James L. Paisley
Top rated Personal Injury attorney in Atlanta, Georgia
Paisley Law LLC Trial Lawyers
Practice Areas: Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice; view more
Licensed in Georgia since: 2009
Education: Florida State University College of Law
Selected to Rising Stars: 2016, 2018 - 2020 Call today:
770-265-4630
Paisley Law LLC Trial Lawyers
1720 Peachtree Rd NWSuite 332
Atlanta, GA 30309 Visit website
Details
James L. Paisley is a personal injury lawyer who assists clients in Atlanta with matters including car accidents, slip-and-falls and wrongful death. He has tried more than a 100 jury trial cases, with many winning multimillion-dollar settlements. He is the founder and senior partner at Paisley Law, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia. The following are some of the common personal injury cases he handles:
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bites
- Premises liability
- Drunk driving accidents
- Day care negligence
- Disability claims
- Rear-end collisions
- Catastrophic injuries
A native of Georgia, Mr. Paisley earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech and then studied law at the Florida State University, graduating with his Juris Doctor in 2006. He was admitted to practice in Florida the same year and was licensed to practice in Georgia in 2009. He began his legal career as a public defender for victims of domestic abuse and neglect, and then he went on to try cases involving DUI and other criminal offenses as a state prosecutor. In 2010, he founded his own law firm to focus solely on helping people injured due to negligence of others.
With more than 15 years of legal experience, Mr. Paisley keeps up to date with the legal community by being a part of associations, both local and countrywide. He is a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Civil Justice PAC, American Association for Justice, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Georgia Bar Association and Orange County Bar Association.
Recognized for his vast legal knowledge and high ethical standards, Mr. Paisley has been the recipient of many accolades over the years. He was named among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers. He received a “Superb” rating on Avvo, along with the Client's Choice Award, and he is AV* Preeminent peer-review rated through Martindale-Hubbell for his quality legal services.
*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: PlaintiffFocus areas
Animal Bites, Assault, Brain Injury, Construction Accident, Dram Shop Laws, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Premises Liability - Plaintiff, Sexual Abuse - Plaintiff, Slip and Fall, Trucking Accidents, Wrongful Death
- 90% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
- 10% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 2006, Florida
Professional Webpage: https://www.paisleylaw.com/james-paisley
Honors/Awards:
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2019
- Invitee, Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Recipient, Georgia Super Lawyer's Rising Star
- Recipient, Georgia Super Lawyer
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2020
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2018
- AV Preeminent Rating - The oldest and most well known rating for lawyers, the AV rating is the highest level a lawyer can be rated for professional excellence, http://www.martindale.com/Mr-James-Lloyd-Paisley/157040065-lawyer.htm#peerTab, 2017
- Superb 10.0 Rating, Avvo, 2014 and 2016
- Client's Choice Award, Avvo, 2014
- 100 % Five Star Reviews, Google Reviews, 2016
- Top 100, National Trial Lawyers, 2015 - 2017
- Super Lawyer - Rising Star, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2016
Educational Background:
- Georgia Tech – B.A. in Management, Honors: High Honors, 2002
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Taking to trial pro-bono client wrongfully charged with carjacking, kidnapping, and aggravated assault, 2016
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
- Personal injury law is not rocket science—but it is a methodical discipline. From dog bites to car crashes, The Injury Case Playbook: A Start to Finish Guide to Winning Your Injury Case is a great first-stop guide to understanding personal injury. By using his past cases, with personable prose as well as photos and professional knowledge amassed over a decade, Paisley, along with J.D. Candidate R. Alex Martinez, helps to explain the nuances and details of what goes into each personal injury case. This book gives professional guidance and teaches anyone, not just attorneys, how to create a successful case. This is a step by step how-to on handling an injury case from the injury all the way to closing the case out. The book is intended for lawyers and paralegals but helpful for those injured or their caregivers so they can understand every stage of their case. , Author, The Injury Case Playbook, Booklogix Publishing, Injury Lawyers, 2022
