A18A1790. GRESHAM v. HARRIS a/k/a “TI” et al.
DILLARD, Chief Judge.
“What started off as a jam-packed week of parties, concerts, and watching renowned rappers mixing new music tracks in the waning days of summer abruptly ended with Norris Gresham being dragged down a flight of 30 stairs and viciously pistol whipped in front of a crowd of onlookers. Gresham blacked out shortly after the attack began, eventually coming to in a nearby parking lot. He then called the police, who responded to the scene and transported him to the precinct (where he gave them a report of the incident). Gresham suffered significant physical injuries during the attack, and later filed suit against [Mr. Chapar’s clients].”
You know appellate decisions that start like that are going to be interesting. And it turned out to be so.
As you know we handle a lot of litigation and we revel in appellate work. This Opinion came down today from the Georgia Court of Appeals, upholding our firm’s win in the trial court (in the form of Fulton Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall) in the defense of our clients who were improperly alleged to be responsible for the injuries that the plaintiff suffered at the hands of another.
The case went on for years. However, ultimately the last line of the Opinion is what counts: “For all these reasons, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the Harris defendants.”
The case summarizes Georgia in detail whether an owner or occupier of land can be liable for injuries suffered on that property as a result of a personal dispute. In sum, the owner or occupier of land is generally NOT responsible for the harm suffered under such circumstances. The Plaintiff was injured at a recording studio owned by our client TI. However, TI was not present during the assault and did not know about it. The assault was the result of a personal dispute between the Plaintiff and the person alleged to have injured him in a beating. Our clients had NO liability at all in the case.
We acknowledge co-counsel Jonathan E. Leonard and our very talented senior paralegal Tracy E. Riser – who edits a brief better than anyone. We also thank Tip for his astonishing patience during the process.
The full decision is here: March 5, 2019 Decision of Ga. Court of Appeals Gresham v Harris