Lawyers at Miller & Martin are enjoying a recent victory for a client in an eight-year legal odyssey that included a 6-6 split of the Georgia Court of Appeals and a decision from the state Supreme Court that overturned a precedent of the appeals court.

At issue was how Georgia's offer of judgment law applied to cases stemming from incidents that occurred before the statute was passed in 2005.

Miller & Martin's client had won a defense verdict involving a 2003 fire at a chicken processing company. Because the client, Crane Co., had offered $500,000 to settle the matter, it asked for attorney fees under the offer of judgment law, which punishes parties that reject settlement offers and then don't fare as well at trial.