Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP

Jake Daly is Senior Counsel in Freeman Mathis & Gary's Atlanta office and practices in the firm’s Tort and Catastrophic Loss and Governmental Liability section and primarily represents private companies, government entities, and their employees in personal injury litigation. He has extensive experience in defending property owners, management companies, and security companies in premises liability lawsuits, and he also defends private companies and their employees against other tort claims, including product liability claims, dram shop claims, motor vehicle accident claims, assault/battery/false imprisonment claims, and negligent hiring and retention claims. In addition, he defends cities, counties, and local government officials in civil rights lawsuits and state-law tort lawsuits. Finally, he represents businesses in commercial disputes, such as lawsuits alleging fraud, breach of warranty, or violations of consumer protection laws.

Mr. Daly received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia (B.A., 1993) and his law degree from Mercer University (J.D., cum laude, 2000), where he was a member of the Mercer Law Review and the Moot Court Board and was invited to join the Brainerd Currie Honor Society and the Order of Barristers. Following his graduation from law school, Mr. Daly was a law clerk to the Honorable Duross Fitzpatrick of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Mr. Douglas N. Peters Related Seminars and Products

Peters Rubin & Sheffield PA

Douglas N. Peters has been recognized each year as a Super Lawyer in Georgia for the past 15 years, and has been named “Georgia Lawyer of the Year” for Criminal Defense for 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2022 by The Best Lawyers in America.

Doug graduated from the University of Georgia (B.A.) in 1971 and the University of Georgia School of Law (J.D.) in 1974. After law school, he served as Assistant District Attorney in the Clayton Judicial Circuit and Judge of the Municipal Court for the City of Lithonia before founding what is now Peters, Rubin, Sheffield & Hodges, P.A. Doug is a past President of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and past Chairman of the Association’s Research Services Committee. He is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers TOP 100 Trial Lawyers, and has  attained the highest rating of AV by Martindale Hubble.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

Doug is nationally recognized for his expertise in defending individuals accused of committing crimes against children. He authored The Defense of the Child Molestation Case in Georgia, a book distributed through the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. It is available to over 2,000 Association members. Doug lectures nationally and locally to judges, lawyers, investigators, and other professionals, and he organizes, moderates, and serves as keynote speaker for his annual Georgia seminar on the defense of the child molestation case in Georgia. A chapter of his book focuses on defending against false allegations of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma. Doug has been invited by the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center in Holland, Ohio to lecture on defending against allegations of child physical abuse at national conferences in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. He has also been invited by organizations to lecture on biomechanical defenses to allegations of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Indiana.

Recognitions and Honors

Doug’s peers have repeatedly recognized his exemplary legal work. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times list Doug in Best Lawyers in America, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution listed Doug in Georgia’s Best Lawyers and named him “Georgia Lawyer of the Year” for Criminal Defense for 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2022. In 2009, Doug received the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ prestigious Rees Smith Achievement for Excellence Award. Doug is the sixth lawyer to ever receive this recognition in the Association’s 35 year history. In 2013, Doug was honored as the second Association member ever to receive the G. Terry Jackson Friend of the Constitution National Award in recognition of “passion, excellence, and leadership” in criminal defense. At the award ceremony held at the State Bar of Georgia, Association representative and partner, Jason Sheffield said,

“Doug Peters is an unbelievable lawyer: intuitive, intelligent, creative, visceral, powerful, compelling, and compassionate. Time and time again, juries have returned verdicts in Doug’s cases that have expressed their belief in Doug’s clients’ innocence.”

 

Trial Practice

Doug’s representation of his clients has resulted in local and national television appearances including 20/20, Dateline, 48 Hours, The Today Show, and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. Doug has represented defendants in high profile homicide prosecutions including the “Dunwoody Daycare Murder Case,” the Fulton County motorcycle shop shooting by Atlanta police officers, and the double homicide case against dentist Dr. Bart Corbin. His numerous jury trial acquittals include State of Georgia v. John Doe (first successful “sexsomnia” defense in Georgia in the face of aggravated child molestation charges), and Court TV cases of State of Georgia v. Dr. Eva Carrizales (neonatologist accused of killing a premature baby under her care in the hospital) and State of Georgia v. Christopher Routh (16 year-old babysitter accused of aggravated child molestation and murder of a 3 year-old child). Doug won acquittals in State of Georgia v. Mark and Cara Dykes (parents accused of shaking their 2 month-old daughter and breaking both her legs), and in State of Georgia v. Jeanne Daniel (in-home daycare provider charged with shaking 6 month-old child resulting in permanent brain damage and blindness). In Jeanne Daniel’s case, Doug successfully defended against the first pre-trial attempt by prosecutors in Georgia to exclude biomechanical expert testimony challenging the shaken baby syndrome. This victory led to a jury verdict of not guilty.

