Tort Reform Is Coming to Georgia: Here’s What You Need to Know

Tort law — an area of law that includes personal injury law — is frequently the target of legislative attempts to rein in perceived abuses inherent therein. Advocates of tort reform argue that many personal injury lawsuits are frivolous and that excessive damages awards have a negative impact on economic growth. Regardless of the accuracy of such arguments, most states have passed legislative tort reform, although the extent of the reforms varies by state. While Georgia has already implemented limited tort reforms through a cap on punitive damages, the Georgia General Assembly recently passed a much more comprehensive tort reform package, which now heads to Governor Kemp’s desk for his signature. 

Below is what our Tifton personal injury lawyers want you to know. 

Key Provisions of Senate Bill 68

The Georgia tort reform bill, known as SB 68, would make the following changes: 

Restrictions on Arguing Noneconomic Damages 

Noneconomic damages are all damages other than tangible financial losses, including damages for pain and suffering, discomfort, anxiety, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. These types of damages are frequent targets of tort reform efforts because, unlike economic damages, it is difficult to attach a dollar value to them. Instead, juries consider more qualitative factors, such as the severity of the injury, the effect of the injury on the plaintiff’s life, and the time it took the plaintiff to recover, among others. SB 68 does not impose a cap on noneconomic damages; rather, it prohibits plaintiffs’ attorneys from arguing or presenting testimony on specific monetary values for noneconomic damages in bodily injury and wrongful death cases. 

Limits on Voluntary Dismissals 

Plaintiffs in personal injury actions are allowed to voluntarily dismiss their claims without the court’s permission, up to a certain point. Previously, that point was before the first witness was sworn in. Now, it is up to 60 days after the date the defendant files an answer (a shorter window). Additionally, a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss their claim only once without prejudice; a second voluntary dismissal will be treated as an adjudication on the merits, meaning the plaintiff cannot refile the claim. 

Changes to Negligent Security Claims 

Negligent security claims are a type of premises liability claim wherein the plaintiff argues that their injuries were due to the negligent failure of a landowner to secure their premises from the foreseeable wrongful conduct of third parties. To give a high-level example, assume that there is a string of assaults and robberies in the parking lot of a retail establishment, but the proprietor of that establishment fails to implement any additional security measures despite being well aware of the increased risk of crime. A future patron who suffers an assault and robbery could maintain a negligent security claim against the proprietor if they could show that the incident was foreseeable. Plaintiffs also base negligent security claims on arguments that the business was located in a high-crime area. 

SB 68 makes significant changes to negligent security claims in Georgia by creating a statutory negligent security cause of action. To succeed on a claim as an invitee (e.g., a customer of a business), the plaintiff must show the following elements: 

1. The wrongful conduct was reasonably foreseeable because the owner or occupier (a) had particularized warning of imminent wrongful conduct by a third person or (b) reasonably should have known that a third person was reasonably likely to engage in such wrongful conduct upon the premises
2. The injury sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of such wrongful conduct by a third person 
3. The wrongful conduct of the third person was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the third person exploiting a specific physical condition of the premises known to the owner or occupier, which created a reasonably foreseeable risk of wrongful conduct on the premises that was substantially greater than the general risk of wrongful conduct in the vicinity of the premises
4. The owner failed to exercise ordinary care to remedy or mitigate the risk of that specific and known physical condition on the premises
5. The failure of the owner to exercise ordinary care was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury

The new legal standard for negligent security will likely make it more difficult for plaintiffs to succeed on such claims. Nonetheless, you should still contact a Tifton personal injury lawyer if you think you may have a claim. 

Evidence of Seatbelt Usage 

Wearing a seatbelt is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself from serious injuries in motor vehicle accidents. Previously, evidence of the plaintiff’s seatbelt usage was not admissible in car accident cases. The effect of the prohibition of this evidence is that it precluded defendants from arguing that injured plaintiffs were partially at fault for their injuries, which could reduce the amount of damages to which the plaintiff would be entitled under Georgia’s comparative negligence scheme. SB 68 now allows judges and juries to consider such evidence when determining negligence, comparative negligence, causation, or assumption of the risk. For more information about how the introduction of evidence of seatbelt usage could affect your claim, please contact a Tifton personal injury lawyer. 

Calculation of Medical Damages 

SB 68 also makes changes to the damages plaintiffs may recover for medical bills. Under the new law, plaintiffs may recover only the reasonable value of necessary treatments. When calculating that value, judges and juries may now consider evidence of amounts paid rather than merely amounts billed. Proponents of the bill argue that this provision will cut down on “phantom damages,” in which plaintiffs have been alleged to recover damages for amounts billed but never paid. 

Learn More About What Tort Reform Means for You From Our Tifton Personal Injury Lawyers

SB 68 makes many more changes to Georgia tort law than we could cover here. For more information about how the new law could affect your legal rights, please contact the Tifton personal injury lawyers at the Hudson Injury Firm by calling 229-396-5848 or using our online form.