- Families of Tragic Tractor-Trailer Collision Receive Multi-Million Dollar Settlement -

(BLACK PR WIRE) – ATLANTA, (Oct. 4, 2011) – Nearly two years after the tragic deaths of Johnnie Perlotte, Jr., his son Cordaro Perlotte and Tony Chapman, the families will receive an $8 million settlement for the fatal collision that occurred in Oglethorpe County, Ga., in October 2009.

The substantial settlement was secured by the Atlanta law firms of Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP and Butler Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP and the Thomson, GA firm of Hammond & Hammond. The cases pended in the Superior Court of Oglethorpe County, GA.

“The tragic loss of loved ones can never fully be eased with legal rulings,” said Thomas G. Sampson, managing partner of Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP. “However, our goal of protecting the surviving family members has been achieved. The families can now focus solely on the healing process with a final resolution of this tragic chapter in their lives.”

Michael Thurmond, former Georgia Labor Commission, now practicing with Butler Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP, stated, “We were able to assemble an exceptional, high caliber legal team that worked tirelessly to secure a fair and just settlement for the families of our clients who were killed in this horrible accident.”

The three victims received fatal injuries when the pick-up truck they were in was violently rear-ended by an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer operated by a driver for Harrison Poultry on October 15, 2009. After colliding with the vehicle, the tractor-trailer pushed the victim’s vehicle across the center line and into the path of oncoming traffic. Perlotte, Jr., and Chapman were both married with three children. Cordaro Perlotte, 23 years of age, was single with one child.

About Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP
Founded in 1971, Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP is the oldest minority-owned law firm in Georgia. The firm serves not only the legal needs of individuals but also those of Fortune 500 corporations, governmental authorities and small businesses. Their practice handles wrongful death, catastrophic injury cases and medical malpractice matters. Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest rating available), and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers published by Martindale-Hubbell. For more information, please visit http://tkstlaw.com.

About Butler Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP
Since 1988, attorneys at the Georgia personal injury law firm of Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP have been dedicated to helping injured people, grieving families, and other individuals and businesses obtain full justice through aggressive, sophisticated approach to litigation. The firm has collected more than $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients in more than 32 states across the country. Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer have set the record four times for Georgia's largest jury verdict, in four completely different types of cases: medical malpractice, trucking, products liability, and business torts. For more information, please visit http://www.butlerwooten.com.