A recent Georgia Court of Appeals ruling impacts insurance liability and addresses allegations of illegal ambulance chasing by an Atlanta law firm. The case involves Gainesville lawyer Shane Lazenby, who filed the suit against Cambre & Associates, highlighting “unethical practices” in soliciting clients.
The appellate court found that a lower court should have dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit.
According to insurancejournal.com, Lazenby argued that Cambre was obtaining information about auto accident victims before that information was made public, then sending runners to solicit the victims as clients, often using high-pressure tactics. Such practices are illegal under Georgia statutes and state Bar rules, Lazenby said.
Lazenby argued that the alleged ambulance chasing and “case running” gave the Cambre firm an unfair business advantage and constituted racketeering – in violation of Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. A trial court refused to dismiss the lawsuit, which Cambre’s team had said failed to state a claim or allege all necessary elements of a RICO violation. The appeals court disagreed.
“The facts alleged in support of Lazenby’s RICO claim are simply too attenuated and speculative to form the proximate cause of the supposed financial losses theoretically incurred by Lazenby and others similarly situated,” the Court of Appeals judges wrote.
You can read the full ruling here: 2025-a25a0935.pdf