Have you been injured in South Carolina? Don’t sign anything yet.

— AFTER THE ACCIDENT

The calls started before you got home from the hospital

You’re sore, your car is somewhere you didn’t put it, and someone from an insurance company has already left a voicemail. They sound friendly. They want a quick recorded statement and a signature on a form, and they’d like to get it done today. Meanwhile you’re trying to work out how you’ll pay for a scan, and whether you can get back to your job on Monday. That’s a lot to carry at once, and none of it is your fault.

Our Valdosta office is on North Ashley Street, in the same county where your case will be heard. When you call, you’ll speak to someone local. Not a queue, not a callback in a week. Ken Nugent built the firm around one idea: that the person who takes your case ought to know your roads, your courts, and your community.

Across Georgia we’ve recovered more than $5 billion for over 300,000 clients in 45 years, from nine offices. You pay nothing up front, and you pay nothing at all until we win your case.

Don’t sign anything from the insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Their first offer is almost never their best.

What we handle at the Valdosta office

The Valdosta office handles motor vehicle accidents, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, and premises liability cases across Lowndes County. Most cases that come through this office start with a crash on I-75, US-84, or North Ashley Street. Free consultation, available 24 hours a day, with no fee until we win.

1. Motor Vehicle Accidents — car, truck, motorcycle, rideshare, pedestrian and bicycle collisions. Valdosta sits on I-75 about fifteen miles from the Florida line, so out-of-state drivers and commercial carriers turn up in these cases constantly.
2. Catastrophic Injury & Wrongful Death — traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, and the loss of someone you love. These cases need medical experts and life care planning, and we bring them in early.
3. Premises Liability — falls in stores, parking lots, and apartment complexes, where a property owner didn’t fix something they knew about.

Not sure which one fits what happened to you? Call and we’ll tell you — even if the answer is that you don’t need a lawyer.

How long do you have to file a claim in Valdosta?

Most Georgia injury claims must be filed within two years. But if a city, county, or state agency is responsible, you must send a written notice long before that — as little as six months. In Lowndes County the deadline depends on which government was involved, and the clock starts the day of the crash.

Most people know there’s a two-year deadline for injury claims in Georgia. Far fewer know that if a government caused the harm — a city truck, a county vehicle, a road that wasn’t maintained — you have to send a formal written notice first, and that deadline can be a quarter as long.

That notice is called an ante litem notice. It’s Latin for “before the lawsuit,” and it means exactly that: a letter you have to send to the government before you’re allowed to sue them. Send it late, and the claim is over regardless of how badly you were hurt.

Who caused the harm	Deadline to send notice	Georgia law
A city — Valdosta, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton, Dasher	6 months	O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5
Lowndes County	12 months	O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1
The State of Georgia or GDOT	12 months	O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26
A private driver or business	2 years to file suit	O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33

Remerton is the one that catches people. It’s a small city entirely surrounded by Valdosta — you can drive through it in under a minute without ever seeing a sign that tells you. But if a Remerton vehicle or a Remerton street was involved, the notice goes to Remerton, on a six-month clock, not to Valdosta and not to the county.

If a government vehicle or a road hazard was involved in your crash, call us the same week if you can. Not because we want to rush you — because six months moves faster than it sounds when you’re in physical therapy.

Which court hears your case, and who has your crash report?

Lowndes County has both a State Court and a Superior Court, and most injury cases are filed in State Court. Your crash report is held by whichever agency responded: Valdosta Police inside the city, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office in unincorporated areas, and the Georgia State Patrol on I-75.

Lowndes is one of the Georgia counties that has both a State Court and a Superior Court. Not every county does, and the difference is practical: State Court handles civil cases like personal injury, while Superior Court handles those plus felonies, divorces, and land disputes. Most Lowndes injury cases are filed in State Court, which generally moves faster.

Where the crash happened	Who has your report
Inside Valdosta city limits	Valdosta Police Department
Unincorporated Lowndes County	Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office
I-75 and state routes	Georgia State Patrol

Note the difference from the bigger metro counties: Lowndes has no county police department. Outside city limits, patrol is the Sheriff’s Office, and that’s where the report lives. It’s a different agency with a different request process, and people who assume “county police” waste time looking for a department that doesn’t exist here.

You can request it yourself, and you should if you’re able. But if you’d rather not chase it, tell us where the crash happened and we’ll pull it. It matters — the officer’s diagram, the citation, and the listed witnesses often decide how an insurance company values your claim before anyone talks about a settlement.

Who you’ll be working with

Our Valdosta clients work with attorneys based here and in Duluth, supported by a case manager you can reach directly rather than through a call center. You’ll be given both names when you call.

• Marcus Roberts — Attorney at Law.
• Jim Kasprzycki — Attorney at Law.