Gorinshteyn & Watkins - Atlanta Litigation Attorneys

Gorinshteyn & Watkins - Atlanta Litigation Attorneys Representation for People in Need
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08/29/2026

If a husband un-alives his wife, does he inherit her property?

Good God, no. 🙅‍♂️

Georgia's Slayer Statute prevents anyone who intentionally un-alives someone from benefiting from their death. Will or no will—doesn't matter. Murder or voluntary manslaughter—doesn't matter.

The reasons are obvious. And honestly? This shouldn't be why you don't un-alive someone. So please—just don't.

Got questions? Drop 'em in the comments. 👇

08/24/2026

Tyler Watkins explains a mistake that happens far more often than people realize. Some of your biggest assets don't listen to your will at all. Life insurance, your 401k, retirement accounts. Those go to whoever is named on the beneficiary form. The will doesn't override it.

So picture this. You filled out that form years ago and named an ex. Then you moved on, got married, and wrote a will leaving everything to your spouse. You die, and the money goes to the ex, because the form never changed. Nobody finds out until it's too late to fix.

Pull up your policies and check who's actually named. It takes ten minutes now, or it becomes a fight your family never wanted.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/21/2026

Here's something almost everyone gets wrong. People think insurance follows the driver. Usually, it doesn't. It follows the car.

Tyler Watkins explains what that means in real life. Your friend asks to borrow your car, and you say yes. Five minutes later, they rear-end someone. The first insurance company usually on the hook isn't your friend's. It's yours, because you gave them permission to drive.

Lawyers call that a permissive driver, and it actually serves an important purpose. It protects other people on the road when someone borrows a car without their own insurance. Your friend's policy may still come into play, but yours is generally first in line.

Which means lending someone your car isn't just lending them your car. You're lending them your insurance policy too. Makes choosing who gets the spare key a little more interesting.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/17/2026

It’s one of the most common reasons drivers get pulled over in Georgia: failing to signal a lane change or turn. But what does the law actually say?
In Georgia, the law specifies that a turn signal is required when other traffic may be affected by your movement. If you’re driving on a completely empty road, a missing signal might not technically be a violation — which could mean an officer lacked "reasonable suspicion" to pull you over.
However, here’s the mistake most drivers make: Georgia law requires you to activate your signal BEFORE you start slowing down to make your turn. Signaling after you hit the brakes or while mid-turn isn't just bad driving — it can be illegal.
Bottom line: Use your turn signal every time to stay safe and avoid unnecessary traffic stops.
If you or someone you know was involved in an accident or faces an unlawful traffic stop in Georgia, contact Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC today for a free consultation.

08/12/2026

Can someone sue you just because they don't like what you said about them? They can. Whether the lawsuit survives is a different question.

Tyler Watkins explains Georgia's Anti-SLAPP statute. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. It's basically a lawsuit filed not necessarily to win, but to make speaking up so expensive and stressful that people stop doing it altogether.

If you're sued over speech that's protected by the First Amendment and involves an issue of public interest, Georgia law gives you a way to ask the court to decide early whether the case even has enough merit to move forward. And if you win, the court can require the person who sued you to pay your attorney's fees.

That doesn't mean you can say anything you want. Defamation is still defamation. But it does mean the legal system recognizes that sometimes the lawsuit is the punishment, and that's exactly what the Anti-SLAPP statute is designed to prevent.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/10/2026

Uninsured motorist insurance is an important protection for drivers. It also has a side almost nobody knows about until it's too late.

Tyler Watkins explains what really happens when you use it. Say you're rear-ended. The other driver has $25,000 in coverage, and your injuries are worth far more. Fortunately, you were financially responsible and bought uninsured motorist coverage. So your own insurance company is there to protect you, right? No.

Here's what happens, and it happens in nearly every case. Your own insurance company hires a lawyer to defend the person who hurt you. That lawyer shows up at trial telling the jury he represents the defendant, even though your insurer is paying him. For the next two years, the company you've faithfully paid premiums to for a decade may spend thousands trying to convince a jury that you were at fault and that you aren't really hurt. And because juries aren't allowed to hear about insurance, Tyler has to sit on his hands while their counsel pretends to represent the defendant personally.

It's one of the only businesses where you buy a product, and when you finally go to use it, the company says, "Great. We'll see you in court."

There's a real difference between good faith investigation and hiring lawyers to call you a liar just to avoid paying money you already paid for in premiums.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/07/2026

Tyler Watkins explains a rule a lot of people get wrong. The .08 limit, or .02 if you're under 21, is not permission to drive after drinking. That number is the threshold for what's called DUI per se, which means as a matter of law you're considered too impaired to drive.

But even under .08, you can still be arrested and charged with DUI less safe. If alcohol made you a less safe driver, even a little, you can be charged regardless of your blood alcohol level. Whether you were actually unsafe then becomes a question for the jury. Some people handle alcohol far better than others.

So "I only had one beer" isn't a legal defense. And as he's said before, you shouldn't be saying much of anything when police pull you over. The real question is whether the alcohol made you a less safe driver, and the number of drinks is just part of the evidence.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/06/2026

Don't buy a dog with your crazy partner.

Here's some free legal advice. Don't buy a dog with your crazy partner. Not unless you want to keep talking to them after the breakup.

Tyler Watkins on one of the stranger things the law can't fix. Under the law, a dog is property. You both paid for it. You both put in the time. The problem is a court can't cut a dog in half.

He's been in litigation where each side swore the dog loved them more, and actually produced photos, videos, and witnesses to prove it. How it ended is the part you won't believe.

Follow for more from cases that shouldn't exist but do.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

08/03/2026

There's a famous Georgia case from 1970 where a judge wrote that any juror who didn't know insurance was involved should be excused, because they were, in his words, an idiot.

Tyler Watkins explains one of the stranger rules in Georgia law. When someone causes a crash and hurts another person, it's the insurance company that decides whether to accept responsibility, hires the defense lawyer, and approves any settlement. But in front of a jury, none of that can be said. It's even redacted out of documents. Everyone pretends it doesn't exist.

There's a reason. The law doesn't want juries deciding cases based on who has money, only on the evidence and the true amount of damages. He agrees with that principle. The trouble is that to this day, one of the most common questions jurors ask in deliberation is whether the defendant has insurance, and no one is allowed to tell them. It never comes up when the defendant is Amazon or Tesla. It always comes up when the defendant is an individual.

So the jury sits there wondering whether a verdict comes out of one person's pocket, when the answer is already in the courtroom, just without a name tag.

Tyler Watkins | Atlanta Litigation Attorney
Gorinshteyn & Watkins, LLC

07/30/2026

Most people think estate planning is one document. You write a will, you're done. Not quite.

Tyler Watkins explains what a will actually does, and more importantly, what it doesn't. A will speaks after you're gone, but it can't help while you're still here and unable to make decisions. That's the job of a power of attorney and a healthcare directive. And some things, like life insurance and retirement accounts, don't pass through your will at all. They go to whoever is named on the beneficiary form.

So if an ex is still listed on a policy from years ago, that's who inherits it, will or no will.

A real plan isn't one piece of paper. It's leaving answers instead of questions.

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Atlanta, GA
30328

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