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Civil Justice PAC – Champion, 2023
- Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 2013 - Present, 2023
- American Association for Justice, Member, 2019 - Present, 2023
- Lawyers Club of Atlanta, 2013 - Present, 2023
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2020
- Host of the Jim Paisley Podcast exploring current legal and business topics, 2020
- 2010 - 2017; Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2017
- Georgia Bar Association, 2009
- Florida Bar, 2006
- Orange County Bar Association, 2009
Verdicts/Settlements:
- Recovered the maximum $1,300,000 for a woman driving on I-85 and hit head on by a drunk driver. She survived but needed 2 surgeries on her leg and spent 1 month in the hospital. The tricky part in this case was getting her daughter's "resident relative" underinsured motorist coverage to apply to my client's case even though they lived next to each other with different addresses. Pouring through Georgia's case law on the issue, we found they should absolutely be considered living in the same residence. The insurance company conceded after reading our brief and that added $450,000 to the claim. , 2023
- Recovered the maximum $1,025,000 for a crash victim rear-ended by a tractor trailer then sent her into a concrete utility pole. She suffered a concussion, a broken ankle, and a hematoma on her hip that calcified and needed surgical removal. She needed 3 surgeries on her ankle to mend it properly. , 2023
- Recovered $315,000 for a woman who was hit in a car wreck and suffered soft tissue injuries. Conservative treatment measures failed, and she finally had to have a radio-frequency ablation in one of her peripheral spinal nerves that provided tremendous relief. We litigated this case and it settled at mediation., 2023
- $285,000 recovery for a man rear ended by a commercial pick up truck. Soft tissue injuries that did not heal with conservative measures. He was recommended for surgery but chose not to have it. Case settled at mediation after 6 months of litigation. , 2023
- Recovered $250,000 for a woman in an auto wreck that suffered a torn meniscus in her knee and had to have arthroscopic knee surgery to repair it. , 2023
- Recovered $137,000 for a minor child that broke her arm when a horse bucked her off and ran back to the stable. There giant hurdle in this case was there are immunity statutes for horse and stable owners that say there is an assumption of great risk when getting on a horse. The uphill battle started to go our way when we hired an expert to talk to us about horse temperament and which horses should be ridden vs. rehabilitated because they are dangerous. Based on the facts, this horse was "barn sour" and the owners should never have allowed a beginner rider on an unpredictable and erratic horse. These facts met the exceptions to the immunity statute and they conceded liability. , 2023
- $200,000 - Woman hit by a drunk driver that died in the wreck along with her dog. Our client suffered knee and back injuries. $200k was the most allowable under the insurance policies. , 2022
- $200,000 - Litigation settlement. Client's family was t-boned by a drunk driver. Whiplash type injuries where surgery was recommended on one of them. This was a maximum policy limit that was available. , 2022
- $500,000 - Litigation Settlement for woman rear ended. Suffered broken ankle requiring 2 surgeries. , 2021
- $100,000 - Pre-suit settlement. Young man hit by a drunk driver. He had some glass removed from his wounds but made a great recovery. , 2022
- $380,000 - Settlement for a man rear ended by a commercial truck. We did a pre-suit mediation to get all of the liability funds, and then made a UM claim against his insurance company. Multiple claimants. Injuries were a herniated disc that required a minimally invasive discectomy. , 2022
- $275,000 - Young man driving for work rear ended by a commercial vehicle. Suffered whiplash and other soft tissue injuries. , 2021
- $200,000 - Litigation settlement where client was T-boned by an uninsured driver. This is a case that shows how resident relatives for uninsured motorist coverage works. Client lived with her sister and her mom, and all 3 ladies had different insurance policies. Even though they were not involved in the wreck, Georgia law says if they are resident relatives, then their policies will add onto the client's own policy. In a case where it appeared there was no coverage, we maximized the client's recovery. She was pregnant at the time of the wreck, and almost lost the baby, but luckily doctors were able to delay labor. Several weeks later, the client had a healthy baby girl, and the client made a complete recovery, 2020
