‘Quick blow my thoughts’: Georgia Lawyer repeats efficiency and scores $ 1.5 million in 2 instances

Call it judgment.

But Cartersville trial attorney Brandon Bowen received an identical price on a similar conviction suit against a well-known defendant as he did five years ago.

“We have the same lawyers [and] mostly the same people involved, ”said Bowen. “And we got exactly the same result.”

G. 20 in Bartow County. This is a before shot. (Courtesy photo)

Jenkins’ partner, Bowen & Walker won a $ 1.5 million judgment on the Cartersville Ranch in a case for the State Department of Transportation’s condemnation of land near Georgia Highlands College and Interstate 75. The government sought the land for the extension of Highway 20.

The parties could not come to an agreement after an appraiser hired by the DOT valued the land at $ 59,000.

Cartersville Ranch, on the other hand, estimated the property to be worth about 25 times as much, or about $ 1.5 million.

Bowen tried the case before a jury in the first civil court trial following COVID-19 in Bartow County. He called witnesses to contest the testimony of the DOT appraiser.

“He’s made some really bad sales,” Bowen said of the state’s appraiser.

Robert M. Dyer of Dyer & Rusbridge in Canton represented the Department of Transportation. Dyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Main difference

This time, however, Bowen said it was difficult to develop a relationship with jurors who were socially distant and who wore masks.

But after a week-long trial, the jury returned the $ 1.5 million verdict in favor of his client.

“When it occurred to me that this was the exact same verdict we received on the property next door, I was blown away,” said Bowen.

Bowen expected the final verdict to be far greater, however. He said delays in negotiating the case would have accumulated eight years’ worth of interest, or about $ 800,000. As a result, he said he expected a final verdict near $ 2.3 million.

But while otherwise happy with the outcome, he doesn’t expect the ruling to affect alleged government affairs.

“None of the others did,” Bowen said. “I think the DOT is still going to lowball people, and I think in some ways it’s good for me for them to do it. If [the DOT] Made my people a fair offer, they would never have hired me. “

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