Hall Booth Smith, P.C.

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq.  Getting hit by a bullet but still escaping in the getaway car implicates the Fourth Amendment after all sayeth Chief Justice Roberts in a heated 5-3 Opinion along ideological lines.  Justice Amy Coney Barrett took no part in the case, which was argued in October before she took her

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. This past Monday, in a per curiam decision (Justice Barrett not participating; Justice Alito concurring to suggest cert should not have been granted, but otherwise concurring with the judgment; and, Justice Thomas, dissenting without written opinion) the Supreme Court reversed and remanded a Fifth Circuit conditions of confinement qualified

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Lange v. California, Docket No. 20-18, where the issue has been coined in two different, but similar ways: Whether the pursuit of a person whom a police officer has probable cause to believe has committed a misdemeanor categorically qualifies as an

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Thus is the title of Adam Liptak’s New York Times coverage of the Ohio inmate transfer case, Williams v Wilson case we reported on last week. The piece begins: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused a request from the Trump administration to block a trial judge’s ruling that had ordered

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. There have now been any number of COVID-related challenges to the conditions of confinement in jails/prisons nationwide, especially with respect to the elderly inmate population.  Two weeks ago we reported on the Texas case that had made its way to the US Supreme Court.  That case, Valentine v Collier,

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Our Supreme Court Justices are about to sit down to an unprecedented feast of qualified immunity.  That feast will be served during its May 15 conference, where the Court will consider thirteen different qualified immunity cert petitions, several of which that have been specifically rescheduled to that date.  We

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. This column originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of the Georgia’s Cities newspaper. After suffering from brain freeze and writer’s block just days before my deadline, and on the verge of writing some mundane offering on the differences between ministerial and discretionary acts—Boom! Just when I think I’ve

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of the Georgia’s Cities Magazine. Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. State v. Newcomb, 359 Or. 756 (2016) Act I: Juno Rescued  Amanda Newcomb is out of money. Because of that, she is unable to regularly feed her dog, Juno. Her neighbor, apparently follow­ing Juno’s plight,

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Action from the Barren Chambers Monday morning as the Supreme Court handed down a pro-law enforcement ruling in Kansas v. Glover.  Lighting Round Facts – Officer on road runs tag.  The license plate and truck belong to Glover, who has a suspended license.  Pullover  Arrest. Game on, as the

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Gun store Clyde Armory has sued Athens-Clarke County, Georgia over its shelter-in-place ordinance. The suit claims that that the ordinance is an overstep of power and violates the equal protection and due process clauses as well as the right to bear arms in both the U.S. and Georgia constitutions.

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. Below is the most useful guide we have located on The New Leave Entitlements Under FFCRA – Issues Unique to the Public Sector: COVID-19 Resource.  There is an outstanding and helpful Question and Answer section.  If you have any questions please reach out to Phil Friduss or any other

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. On February 28, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appellate court for Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) ruled that a federal statute designed to combat human trafficking applies to a privatized federal corrections facility’s alleged practice of punishing and withholding basic human necessities from inmates who refuse

Written by: Phil Friduss, Esq. In recent news: https://verdict.justia.com/2020/02/26/is-a-gunshot-wound-a-seizure Out front right now is Torres v. Madrid, the pending Supreme Court case involving the suspect shot by the police who escaped – the question of whether a Fourth Amendment seizure being front and center. Below is a link to Sherry Colb’s (C.S. Wong Professor of

Written by: Phillip E. Friduss, Esq. I.  INTRODUCTION Today’s correctional healthcare world is the product of a half-century mix of social, legal, and moral paradigm shifts. Ever since the 1976 Supreme Court’s world-spotlight decision in Estelle, the obligation to provide meaningful healthcare to the incarcerated has skyrocketed – as has the quality of attorneys bringing

In the 2017 edition of the Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, the law firm of Hall Booth Smith (HBS) will once again be recognized for its outstanding legal work as seven of its attorneys are on the list of Super Lawyers: Phillip E. Friduss, John E. Hall, Jr., and Rush S. Smith, Jr. of the Atlanta office; James B. Durham and N. Daniel

In the 2016 edition of the Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, the law firm of Hall Booth Smith (HBS) will once again be recognized for its outstanding legal work as nine of its attorneys are on the list of Super Lawyers: Alex H. Booth, Phillip E. Friduss, John E. Hall, Jr., and Rush S. Smith, Jr. of the Atlanta office; James B. Durham and N.

HBS is pleased to welcome Phillip E. Friduss as Of Counsel in the Atlanta office and Kirk  A. Carter as an Associate to the Brunswick office. Mr. Friduss’ practice focuses on the defense of high exposure cases in the areas of governmental liability, correctional health care, appellate advocacy, and labor and employment. He is devoted to the betterment of