Ethics - Client's Papers. May a lawyer retain a client's papers pending payment of fees under the attorney's lien statute (OCGA § 15-19-14(a)) consistently with Standard 22 (b), which prohibits holding papers to which the client is entitled? Contrast Formal Advisory Opnion 87-5 (standard 22 is paramount) with Frame v. Booth, Wade & Campbell, 238 Ga. App. 428 (1999) (no conflict because, under the lien statute, the client is not entitled to the papers).

Ethics - Wills. An attorney's offering for probate a will that he knows was improperly executed, and then falsely asserting that it was properly executed, warrants a one-year suspension. In re Bross, 271 Ga. 435 (1999).

Corporations - Registration. Where a foreign corporation is required to register with the Secretary of State in order to maintain a suit in Georgia under OCGA § 14-2-1502, but files the suit without having first registered, its later registration will prevent the suit from being dismissed. Health Horizons, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 239 Ga. App. 440 (1999).

Contradictory Testimony. Is the contradictory testimony of a plaintiff's expert in a medical negligence case, unlike any other non-party witness, to be construed against the plaintiff? Sawyer v. DeKalb Medical Center, Inc., 234 Ga. App. 54 (1998) (No); Tuten v. Costrini, 238 Ga. App. 350 (1999) (Yes, at least where "the witness is ... speaking on behalf of the party").

Character Evidence. The plaintiff's prior drug use is not relevant to the issue of damages in typical tort cases, even on issues of life expectancy or earning capacity. In exceptional cases in which such evidence might be relevant, the issues of liability and damages should be bifurcated. Taylor v. RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc., 238 Ga. App. 761 (1999). In a wrongful death case, the criminal past of the plaintiffs is not relevant to the full value of the life of the decedent. Key v. Grant, 238 Ga. App. 818 (1999).

Appeals - Dispossessory. An appeal from a judgment in a dispossessory case must be filed within seven days, not the normal 30 days, even if the judgment includes a resolution of issues that are atypical of dispossessory cases. Ray M. Wright, Inc. v. Jones, 239 Ga. App. 521 (1999).

Routine Tort Cases - Georgia Tort Claims Act. A suit filed in a routine tort case is subject to dismissal for failure to comply with the provisions of the Georgia Tort Claims Act if, unknown to the plaintiff, the defendant is a governmental employee acting within the scope of her employment. Horton v. Whitaker, 238 Ga. App. 312 (1999).

Premises Liability - Criminal Acts. A large volume of crime at an apartment complex over a period of time may evidence inadequate security and make the risk of violent crime foreseeable so as to impose liability on the landlord, even if no particular prior criminal act would make the later criminal act foreseeable. Woodall v. Rivermont Apts. Lmtd. Partnership, 239 Ga. App. 36 (1999).

Uninsured Motorist - Service on Tortfeasor. Normally, a plaintiff must serve the tortfeasor in order to maintain an uninsured motorist claim, but the plaintiff is allowed to serve the tortfeasor by publication if the tortfeasor is outside Georgia or evading service. In order to obtain the right to serve the tortfeasor by publication, the plaintiff must show due diligence in determining that the tortfeasor is outside Georgia or evading service. The plaintiff is not bound to exercise diligence thereafter in attempting to serve the tortfeasor personally. Wilson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 239 Ga. App. 168 (1999).

Warranty - Statute of Limitation. Where a warranty provided for repair or replacement of a defective good, the statute of limitation begins to run when the warrantor refuses or fails to repair or replace the defect within a reasonable time or when the attempt to remedy the defect fails. Versico, Inc. v. Engineered Fabrics Corp., 238 Ga. App. 837 (1999).

First Amendment. Is Georgia's guarantee of free speech broader than the First Amendment? Cahill v. Cobb Place Associates, 271 Ga. 322 (1999) (no); Statesboro Publishing Co., Inc. v. City of Sylvania, 271 Ga. 92 (1999) (yes, in some respects).

Criminal - Discovery. The Supreme Court upheld against constitutional challenges Georgia's Criminal Procedure Discovery Act, OCGA § 17-16-1 et seq., which repealed all prior statutory discovery provisions, but allowed a criminal defendant to opt into broad, but reciprocal, discovery of witnesses, statements, reports, and evidence. Without opting in, the defendant is not entitled to scientific reports or witness lists, though the defendant is entitled to a list of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury and on whose testimony the charges are founded. State v. Lucious, 271 Ga. 361 (1999). (But see Mize v. State, 269 Ga. 646 (7) (1998), recognizing a constitutional right to a list of trial witnesses.) A useful listing of categories of discovery to which the defendant remains entitled appears in a dissenting opinion.