John E. Suthers

Bar / Professional Activity

• South Carolina Bar, Member
• American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
• Savannah Trial Lawyers Association
• South Carolina Association for Justice
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association
• American Association for Justice
• Savannah Bar Association, Member
• American Bar Association, Member
• State Bar of Georgia, Member

Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)

• Type of Case: Automobile Accident Case Description: Court of Common Pleas of Aiken County, South Carolina / Single car accident involving a driver who lost control of his automobile when it hydroplaned after hitting excessive water that had pooled onto the highway from an adjacent property. The driver suffered a complete spinal cord injury and was rendered a paraplegic. Result: $4,200,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: State Court of Fulton County, Georgia / While residing in a Georgia nursing home, elderly victim fell in her bathroom and struck her head on a large, exposed metal object, resulting in a subdural hematoma and grand mal seizures. Result: $250,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: State Court of Fulton County, Georgia / While a resident in a Georgia nursing home, victim with multiple sclerosis was dropped by one of the defendant's employees and suffered a fractured leg. Subsequently, he developed multiple pressure sores on his sacrum, resulting in life-threatening infections. Result: $300,000.
• Type of Case: Optometric Malpractice Case Description: State Court of Chatham County, Georgia / Victim suffered substantial loss of vision in one eye as a result of the optometrists and staff at a national vision center failing to diagnose glaucoma. Result: $312,500.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: Superior Court of Bulloch County, Georgia / Elderly victim suffered malnutrition, which resulted in substantial weight loss and compromised his condition, while residing in a Georgia nursing home. Result: $325,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: Court of Common Pleas of Aiken County, South Carolina / Elderly victim developed a massive, Stage IV pressure sore on her tail bone, which became infected and contributed to the cause of her death. Result: $350,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: While residing in an Atlanta, Georgia nursing home, elderly victim suffered multiple falls, culminating in a fractured hip, developed a Stage IV pressure sore on her coccyx which became infected, and developed sepsis, resulting in her death. Result: $350,000.
• Type of Case: Railroad (FELA) Case Description: Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia / Trainman-conductor suffered permanent, noise- induced hearing loss while working on the railroad. Result: $350,000.
• Type of Case: Railroad (FELA) Case Description: State Court of Bibb County, Georgia / Trainman-conductor suffered a knee injury on the job and had to undergo surgery. Result: $400,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: Superior Court of Burke County, Georgia / Elderly victim suffered multiple pressure sores and gangrene on her feet and lower legs, while recuperating in a Georgia nursing home, resulting in an above the knee amputation. Result: $425,000.
• Type of Case: Medical Malpractice Case Description: State Court of Coweta County, Georgia / Surgeon severed the common bile duct during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, resulting in further medical complications and additional surgery. Result: $475,000.
• Type of Case: Breach of Contract Case Description: An insurance company wrongfully terminated disability benefits that were owed to a Savannah, Georgia physician who was temporarily disabled. Result: $497,270.
• Type of Case: Automobile Accident Case Description: The victim, a passenger in a van transporting student athlete, suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured pelvis, when the driver lost control and ran off the road in Thomasville, Georgia. Result: $575,000.
• Type of Case: Railroad (FELA) Case Description: United States District Court - Columbia, South Carolina / Railroad worker suffered a neck injury on the job and had to undergo surgery. Result: $575,000.
• Type of Case: Dental Malpractice Case Description: Elderly victim from Savannah, Georgia developed subacute bacterial endocarditis, suffered a stroke and died as a result of the dentist's failure to prescribe prophylactic antibiotic therapy before extracting teeth. Result: $600,000.
• Type of Case: Railroad (FELA) Case Description: Court of Common Pleas of Hampton County, South Carolina / Locomotive engineer suffered a neck injury on the job and had to undergo surgery. Result: $742,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: While a resident in an Atlanta, Georgia nursing home, the elderly victim suffered from sepsis resulting from multiple pressure sores on and around her sacral area, which became infected and caused her death. Result: $800,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: While a resident in an Atlanta, Georgia nursing home, the elderly victim suffered multiple pressure sores and gangrene in both feet and legs, resulting in bilateral, above the knee amputations. Result: $800,000.
• Type of Case: Trucking Accident Case Description: Victim suffered multiple injuries, including three crushed vertebrae, as a result of an automobile collision with a large delivery truck. The wreck occurred in the State of Maine. Result: $832,500.
• Type of Case: Construction Accident Case Description: State Court of Fulton County, Georgia / Employees of a subcontractor were using a crane and sling to lift and transport an oxygen tank across the construction site. Construction worker was struck on the head and fatally injured when the tank fell from the sling. Result: $1,000,000.
• Type of Case: Medical Malpractice Case Description: Court of Common Pleas of Anderson County, South Carolina / Victim suffered loss of vision as a result of the physician's failure to diagnose cryptococcal meningitis. Result: $1,040,000.
• Type of Case: Medical Malpractice Case Description: Court of Common Pleas of Kershaw County, South Carolina / Newborn suffered brain damage as a result of the physician's delay in performing a Caesarian section. Result: $1,600,000.
• Type of Case: Premises Liability Case Description: State Court of Chatham County, Georgia /victim suffered a crushed pelvis and related injuries when struck by a Caterpillar motor grader at a construction site. Result: $2,000,000.
• Type of Case: Railroad Crossing Accident Case Description: State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia /18-year-old victim was killed when a car in which he was a passenger was struck by a train at a railroad crossing. The jury returned a verdict against the city where the crossing was located. Result: $2,000,000.
• Type of Case: Nursing Home Malpractice Case Description: State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia / Elderly victim suffered falls, malnutrition and dehydration, contractures and multiple pressure sores while residing in a Georgia nursing home. The jury's verdict included an award of punitive damages. Result: $2,200,000.
• Type of Case: Asbestos Case Description: State Court of Chatham County, Georgia / Victim died after suffering from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, caused by asbestos exposure. Result: $2,500,000.

Representative Clients

• Since 2018, Mr. Suthers has represented the City of Savannah, Georgia in the national opioid litigation against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. The litigation is ongoing., 2018

Honors

• Top 100 attorneys in the State of Georgia for 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2018, 2015, 2014 and 2008 by Law & Politics, the publisher of Georgia Super Lawyers
• Rated “Superb” on Avvo.
• AV Preeminent* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell
• Savannah’s Lawyer of the Year in Personal Injury Litigation in 2014 and 2011, Best Lawyers

Educational Background

• University of South Carolina, B.S. with honors, 1979.

• American Association For Justice
• American College Of Trial Lawyers
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association
• Melvin M. Belli Society
• SC Association For Justice
• South Carolina Bar
• State Bar Of Georgia