- $250,000 - pre litigation settlement. Lower back surgical case where client was rear ended while coming home from work. This was the maximum allowed under the insurance policy limits where the client did have to receive surgical intervention because of significant and crippling back pain, 2020
- $350,000 - pre-litigation settlement against large trucking corporation for one of their drivers pulling out on a highway and T-boning our client. Client suffered a minor traumatic brain injury but was lucky enough to make a quick, full recovery and was back to work within 4 weeks, 2020
- $350,000 pre-litigation settlement for a cyclist hit causing multiple injuries to his head and legs, 2020
- $300,000 settlement of man with knee injury resulting from a wreck with a drunk driver, 2020
- $225,000 verdict in lower back injury case, 2020
- Case against trucking company that hit our bicyclist client that settled for high 7-figure confidential amount, 2020
- $7,900,000 settlement recovered on behalf of family of victim in negligent security shooting case in Georgia. There were multiple burglaries in the apartment building in the months leading up to this case. The property owners and management were held liable for not providing security when they knew there was imminent danger to their tenants. This case settled prior to trial, 2019, 2019
- $250,000 recovered on behalf of family that sustained multiple injures in head on car accident. The mother needed 2 minor knee surgeries, and the Dad suffered 4 adjacent disc herniations. The daughters in the back seat suffered minor injuries, 2019
- $150,000 max policy limit neck injury case. Client was hit from the rear, endured multiple herniated discs, and needed multiple injections for recovery. The $150,000 was the most allowed under the policy limits, 2019
- $780,000 jury verdict in Forsyth County on behalf of a client that was rear ended by a commercial truck who then fled from the scene where he was caught 1 mile down the road. The largest pre trial offer was $100,000 and the client rejected that. The client suffered multiple lumbar herniations and was recommended that she undergo spinal surgery although she never elected to do that. The case was later settled before appeal, 2018
- $1,000,000 Homeowner's burn case settled pre-litigation. Client was severely burned when visiting his best friend's house. Client had fallen asleep in a lounge chair inside the garage, and the friend put a commercial grade propane heater within 18 inches of our client and left him alone. Our client woke up on fire and suffered 3rd degree burns over 20% of his body. Our firm hired 2 experts to prove how close the burner was and to rule out any contributory negligence claim. The insurance company paid the demand within 30 days of receiving it, 2018
- $300,000 policy limit settlement. Client was hit head on and suffered a fractured calcaneus/heel bone. 2 surgeries later and she still had substantial impairment. $300,000 was the most we could recover under the policy, 2018
- Traumatic brain injury case settled after expert depositions for $650,000. Liability was disputed with Client's powertrain module indicating our client moved left just before impact. Conversely we established that the more likely scenario was that Client was in truck's front right blind spot and based on his destination records, he was trying to get off at the nearby exit and hit our Client's car trying to merge right. Client has made full recovery after a life threatening brain injury, 2017
- $250,000 maximum policy limits settlement the day before trial on mild TBI case where client was seriously injured by another reckless driver. Although client had no objective injury, she was just never the same person, 2017
- $50,000 policy limits settlement where client was rear ended by drunk driver and cause $200 of property damage, 2016
- $85,000 policy limits settlement where 4 clients were hit head on, endured minor soft tissue injuries, and miraculously all waked away from the accident, 2016
- $1.3 Million Policy Limits Settlement on Auto Wreck, 2015
- In 2016, James Paisley of Ferguson & Paisley, LLC recovered over $4 million for his injured clients, 2017
- $500,000 policy limits settlement for wrongful death case. Client was hit head on by a drunk driver and although his personal policy limits were the minimum, we were able to prove that he was coming home from a company function and we attached liability to his company, 2016
- Litigated Settlement at mediation: Insurance company settled a rear end collision of a tow truck driver under the influence that hit a family of 4 headed down to Disney World. Injuries were not serious but Defense settled for $150,000, 2016
- Settled $1 million mild TBI trucking case on the eve of trial where liability was heavily disputed, 2017
Industry Groups:
- Plaintiff's Injury
- Wrongful Death
Office location for James L. Paisley
1720 Peachtree Rd NW
Suite 332
Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: 770-265-4630
Selections
4 Years Rising Stars
- Rising Stars: 2016, 2018 - 2020
