Peters & Monyak, LLP is one of the most experienced and active firms in Georgia in defending medical professional liability actions. The firm has been retained by a number of medical professional liability carriers to defend physicians and other healthcare professionals in malpractice cases, and is regularly hired by both the largest carrier in Georgia and the largest carrier in Alabama. The firm’s attorneys have represented hundreds of physicians and other practitioners in professional negligence actions and has tried to verdict over 100 cases throughout the state. We have represented physicians in virtually all medical specialties, and have investigated and cross-examined many hundreds of expert witnesses throughout the United States. Our attorneys regularly address issues relating to the medical standard of care, medical causation, peer review, medical complications, the sufficiency and admissibility of expert testimony, informed consent, statutes of limitations and repose, tort reform, emergency medicine liability standards, and damages caps.

The firm’s attorneys have extensive experience in defending product manufacturers in a wide array of products liability actions. The firm currently serves as Southeastern Regional Counsel for a global automotive component manufacturer, and has represented manufacturers of industrial equipment, asbestos, latex products, pharmaceuticals, medical implants, forestry machinery, and other consumer and industrial products. We regularly address issues such as federal preemption, review and scrutiny of scientific evidence, the protection of trade secrets and other proprietary information, limitations and constraints on the award of punitive damages, warnings theories, sophisticated user doctrines, state-of-the-art defenses, venue and inconvenient forum transfers, and discovery matters. The firm has litigated products liability cases throughout the country.

The firm has an active practice in a variety of appellate courts, including the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and other appellate courts throughout the region. While much of this appellate work is an extension of our trial practice, our lawyers have also been specially retained to pursue appeals from adverse verdicts in high-profile cases. The firm is regularly asked to prepare and file amicus curiae briefs in support of important public policy positions endorsed by various industry and professional associations. Our lawyers have handled appeals on issues including federal preemption, punitive damages, informed consent, statutes of limitations and repose, the insufficiency and admissibility of expert testimony, the standard for establishing medical causation, the scope of the peer review privilege, the protection of trade secrets and other proprietary information, and the admissibility of a variety of evidence.

Peters & Monyak, LLP is hired regularly by national and regional businesses and insurance carriers to represent companies and individuals in a variety of general liability and other matters. Among other things, the firm’s attorneys have handled cases involving automobile, motorcycle, and trucking accidents; employment contracts; covenants not to compete; household mold accumulation; contract disputes; trademark and copyright enforcement; employment litigation; and a variety of business torts and other disputes. The firm’s extensive trial experience is an added asset in the handling of many forms of general civil litigation in which the participants frequently lack this experience.

The firm recognizes there is substantial interest in alternatives to the civil litigation process. Costs and delays, as well as uncertainties in utilizing the court system, have resulted in increased interest in resolving disputes by alternate means.

Jonathan C. Peters, Esq. a former Georgia Superior Court judge, is an experienced mediator and arbitrator. Mr. Peters was appointed as Superior Court Judge in DeKalb County, Georgia in 1986, and served in that capacity until 1991, when he returned to his private trial practice. He has served on the State Bar Disciplinary Panel, the State Bar Filings Committee, and has acted as a Special Master for the Georgia Supreme Court. Mr. Peters is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is recognized in the prestigious national publication, “Best Lawyers in America” for alternative dispute resolution. He has exceptional experience in serving as a mediator and arbitrator to fairly and reasonably resolve contested matters, as well as in representing parties in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

For a variety of reasons, including increasing health care costs, malpractice litigation, and increased publicity, public scrutiny of healthcare providers and medical care is likely at an all-time high. Correspondingly, there has been a trend towards increasing scrutiny of physicians by the Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners, hospital credentialing boards, and managed care entities. In Georgia, for example, a patient complaint or a malpractice case settlement automatically generates an inquiry by the Composite State Board.

The firm regularly represents physicians in proceedings before the Composite State Board, as well as other credentialing bodies. This representation has included both formal and informal proceedings, with both public and private disciplinary options at stake. The firm’s representations have involved issues including impaired physicians, alleged inappropriate controlled substance prescriptions, alleged improper physician-patient encounters, lack of consent, insufficient qualifications, and a variety of allegations regarding the quality of care. The firm’s attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable regarding these administrative proceedings and have successfully represented physicians and healthcare practitioners on many occasions.