Attorney's Lien. Checks made jointly payable to the attorney and client are subject to the lien foreclosure provisions of OCGA § 44-14-550. Failure to institute proceedings to foreclose the lien within ten days of the client's demand for the check constitutes a forfeiture of the attorney's lien. Ellis, Funk, Goldberg, Labovitz & Dokson, P.C. v. Kleinberger, 235 Ga. App. 360 (1998).

Statute of Limitation - Tolling by Fraud - Confidential Relation. In order to toll the statute of limitation because of fraud, the plaintiff must show actual fraud concealing the existence of a cause of action. In cases of professional or other confidential relations between the parties, the professional has a greater duty to disclose the facts giving rise to a cause of action, but in order to toll the statute because of fraud, the plaintiff must still show an intention to conceal that deters the plaintiff from bringing suit. In cases of multiple defendants, the manifestation of injury that causes a claim to accrue and the existence of fraud that tolls the statute must be determined separately for each defendant. Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, P.C. v. Frame, 269 Ga. 844 (1998); Charter Peachford Behavioral Health System, Inc. v. Kohout, 233 Ga. App. 452 (1998).

Nonresident Motorist Act v. Long Arm Act. Must a nonresident driver be served under the Nonresident Motorist Act, so that a suit filed and served under the Long Arm Act must be dismissed? This seems to be the holding of Phillips v. Jackson, 233 Ga. App. 875 (1998).

Transfer of Venue - Dismissal. When a case is transferred to another venue under USCR 19, costs must be paid within 20 days; otherwise the case is automatically dismissed and may not be reinstated by the court afterward. Phillips v. McCroskey, 234 Ga. App. 87 (1998).

Motion to Dismiss - Time for Response. Where evidence is not required to resolve a motion, a court has discretion to rule on a motion to dismiss before the 30 days anticipated by USCR 6.2 for filing a response expires. Phillips v. McCroskey, 234 Ga. App. 87 (1998).

Discovery - Authentication. A document produced by another party in response to discovery is not automatically deemed authentic. The authenticity of such a document may be proved by circumstantial evidence. Davis v. First Healthcare Corp., 234 Ga. App. 744 (1998).

Evidence - Judicial Notice. In order for the trial court to take judicial notice of any fact, the court must first announce its intention to do so on the record, and give the parties an opportunity to be heard on whether judicial notice should be taken. Graves v. State, 269 Ga. 772 (1998).

Evidence - Impeaching own witness. A party may impeach its own witness with a contradictory statement, but not by means of a prior conviction. Jones v. State, 270 Ga. 25 (1998).

Evidence - Experts - Victim Interview Techniques. Expert testimony is admissible regarding proper and improper techniques for interviewing children. Barlow v. State, 270 Ga. 54 (1998).

Hearsay - Necessity. In order to admit hearsay statements under the "necessity" exception, the proponent must show not merely that the evidence is necessary and has particular guarantees of trustworthiness, but the statement must be relevant to a material fact and more probative on that material fact than other evidence that may be procured and offered. Such testimony is trustworthy if the declarant's truthfulness is so clear from the surrounding circumstances that the test of cross-examination would be of marginal utility. Chapel v. State, 270 Ga. 151 (1998).

Attorney-Client Privilege - Corporations. The privilege regarding communications with corporate counsel belongs to the corporation, not to employees of the corporation. Corporate employees lack standing to assert the corporation's privilege or oppose a waiver of it. A corporate employee may assert an attorney-client privilege regarding conversations with corporate counsel only if they approach counsel for legal advice and make it clear that they do so in their individual capacities, if corporate counsel understands that there could be a conflict, and if they hold confidential conversations that are unrelated to the affairs of the corporation. Zielinski v. Clorox Co., 270 Ga. 38 (1998).

Argument - Right to Open and Close. Whether a defendant forfeits the right to open and close by introducing evidence is fact-driven. Laying the foundation for the prior inconsistent statement of a witness by reading portions of a statement does not constitute the introduction of evidence so as to forfeit the right to open and close. Davis v. State, 235 Ga. App. 256 (1998).

Abusive Litigation. According to the Georgia Court of Appeals, OCGA § 9-15-14 is not available in federal forums or other forums where comparable sanctions are available. Great Western Bank v. Southeastern Bank, 234 Ga. 420 (1998).

Proximate Cause. The standard jury instruction referring to a "dominant cause" is properly refused where more than one tortfeasor is involved. Joiner v. Lane, 235 Ga. App. 121 (1998).

Uninsured Motorist Coverage. Effective July 1, 1998, a plaintiff must serve his uninsured motorist carrier only where a reasonable belief exists that the vehicle is uninsured. If the vehicle becomes uninsured after suit has been filed, the plaintiff may serve the UMC within the original period of limitation or within 90 days, whichever is greater. OCGA § 33-7-11(d).

Employment - Interference with Contracts. A subsequent employer may tortiously interfere with post-termination restrictive covenants by agreeing to indemnify the employee against any judgment in favor of the prior employer. Carroll Anesthesia Assoc., P.C. v. Anesthecare, Inc., 234 Ga. App. 646 (1998).

Administrative Law. OCGA § 50-13-17(c) directs, but does not mandate, that a full administrative agency make dispositive rulings on a matter within 30 days of the close of the record before it. Later rulings are therefore effective. The agency may not, however, rely upon its own expertise to determine a standard of care without competent evidence subject to cross-examination. Thebaut v. Georgia Bd. of Dentistry, 235 Ga. App. 194 (1998).

Criminal - Venue. Resolving an issue that had raised recent doubts, the Supreme Court held that venue is a jurisdictional fact that must be proved by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt. Graves v. State, 269 Ga. 772 (1998).

Criminal - Confession of Co-Defendant. A non-testifying co-defendant's confession which refers to the defendant may not be introduced against the defendant under the Confrontation Clause. Hanifa v. State, 269 Ga. 797 (1998).