Have you been injured in Albany? 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 Albany office is on North Westover Boulevard, 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. Closer to home, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce named us its Star Business of the Week in 2024. 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 Albany office

The Albany office handles motor vehicle accidents, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, and premises liability cases across Dougherty County. Most cases that come through this office start with a crash on US-82, US-19, the Liberty Expressway, or Dawson Road. 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. US-82 and GA-300 carry heavy freight through Albany, and trucking cases are a large part of what this office does.
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.

Who you’ll be working with

Our Albany attorneys work out of the office on North Westover Boulevard. You’ll be given a specific attorney and a specific case manager when you call, and you can reach both of them directly throughout your case rather than going through a call center.

• Barbara Mulholland — Attorney at Law. A practicing Georgia attorney for more than 25 years, focused on motor vehicle and trucking cases and medical malpractice. She also spent time on the other side of the table as an insurance adjuster handling nationwide commercial transportation claims — which means she knows how these files get valued before you do.
• Matthew Kirtlink — Attorney at Law. Drake University, Mercer University School of Law. Admitted in both Georgia and Florida, and works across South Georgia from our Albany and Valdosta offices. Handles automobile collisions, tractor-trailer crashes, work injuries and medical malpractice.

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

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 Dougherty 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
The City of Albany	6 months	O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5
Dougherty 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

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?

Dougherty 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: Albany Police inside the city, the Dougherty County Police Department in unincorporated areas, and the Georgia State Patrol on US-82 and US-19.

Dougherty 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 Dougherty injury cases are filed in State Court, which generally moves faster.

Where the crash happened	Who has your report
Inside Albany city limits	Albany Police Department
Unincorporated Dougherty County	Dougherty County Police Department
US-82, US-19 and state routes	Georgia State Patrol

One thing worth knowing: Dougherty is one of a small number of Georgia counties with its own county police department, separate from the Sheriff’s Office. Most rural Georgia counties are patrolled by the Sheriff. If your crash was outside Albany, the report is with county police — not the Sheriff, and not the city.

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.