Cunningham Bounds Recruits 40-Year Medical Malpractice Veteran in Major Georgia Expansion

Lance Lourie addition positions national trial firm for continued success in Georgia

ATLANTA, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major addition to its Georgia legal team, Cunningham Bounds has recruited Lance Lourie, a nearly 40-year medical malpractice and nursing home abuse veteran who has recovered hundreds of millions for clients, further positioning the national firm for continued success in Georgia.

The firm opened its Atlanta office in 2024 with long-time Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer and former Georgia Trial Lawyers Association President Glenn Kushel and his long-time partner Nick Moraitakis, one of the most respected trial lawyers in Georgia for decades. Four partners in the firm from Alabama have become barred in Georgia and are actively handling wrongful death, product liability, trucking, automobile accident and medical malpractice cases. The Cunningham Bounds Atlanta based partners have litigated and resolved many significant cases since its Atlanta inception with tens of millions of dollars in settlements.

The addition of Lance to the firm comes as the 67-year-old firm prepares to move to a new Atlanta office in summer 2026, significantly expanding its footprint in one of the Southeast's most competitive legal markets.

Like Glenn, who worked with Lance in the late 1980s to early 1990s at Long, Weinberg, Ansley and Wheeler, he spent his first years as a litigator (more than 12 years) defending hospitals and physicians in malpractice cases — experience that now gives his plaintiff clients a strategic advantage in understanding how healthcare institutions and insurers approach litigation.

"Lance has the insider knowledge that comes from sitting on the other side of the table," said Steve Nicholas, managing partner at Cunningham Bounds. "He knows how hospitals think, how insurers calculate risk and how corporate defendants prepare their defense. That's an invaluable asset for families seeking justice."

"I have known Lance as a lawyer and close friend since the late 1980s. He is one of the finest trial lawyers I know and his reputation in Georgia and nationwide speaks for itself. We are all excited he is joining the firm, and I look forward to again practicing with him for many years to come," said Glenn Kushel.

Lance has tried many high-profile nursing home and medical malpractice cases to verdict, including a $40 million medical malpractice verdict, a $15 million nursing home abuse verdict involving severe dehydration and infected pressure sores, a $3.5 million assisted living verdict for a resident attacked by ants, and a $2 million nursing home negligence verdict involving amputation. His notable settlements include a landmark $600 million whistleblower case involving Botox marketing, an $18 million truck accident settlement resulting in quadriplegia, nursing home abuse settlements and verdicts ranging from $3.5 million to $15 million, and a $5.5 million medical malpractice settlement for failure to diagnose cervical fractures. Lance successfully handled Edwards v. Department of Children & Youth Services, 271 Ga. 890 (2000), before the Georgia Supreme Court, establishing that medical negligence cases against the State are not barred by the Georgia Tort Claims Act — a precedent-setting decision that expanded access to justice for victims of government medical negligence throughout Georgia.

Lourie has served as vice president at large and executive committee member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and has testified before state legislative committees on elder abuse and medical malpractice reform. He holds a law degree from the University of South Carolina, where he served on the law review and national moot court team.

Founded in Mobile, Alabama, in 1958, Cunningham Bounds has built a national reputation handling complex, high-stakes litigation. The firm represented plaintiffs in the $12.1 billion Deepwater Horizon oil spill case, secured $11.9 billion for the State of Alabama in royalty fraud claims against ExxonMobil, and won more than $1 billion for homeowners in defective building materials cases.

Recent victories include a record $15 million Montana jury verdict in a carbon monoxide death lawsuit, a $35 million medical malpractice verdict, a $35 million automobile accident settlement, and a $20 million class action settlement. The firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon, Chambers USA and Best Lawyers, with multiple partners having been inducted as members of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

The firm's summer 2026 Atlanta office opening will mark a significant expansion in the Georgia market, where Cunningham Bounds continues to build a team to handle the state's most complex medical malpractice, wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases.

CONTACT:
Kate Dorlan
Cunningham Bounds
404-537-3479
[email protected]

Cunningham Bounds remains focused on and committed to fighting for plaintiffs in cases involving serious personal injury, products liability, industrial accidents, and complex civil litigation. For more information on Cunningham Bounds, visit: www.cunninghambounds.com.

The law firm of Cunningham Bounds has offices in Mobile, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia, and has represented plaintiffs for more than 65 years. Today, the firm continues its tradition of representing victims in cases involving catastrophic personal injury, industrial accidents, defective products, truck and automobile accidents, and medical malpractice. The firm also has expertise in business litigation, complex litigation, and national and state class action litigation involving defective products and consumer fraud.

SOURCE Cunningham Bounds