Tom Cauthorn - Tradition of Excellence Award Recipient 2020

Congratulations are in order for Cauthorn Nohr and Owen’s founder, Tom Cauthorn, who received the Tradition of Excellence award from the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of Georgia for 2020.

Tom’s name is added to a distinguished list of general practice and trial attorneys and judges across the state of Georgia. With his longstanding record of legal and community service to Cobb County and the state of Georgia, this recognition comes as no surprise to everyone that knows him.

Congratulations Tom, we look forward to celebrating with you soon!

Small Business Assistance During the COVID-19 Crisis

What is every small business’s goal during this unprecedented economic crisis? Most small business owners would likely tell you that it would be to keep the doors open and keep the staff employed. What if I told you that you could do both through a small business loan? And that an attorney could help you work through the process without you having to pay a fee?

Well we have good news (it’s been a while since we’ve been able to say that!).The $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill signed into law by President Trump last week set aside $249 billion for a new small-business loan program known as the Payroll Protection Program.

Under the Payroll Protection Program, small businesses are eligible for loans to maintain payroll and other expenses with a portion of the loan ultimately being forgiven. The goal is to help businesses survive while simultaneously keeping their people employed. A win-win for everyone.

So who’s eligible?

Small businesses with fewer than 500 employees are eligible to apply to the Payroll Protection Program. These include businesses that are nonprofits, sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and veteran organizations.

When do we apply?

Applicants can submit applications beginning on Friday April 3rd according to Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin. Business owners must show that they have been in operation since February 15th and their credit score will be evaluated, however no collateral is required. Eligible businesses can receive same-day approval through a participating SBA7(a) lender, bank, or credit union.

To review the application form, follow this link: https://www.sba.gov/document/sba-form--paycheck-protection-program-ppp-sample-application-form

The best part?

During the first eight weeks following the origination of the loan, money that is used for payroll, rent, and utilities can be forgiven. That’s right, forgiven. According to Mnuchin, “the loans will be forgiven as long as the funds are used to keep employees on the payroll and for certain other expenses.”

Still on the fence?

If you’re unsure about the process, the best thing you can do is work with a lawyer. As another benefit of this program, law firms can provide guidance at no cost to the borrower. Because law firms are eligible to be paid directly through lender fees, we are able to assist you in making decisions for your business without charging you a fee.

For a general overview of the Paycheck Protection Program, check out the U.S. Department of Treasury publication here.

We may not physically be in the office at this time, but we remain dedicated to supporting you, your family, and your small business. Our office can be contacted via telephone and each of our employees can be contacted via e-mail. We know that things are constantly changing and can be difficult to follow so give us a call today and we’ll help you get on the right track.

COVID-19 Update

At Cauthorn Nohr & Owen, we understand the anxiety and uncertainty that the current COVID-19 outbreak is causing in our community. Staff members will be working from home as much as reasonably possible, however our office remains open at this time in order to serve our clients in their time of need.

We will be taking advantage of telephone and other conferencing methods when possible. If those methods are not sufficient to meet your needs, you may schedule an in-office visit.

During those visits:

• We are dedicated to cleaning and sanitizing the surfaces in our office frequently throughout the day.

• We have implemented a “no hand-shake” policy and instead will greet you with a friendly smile or wave.

• Staff members are washing their hands frequently throughout the day.

• Staff members will implement social-distancing and will remain an appropriate physical distance from you.

We will continue to monitor the situation as it changes and do our best to balance our interest in serving our clients and protecting the health and safety of our community.

Thank you.

D

Judge Lark Ingram to Retire from Cobb Superior Court at Year's End

On February 6, 2020, the Marietta Daily Journal published an article announcing the retirement of Judge Lark Ingram from the Superior Court of Cobb County. Among the attorneys that were asked to comment was Cauthorn Nohr Owen’s founder, Tom Cauthorn:

“She is very exacting, and she expects the same thing from those who appear in cases in front of her. But she is always very polite — sometimes to the point that the attorney apologizes to her for being too aggressive,” Cauthorn said, adding that her leadership on the Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia reflects her colleagues’ regard for her.

Cauthorn said Lark Ingram’s meticulous note-taking and processing of all evidence before any expression of what her ruling might be should serve as a model for judges everywhere.

