Quynh-Huong "Betty" Davis (left) and Bethany Schneider of Schneider Injury Law. (Courtesy photo)

A DeKalb County judge awarded nearly $1.1 million in attorney fees to a man injured by falling debris at an Atlanta hotel, adding to more than a combined $6 million already delivered by a settlement and jury.

The man's attorneys sought the fees under Georgia's offer of judgment statute, which allows a party whose offer to settle was rejected and who later prevails by 25% or more than was demanded, to seek fees dating from the time of the rejection.

State Court Judge Dax Lopez's order noted that the defendant, a building contractor, could have settled the claims for $75,000 early on instead of proceeding to trial, where the jury award totaled $5.25 million.

A co-defendant, the Crowne Plaza Atlanta-Midtown Hotel, agreed to pay $1 million to settle its portion of the suit right before trial last June. In November, Lopez granted the hotel's motion seeking indemnification and ordered co-defendant Cajun Contractors Inc. to reimburse it for the million it paid.

"We're very pleased with the numbers, but we actually wanted more: We asked for 40%" of the jury award, said Schneider Injury Law principal Bethany Schneider.

Lopez calculated that the 700 hours Schneider and her co-counsel put into the case amounts to $350,000, or $500 an hour. Lopez then trebled it to $1.05 million, "in recognition of the outstanding work by plaintiff's counsel in obtaining such a substantial verdict" for their client.

The judge tacked on another $45,196 in expenses, bringing the total fee award to just under $1.1 million.

Schneider said she and co-counsel Quynh-Huong "Betty" Davis of Davis Injury Law had offered to forgo any effort to seek fees, if the defendant agreed to pay the award.

"We sent them a demand that said, 'if you pay the full amount of the verdict immediately, we will not pursue what we thought was a $2 million attorney fee award," she said.

Cajun Contractors filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial in December. Lopez has not ruled on that motion, but his Jan. 30 fee order may indicate he's unlikely to grant it.

The plaintiffs team was joined by Bondurant Mixson & Elmore partner Michael Terry for posttrial litigation.

Cajun Contractors was represented at trial by lawyers from Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith. Its posttrial litigation is being handled by Laurie Webb Daniel, Matthew Friedlander and Philip George of Holland & Knight.

Daniel declined to discuss motions still pending in the case but did say the "method for calculating attorney's fees under Georgia's offer-of-settlement statute is a hot topic, as plaintiffs' counsel want to recover based on the contingency percentage in their engagement letter.

"This issue is percolating in the trial and appellate courts now, and I expect that the Georgia Supreme Court may ultimately take it up before long," Daniel said via email.

The Crowne Plaza is represented by R. David Ware and Pearson Cunningham of Hall Booth Smith.

Regarding Lopez's ruling granting his client's motion for indemnification, "all I can say, is the judge got it right, and it's obvious from reviewing the contract that [Cajun Contractors] were liable for any damages," Ware said.

According to Schneider and court filings, the accident happened in 2015 when workers for a subcontractor Cajun hired were removing the fence and cabanas alongside the hotel's fourth floor pool.

They were using a bar and hammer to loosen the fence when the vibrations shook loose a piece of pipe laying on top of one the cabanas, sending it plummeting toward the ground.

Plaintiff Max Laguerre, a Haitian-born cab driver, was standing at the hotel's taxi stand when he heard a noise, looked up and was hit "right between the eyes" by an 8-foot piece of pipe. The impact broke Laguerre's nose, but a CT scan was normal, and he was not diagnosed with a concussion.

Later, Laguerre began having headaches and vision problems. As time went by, his family began noticing changes in Laguerre's attitude and personality.

He ultimately had to give up driving a cab and tried to go into business with his brother but was unable to stay focused on work.

Laguerre sued the Crowne Plaza and Cajun Contractors for negligence in 2017.

After the suit was filed, a neuroradiological scan detected "abnormalities" consistent with a traumatic brain injury.

After that diagnosis of brain trauma, Legeuerre's lawyers sent an offer of global settlement to both defendants for their combined policy limits of $2 million.

They declined and countered with a $250,000 global offer.

The Crowne Plaza settled days before trial began.

The jury awarded more than $5.5 million after a four-day trial, including more than $500,000 in punitive damages. Lopez cut the punitives to $250,000, pursuant to Georgia's punitive damages cap, and entered judgment for $5.25 million.

In finding for Laguerre, the jury did not apportion any liability to the Crowne Plaza or the subcontractor. The Crowne Plaza had filed a motion for summary judgment on its bid for indemnification by Cajun Contractors before the trial, but Lopez waited until it was over to rule.

In granting the hotel's motion, Lopez said "the jury conclusively found that plaintiff was injured by the pipe falling from the deck of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and that plaintiff's injuries were caused 100% by the negligence of Cajun Contractors."

Cajun Contractors has appealed his order awarding the hotel $1 million.