Jo A. Jagor is a Partner in our Atlanta office and has defended medical professionals for more than two decades. She specializes in representing every type of licensed health care professional on the full spectrum of claims, civil suits, and administrative actions.
Jo actively defends hospitals and medical professionals all over the country concerning not only allegations of professional negligence but also claims of ordinary negligence, in peer review or quality management hearings, and premises liability actions. She has experience in high exposure medical malpractice actions including batch claims and/or class action cases.
A mainstay of her practice is defense of doctors, nurses, dentists, hygienists, psychologists, chiropractors, eye specialists, and therapists in civil suits; peer review actions; and in investigative hearings and administrative hearings with their respective licensing boards. Jo also defends step-down facilities, skilled nursing, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living facilities. She handles a growing number of breach actions with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Jo is a regular speaker at risk management and other training seminars for numerous insurance companies, physician/dental practices, and hospitals. She often performs educational seminars for insurance companies as well as for professional organizations such as the American Dental Association, Hinman Dental Society, and numerous state chapters. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and the Georgia Society of Healthcare Risk Managers and is a long-standing member of DRI and the American Society of Healthcare Risk Managers.
Jo earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgia State University College of Law and received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Loyola University in Chicago.
Experience
Aging Services
Jo has extensive experience handling cases for long-term care providers including private and state skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. She has been involved in bringing about numerous claims to a successful resolution for the long-term care industry.
Dental
Jo grew up in a family of dentists and dental providers and is a co-leader for the Dental Service. She began her medical malpractice defense career specifically defending dentists of all types including general dentists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, endodontists, periodontists, prosthodontists, pedodontists, orthodontists, and hygienists in civil suits and claims, as well as with issues involving the State Licensing Board of Dentistry. Jo has assisted her clients in resolving risk management issues, updating consent and medical forms, and with their general business concerns.
She is an annual speaker at risk management seminars for various insurance companies. She has teamed up with some esteemed dental experts to present mock trials at numerous professional organizations. Jo has also recently enjoyed teaching dental ethics and risk management to 2nd and 3rd year dental students at Georgia Regents University College of Dental Medicine. Jo admires the art of dentistry, and she has taken the time to learn the medicine so that she can better communicate with her clients and the experts in this field.
General Liability
Jo brings experience in a wide variety of general liability claims, specifically premises liability. She has trial experience in both state and federal courts, handling cases of all levels of exposure and involving a wide array of allegations and issues.
Health Care
Jo represents two premier hospitals in the greater Atlanta area. In so doing, Jo defends all of the hospitals’ employees in alleged professional negligence actions. She also represents the hospitals in peer review matters, general liability claims, and premises liability actions.
Medical Malpractice
Jo’s practice is devoted to the representation of surgeons, internists, neurologists, pain medicine physicians, oral surgeons, orthodontists, dentists, eye doctors, chiropractors, and other medical professionals in a variety of professional negligence actions. She has successfully defended several health care providers at trial and has successfully represented professionals in medical and dental board actions. She continues to work diligently for these medical professionals to achieve a successful result.
Professional Malpractice & Ethics
Jo has defended fellow attorneys in legal malpractice actions and looks forward to the challenge a concentration in this area of the law provides.
Recognition
•The Best Lawyers in America , Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Best Lawyers, 2018-2026
•Peer Reviewed, Martindale-Hubbell
•Georgia Rising Star, Super Lawyers; 2005-2006, 2009
Presentations
•A Simulated Dental Malpractice Trial: as Real as it Gets Without Being in Court
Rocky Mountain Dental Convention; January 19, 2024
•SmileCon Mock Trial
American Dental Association Conference, 2022
•Legal Perspective: Maintaining Ethics and Other Aspects of Your Practice
American Psychological Association Conference, August 2021
•Simulated Malpractice Mock Trial: COVID-19 Lawsuit
American Dental Association FDC Virtual Connect Conference, October 2020
•Mock Trial
Southwest Dental Conference, September 2017
•Rising Tides: A Battle of the Experts in a Dental Malpractice Trial
Georgia Dental Association, July 2017
•Mock Trial
California Dental Association, May 2017
•Risk Management Seminar
Dunwoody Dental Study Group, January 2017
•Mock Trial
American Dental Association Annual Meeting, October 2016
•Mock Trial
Annual Hinman Dental Meeting, March 2016
•Simulated Dental Malpractice Trial Presentation
American Dental Association’s 156th ADA Annual Session, November 2015
•Simulated Dental Malpractice Court Case Presented Live
The Hinman Dental Meeting, March 2015
•Accepted Standards of Care and Dentist Liability
The Hinman Dental Society Annual Meeting, March 2015
•Simulated Malpractice Court Case Presented Live
The Hinman Dental Society Annual Meeting, March 2014
Publications
•Consent Requirements for Medical Treatment of Adults in Georgia
2016
•Assault and Abuse Reporting Requirements in Georgia
2016
•Ethics CLE: A Painless Approach
For the Defense, September 2003
In the Press
58 HBS Attorneys Recognized as The Best Lawyers in America Award Recipients
August 16, 2024
Hall Booth Smith, P.C. is pleased to announce that 58 lawyers have been included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