“I think that’s been the hallmark of her judicial service,” he said. Giving a nod also to her father’s career, Cauthorn called it “very rare” to have two generations from the same family serve the county to such acclaim. “Lark Ingram and Conley have been enormously generous with themselves in terms of their public service, and I applaud them. I think she’s had a wonderful career, and I think we should all be proud that we had an opportunity to watch her serve in the way and manner that she did.”

For more commentary and details on Judge Ingram’s career, view the full article here.

The Emergence of Child Abuse Pediatricians in the Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse

by Jason L. Nohr[1] 

Child abuse is a serious problem that often goes unrecognized. The worthy desire to uncover mistreatment and protect kids from it, however, has led to a related and increasingly common dilemma: the overdiagnosis and misdiagnosis of child abuse. False or mistaken accusations of child abuse cause distinct and serious injuries, including the destruction of families, parent-child separation, unwarranted legal and medical investigations, and even the conviction and incarceration of innocent parents and caregivers. Preventing child abuse is certainly important, but misdiagnosing it can also traumatize children and their families. Because of the trauma an abuse misdiagnosis visits on innocent families, it is important to examine why they happen and may be on the rise.

Our legal and medical systems have long struggled to differentiate accidental injuries from abuse, particularly since children are often too young to describe what happened. Child protective services and law enforcement are increasingly seeking help in answering these questions from Child Abuse Pediatricians (CAPs), a pediatric subspecialty first recognized by the American Board of Pediatrics in 2009. Today, there are approximately 350 CAPs practicing in most major metropolitan areas in this country. The CAP accreditation process involves additional medical training in areas that include mechanisms of pediatric injury, radiology, and orthopedics. CAPs also receive forensic training, including instruction in testifying as expert witnesses in criminal cases and juvenile court deprivation proceedings. According to a recent multi-part series by NBC News and the Houston Chronicle chronicling misdiagnosis of child abuse cases, the salaries for many CAPs are funded by the state agencies that oversee child protective services and often lead teams investigating abuse that are funded by state Medicaid programs.

The rise in frequency and severity of misdiagnosis cases may be linked to the emergence of CAPs and the disproportionate weight and significance their opinions are afforded in medical and legal investigations of child abuse. Often, law enforcement, child protection agencies, prosecutors, judges, and even defense attorneys accept CAP conclusions about abusive causes as dispositive without question, scrutiny, or further investigation. This is problematic because CAPs are not infallible and, sometimes, guided by presumptions that impact their objectivity. CAPs are also not experts in many rare diseases and conditions that mimic the signs of physical abuse. To fully consider and investigate non-abusive explanations in matters of such grave importance, prudent CAPs have to consult with their colleagues in other medical specialties.

There are a variety of conditions and genetic disorders whose signs and symptoms are often mistaken for physical abuse. Coagulation disorders (such as von Willebrand Disease and Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura) and Vitamin K Deficiency cause bruising and bleeding are often mistaken for physical abuse, as are broken bones caused by Osteogenesis imperfecta. “Coagulopathies can mimic child abuse not only by producing easy bruising, but also by allowing small bleeding episodes to become large ones, suggesting to a treating physician that massive force was applied to create the bleeding.”[2] Indeed, the National Organization for Rare Disorders publishes resources for families who may face mistaken allegations of child abuse.

Unfortunately, CAPs sometimes confuse suspicion with certainty, rely upon flawed medical assumptions, and fail to investigate and exclude alternative causes or conditions inconsistent with abuse or consult with medical specialists. According to former Harvard Medical School professor, Eli Newberger, M.D., who founded the child protection team at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1970, some CAPs are “too quick to label a child’s injuries as abusive” and ignore benign, non-abusive explanations for the child’s presentation “far too often.” Because of the potential for misdiagnosis, it is “important that physicians approach these cases with humility. Otherwise, they risk making a mistake,” according to Dr. Newberger.

One area where humility is lacking and mistakes commonplace is with the diagnosis of so-called “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” Despite a lack of medical consensus, CAPs regularly presume that a child who presents with subdural hematomas (SDH) and retinal hemorrhages (RH) is the victim of physical abuse by shaking. This diagnostic presumption, however, has been widely discredited because there are so many non-abusive causes and conditions that cause both SDH and RH, including central nervous system infections, birth-related complications, and clotting disorders. In fact, an increase in intracranial pressure from a variety of underlying conditions can cause RH in children without any impact, shaking, or trauma. Biomedical studies also show that the severity of physical force necessary to cause SDH and RH would also injure a child’s neck, a finding that is typically absent from Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnoses. Nevertheless, CAPs often reflexively assume SDH and RH are caused by abuse without considering innocent alternative etiologies or consulting with specialists.

