Professional Ethics. The Supreme Court has adopted the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, to replace prior rules, effective January 1, 2001. The new rules appear in the advance sheets of July 13, 2000, following 272 Ga. p. 449.

Attorneys - Fees. An attorney who compensates a third party for recommending his services to a client, or who agrees to share the fee with a nonlawyer, forfeits the fee and attorney's lien. Brandon v. Newman, 243 Ga. App. 183 (2000).

Venue. OCGA § 14-2-510 was amended to provide venue against corporations in the county where the tort occurred, subject to the right of the corporation to "remove" the suit to the Georgia county of its principal place of business.

Acknowledgement of Service. An acknowledgement of service of a complaint signed by a defendant before suit is filed does not confer personal jurisdiction; the defendant must acknowledge service of a complaint and summons, and the summons cannot be valid until suit is filed. Bonner v. Bonner, 272 Ga. 545 (2000).

Service of Process. OCGA § 9-11-4 was amended to allow a plaintiff to serve a defendant by regular mail, seeking a waiver of formal service, to give the defendant incentives to waive formal service and disincentives if the defendant does not waive service.

Discovery - Social Security Numbers. In dictum, the Court of Appeals stated that a party has no right to discover an opposing witness's social security number as a matter of law; the relevancy of this information is within the sound discretion of the court, and discovery is subject to limitations on its use. Cartwright v. Midtown Hosp., 243 Ga. App. 828 (2000).

Discovery - Income Tax. Income tax returns may not be obtained from the tax commissioner except upon proper judicial order and only where the return itself is directly in issue. Goolsby v. Estate of Williams, 243 Ga. App. 890 (2000).

Discovery - Motion to Compel. Motions to compel discovery should be filed promptly after the objection to discovery has been asserted. Mullinax v. Miller, 242 Ga. App. 811 (2000); Perimeter Realty v. GAPI, Inc., 243 Ga. App. 584 (2000).

Dismissal with Prejudice. Reversing a decision noted here, a dismissal with prejudice of an employee does not release claims against the employer. Hedquist v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 272 Ga. 209 (2000).

Motions. Oral motions may be made at a trial or hearing, but not at an unreported calendar call. Woods v. State of Georgia, 243 Ga. App. 195 (2000).

Pretrial Order. A proposed consolidated pretrial order that is not signed by the judge is meaningless; the omission of defenses from such a document does not waive the defenses; the trial court does not err in failing to sign the proposed order in the absence of a pretrial conference. Swanson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 242 Ga. App. 616 (2000).

Evidence - Witnesses. OCGA § 24-10-24 was amended to increase the witness per diem to $25 plus mileage, but to allow payment by the attorney's check.

Evidence - Prior Consistent Statements. A prior consistent statement of a witness may be introduced before the witness has testified and been asked about the statement. Fairbanks v. State, 242 Ga. App. 830 (2000) (but see Woodward v. State, 269 Ga. 317, 320 (1998), holding that such statements are hearsay unless a witness's veracity has been placed in issue by cross-examination).

Evidence - Other Crimes. Possession of weapons or contraband at the time of an arrest for violent crimes is neither necessarily admissible or prejudicial; it should be excluded if wholly unrelated to the crime for which the defendant is charged, but if it has some role in the crime, the admission is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Benford v. State, 272 Ga. 348 (2000).

Evidence - Experts. An expert's credibility may not be bolstered by proof that the opposing attorney (unlike the opposing party) had employed the expert before. Vaughn v. Protective Ins. Co., 243 Ga. App. 79 (2000). A criminal defendant may present expert testimony that the defendant is psychologically unable to see things that are too painful to see as a defense on the issue of knowledge. Porter v. State, 243 Ga. App. 498 (2000).

Evidence - DUI - Foundation. Current standards for proving the offense of driving under the influence are given in Peek v. State, 272 Ga. 169 (2000).

Evidence - Eyewitness Identification. A trial court has discretion to admit expert testimony regarding the reliability of eyewitness testimony. If identification is the key element of the case, the trial court must carefully weigh whether the testimony would assist the jury in assessing the reliability of the identification and whether there are other effective ways of attacking the identification. Johnson v. State, 272 Ga. 254 (2000).

Evidence - Medical Records. To use statements of medical condition in medical records against a patient, the patient must be given the opportunity to admit and correct or explain the statements, but if the patient denies making the statements, it must be proven by witnesses or the record itself that the patient was the source of the statement. Barone v. Law, 242 Ga. App. 102 (3) (2000) (giving several means to prove this).

Evidence - Intercepted Phone Conversations. Intercepted phone conversations, whether by land line, cordless, or cellular, are within a user's expectation of privacy and are not admissible. Barlow v. Barlow, 272 Ga. 102 (2000).

Argument. Argument based on Biblical norms should not be used where the Biblical standard departs from the law of Georgia. Curruthers v. State, 272 Ga. 306 (2000).

Costs - Post-judgment proceedings filed more than 30 days after final judgment constitute a "new action" and a clerk may refuse to accept such pleadings unless costs required by OCGA §§ 15-6-77 and 15-6-77.2 are paid. McFarland & Associates, P.C. v. Hewatt, 242 Ga. App. 454 (2000).

Appeals - Interlocutory. Appellate courts have inherent authority to grant interlocutory appeals where the trial court fails to grant a certificate of immediate review. Waldrip v. Head, 272 Ga. 572 (2000).

Torts - Impact Rule. A plaintiff who is injured in an accident may recover mental anguish for witnessing the suffering or death of a related accident victim. Lee v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co., 272 Ga. 583 (2000).

Workers' Compensation - Subrogation. There is no right to a jury trial for resolving the existence and amount of a workers' compensation insurer's right of subrogation against a recovery from a third party tortfeasor. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 244 Ga. App. 338 (2000).

Fraud. While fraud may be based on promises which the promisor has no present intention to keep, this theory is inapplicable where the promise is unenforceable. Kirkland v. Pioneer Machinery, Inc., 243 Ga. App. 694 (2000).

Fiduciaries - Jurisdiction. A case seeking damages against an executor of an estate is within the exclusive jurisdiction of probate court, and if such a case is filed in superior court, the case should be dismissed, though a case seeking an equitable accounting from an executor may only be filed in superior court. Heath v. Sims, 242 Ga. App. 691 (2000).

Injunctions. A party seeking to restrain an adversary by injunction does so at his peril; a restraint later determined to be erroneous subjects the party to damages, even if no supersedeas bond was required. Hogan Management Services, Inc. v. Martino, 242 Ga. App. 791 (2000).

Magistrate Court. The magistrate court has jurisdiction over dispossessory cases even if a counterclaim exceeds its normal jurisdictional limits, though if possessory issues are resolved, the case may be transferred to a court with greater jurisdiction. America Net, Inc. v. U.S. Cover, Inc., 243 Ga. App. 204 (2000).

Criminal Discovery. A defendant has a right to review documents pursuant to OCGA § 17-16-7, but has no right to copies of the documents. Taylor v. State, 272 Ga. 562 (2000).