O’Hara v. Gilmore, Ga. App. A11A0075 (July 7, 2011):
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiff’s failure to perfect service of process upon the defendant driver within the statute of limitations, and the resulting dismissal of the plaintiff’s Complaint against her for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant driver, precluded maintaining a claim against the defendant parents of the driver under the Family Purpose Doctrine because liability of the parents would be derivative of the liability of the driver. Since a valid judgment could not be entered against the driver, a valid judgment holding the parents vicariously liable for the negligence of the driver cannot be entered as a matter of law.
Assigned attorneys: Nikolai Makarenko, Jr., Esq. & Laura Danielle Johnson, Esq.