The author has represented innocent parents falsely accused of child abuse due to these faulty medical assumptions and the failure to consider alternative explanations. In each of these cases, the parents were ultimately exonerated at trial when the allegations of abuse were refuted through cross-examination of the CAP involved and/or an accurate medical diagnosis was presented through independent medical experts. Understanding the structural reasons behind misdiagnosed child abuse is essential for parents facing these challenges.

[1] I have had the privilege of representing parents falsely accused of child abuse and clearing them in trial and administrative proceedings. In each case, the CAPs involved either rejected or never considered non-abusive causes for the child’s condition. Using cross-examination skills developed during decades of litigating medical malpractice cases, the courts ultimately cleared my clients and dismissed these allegations of abuse.

[2] Laposta, MD, PhD, “Children With Signs of Abuse,” American Journal of Clinical Pathology; S119-125, S123, (2005).

Justice P. Harris Hines Supreme Court Memorial

On March 8, 2019, the Committee appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia to prepare an appropriate memorial to the life, character, and service of the Honorable P. Harris Hines, published its report.

Along with the Committee Report, the Supreme Court of Georgia published the sincere comments of many of Justice Hines’ family and friends.

Among the commentators was Cauthorn Nohr & Owen’s founding partner and longtime friend of Justice Hines, T.E. Cauthorn. T.E. wrote:

“The day arrived that many of us must face from time to time: a dear friend had died in an automobile collision. But this dear friend had just retired weeks before. Just retired, but with no intention of staying still. When Harris Hines and his wife Helen first came into my life, they were youngsters running a countywide campaign for Harris’s election to a full four-year term on the State Court of Cobb County. Cobb was much much smaller in population in those years, but it was big enough. Helen and Harris worked so hard in that campaign that they truly expected to get all of the votes, and almost did. No one ever forgot that maximum effort, and Harris never again had political opposition in numerous countywide and statewide political campaigns. Maybe it was a result of the maximum effort, but I prefer to believe it was because Harris Hines was a consensus builder and was admired for bringing people together. By the time Harris had been a State Court Judge for a little over four years, I became his colleague on the Cobb State Court bench. Shortly thereafter, Harris became my Chief Judge on that Court. He helped move that Court forward as a public service agent and always reminded us judges that we could accomplish so much more together than we could as single elected officials. After a successful career as a State Court Judge, Harris moved to the Superior Court of Cobb County. A couple of years later, I was once again his colleague. And although he was no longer my chief judge, I still went to him for advice. For example, we went through a period of intense activity with a large number of murder cases where the death penalty was sought. Judge Hines agreed with Judge George H. Kreeger and me to instantly make himself available if a critical legal question arose during one of those jury trials. Sure enough, the moment of need arrived and he met with us to discuss the critical legal issue. I don’t remember the name of the case or the issue involved or the ruling that came out of it, but his collegiality contributed enormously to a correct ruling and my sense of confidence in the correctness of the ruling. When I returned to the private practice of law in 1991, Judge Hines continued to provide unique leadership as a trial judge. He emphasized over and over that adversarial did not mean rude or mean-spirited. His good spirit infused his courtroom. When the time arrived to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Governor called upon Judge Hines, and he served on the Georgia Supreme Court of Georgia with the same distinctive collegiality and good humor, no matter the gravity of the issues presented. When difficult administrative patches were encountered by the Court, he helped his colleagues reach a consensus. When difficult cases and legal issues were encountered by the Court, he helped his colleagues reach a consensus. The State of Georgia is a better place because of the service of Justice Hines. He is missed by his colleagues, the lawyers who argued appeals and tried cases, and most of all by his friends and his beloved family. “

Among the commentators were Justice Hines’ wife, children, and grandchildren along with Former Governor Deal, Former President Carter, Former Governor Barnes, US Senator Isakson, and many others.

To read the full Memorial, click here.

Marietta's Sonnett Takes the Field

The USWNT took out another worthy opponent on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Chile. Our home-state favorites, Brian, O’Hara, and Sonnett all took the field to help the USA come out on top.

Most noteworthy is Marietta-local, Emily Sonnett, who took the World Cup field for the first time in her professional career at only 25 years old. Congratulations Emily!

The USWNT will be back in action on Wednesday, June 20 to take on Sweden in the last round of group play.