Appellate Practice

Doug’s post-conviction appellate work has also shaped Georgia law in defending individuals accused of crimes against children. Doug authored the Amicus Brief on behalf of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, where the Georgia Supreme Court reversed a criminal conviction in Barlow v. State, 507 S.E.2d 416. The Barlow decision changed the law in Georgia to allow individuals accused of child abuse to present expert testimony informing juries of the proper techniques required to interview child victims and of the unreliability of children’s statements when improper techniques are used. Doug served as co-counsel in the case of Goldstein v. State, 640 S.E.2d 599, where the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a criminal conviction and outlined an emerging standard requiring the use of proper expert witnesses in child molestation trials. In Darst v. State, 746 S.E.2d 865, Doug was retained by the defendant following guilty verdicts returned against the defendant for Aggravated Child Molestation and the imposition of sentences totaling 60 years to serve. Doug presented evidence at the Motion for New Trial hearing including impeaching facts from the alleged victims’ school records, therapy records, juvenile court records, and DFACS records, as well as testimony from 6 lay witnesses and 3 expert witnesses, creating a post-trial record resulting in reversal of defendant’s convictions in the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. In State of Georgia v. Melanie Ware, other counsel had represented the accused at trial; she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the “shaking death” of a 6 month-old baby she cared for in her home. Following her trial, Doug successfully overturned the conviction by assembling experts whose post-trial testimony persuaded the trial judge that the child died from sickle-cell disease—not from shaking. Doug’s post-conviction successes also include overturning convictions for two clients formerly represented by other counsel and wrongfully convicted of aggravated child molestation in State of Georgia v. Essick and State of Georgia v. Mauldin.

Author Of

• Doug Peters, DEFENSE OF THE CHILD MOLESTATION CASE IN GEORGIA, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers — Updated yearly for distribution through Georgia Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Doug Peters, DEFENDING FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers — Updated yearly for distribution through Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Doug Peters & Bobby Lee Cook, COMPUTER SIMULATION IN THE DEFENSE OF CRIMINAL CASES: THE LAW IN GEORGIA, Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1999)

Mr. Daniel Adams Ragland Related Seminars and Products

Ragland Law Firm LLC

Attorney Daniel Ragland is a courtroom lawyer with considerable expertise in handling complex civil litigation. Daniel Ragland graduated from the Joseph Henry Lumpkin School of Law at the University of Georgia and has practiced law as civil trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia for many years. His offices are in the South Terraces office complex located near Perimeter Mall at I-285 and Ashford Dunwoody Road.

Daniel Ragland lives in Norcross, Georgia with his wife, daughter (now attending an SEC University) and teenage son who attends high school in Gwinnett County.

Attorney Daniel Ragland is highly experienced civil trial attorney with impeccable credentials. He has a combined 30 years of experience preparing and taking cases to trial. Daniel Ragland began his legal career in 1988 with the nationally renowned law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP. During the next 16 years with Robins Kaplan, Mr. Ragland handled a variety of civil litigation matters, but he concentrated mostly on the representation of Plaintiffs in serious injury and wrongful death cases. In 2004, he left Robins Kaplan to establish Ragland Law Firm, LLC.

Attorney Ragland is a “Champion” member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and he is member of the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America). During each of the last 6 years, Daniel Ragland has been listed as “Super Lawyers” in the Atlanta Magazine. Daniel Ragland has received high marks from other lawyers as evidenced by his achieving the coveted “AV® Peer Review Rating,” the highest distinction awarded by Martindale-Hubbell®. According to Martindale-Hubbell, the “ AV peer review rating shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence. He or she has usually practiced for many years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity.”

Daniel Ragland is experienced and highly qualified in the fields of personal injury and wrongful death litigation. Daniel Ragland has handled cases in all areas of Georgia and in the surrounding states of Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina. His expertise includes the areas of medical malpractice , products liability , food safety , trucking litigation , auto accidents , premises liability, inadequate security and crime victim advocacy. Attorney Daniel Ragland is especially well regarded for his work litigating dram shop cases and pursuing civil lawsuits against drunk drivers. Click on the firm’s Case Results page for more information about some of the specific cases our lawyers have handled and the favorable results which were achieved on behalf of our clients.

Importantly, attorney Ragland believes strongly in community service and, as a result, he is dedicated to numerous civic causes and organizations. For several years, Daniel Ragland has served as attorney coach for mock trial teams at the Wesleyan School and Northview High School in North-Fulton County. He is an active member of MADD Georgia, and Daniel Ragland has served on the State Advisory Council for MADD Georgia since 2004. Attorney Ragland is a contributing member of the Brain Injury Association of Georgia, and the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. He has also made charitable donations to the annual “Gwinnett Relay for Life” which benefits the American Cancer Society, and “CURE Childhood Cancer” which benefits research at the Aflac Cancer Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine. Click Community Service to find out more about the charitable giving and service activities of Ragland Law Firm, LLC and its attorneys.