Cna Financial

GETTING GEORGIA OFF MY MIND – AND OFF MY BACK, TOO!Op Ed by Dr. Eugene Elander, Dahlonega GA resident, 2008-****; Ret.

Prof. of law, economics etc. INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION -- RELEASE DATE 12/15/2023The land of the Boll Weevil, Where the laws are medieval,Is calling me to come, and nevermore roam --So take me back to that Southland --That ``you´all`` and ``shut my mouth`` land -Be it ever so decadent, there´s no place like home!-- excerpt from old song by folksinger Tom LehrerAfter ten years of the full Georgia experience, my wife and I returned to Dahlonega, GA this past February to sort out and clean out several storage units we had left there. Little did I imagine that, just after Valentine´s Day, I would slip, fall, and break my upper right arm at a motel near Atlanta.

Even after that unfortunate accident, I never imagined that the motel staffer on duty would refuse to let us use her phone to call 911 Emergency after our own phone calls refused to go through, nor that she would then try to throw us out of her office when we protested her abusive treatment of a guest in severe pain. But then, all of that is only the beginning of a sad situation which is not yet resolved.Immediately after breaking my arm at the Georgia motel, I decided to retain ``the largest firm of accident attorneys in the world`` to represent me in my totally-valid claim against that motel and its insurer. An attorney was assigned to handle my case, and the motel´s insurer was informed that the firm was fully representing me – until several weeks later, they informed both me and that insurer that they had decided to decline my case, after the fact, for specious reasons, which inevitably damaged that case, as their refusal encouraged that motel insurer not to take my case seriously! Shame!When these legal beagles refused to reconsider, I repeatedly demanded – and was repeatedly refused – full information on their professional malpractice insurer, so I could file a valid claim.

Then, I tried to file another valid claim, this time with the Georgia Bar Association (GBA) which is tasked with regulating misconduct by Georgia attorneys, against the attorneys who had first taken my case with no limitations, and then had not only declined to represent me, but had even so informed the motel insurer: a wrongful act! The GBA did its absolute best to accept the client abuse by the first two attorneys and to ignore the further abuse by legal representatives of the law firm and their insurer! Very belatedly, I was able to discover the identity of that insurer, CNA Insurance, allowing me to try to file my claim against those nasty attorneys – except that CNA merely assigned a claim number and then hired an outside Georgia attorney to block my totally-valid claim with CNA. Nobody at CNA evr made a valid response to my claim – this nasty insurer just stonewalled and blocked my filing!

CNA even assigned my claim a phony claim number while totally refusing to take action on it: unprofessional and possibly illegal conduct by CNA! Shame!Having complained to the Georgia Bar Association versus the attorneys who had botched my accident case, and also to the Georgia Insurance Department versus CNA Insurance for refusing my claim – I achieved zero results: the Georgia Bar Association accepted totally-invalid responses from two of the attorneys involved in my issues, while not even acknowledging my complaint against the CNA-retained attorney. I appealed that rejection to the officers of the Georgia Bar, again with zero result, making it totally clear that there is no real regulation of Georgia attorneys. Then the Georgia Insurance Department, a State agency tasked with protecting the public from blunders by insurance companies, first fully accepted my complaint versus CNA Insurance for months, while finally claiming lack of jurisdiction even after minimally investigating the complaint!

So it would seem that Georgians have no protection against some abusive insurers, either!My conclusion is that nobody protects the public interest in the State of Georgia at present – so it is up to Governor Kemp and the State Legislature to investigate how badly the Georgia Bar regulates the legal profession, and how easily Georgia insurers can get away with not even accepting valid claims against those same Georgia attorneys. Such a full investigation is long overdue – starting with a full legislative audit of all GBA and Georgia Insurance Department cases!

it is high time for Georgia On My Mind to be a positive and progressive reality, not merely a medieval farce!RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 15, 2023>MAY BE USED WITH ATTRIBUTION>contact Dr. Elander at eelanders@***.com for additional information or with any questions.