ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - Georgia has successfully passed legislation designed to help improve the reputation of its courts system, where giant verdicts and rules preventing companies from introducing key pieces of evidence have created controversy.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed the package, about a month after the House of Representatives approved it in a 91-82 vote. The Senate passed it in February with a 34-21 vote.
“Securing tort reform has been the Georgia Chamber’s top legislative priority for 20 years," Georgia Chamber president and CEO Chris Clark said.
"Getting both SB 68 and SB 69 signed into law fulfills the Georgia business community’s promise to do right by Georgians by restoring balance to the civil justice system so our courts can focus on justice—not jackpots.”
Kemp shined a light on the legislation in January when it was introduced and called its passage "a victory for the people of our state who for too long were suffering the impacts of an out-of-balance legal environment."
Blockbuster verdicts in the state have earned it a spot on the American Tort Reform Association's "Judicial Hellholes" list in recent years.
Georgia juries have a particular disdain for Ford Motor Company, which was hit with a $1.7 billion verdict in 2022 and a $2.5 billion verdict this year.
Help from the tort reform bill would allow defendants like Ford to introduce evidence that car-crash plaintiffs weren't wearing their seatbelts. Ford was only able to tell jurors that there were functioning seatbelts in the F-250 that rolled over in a crash that killed Melvin and Voncile Hill in 2014.
It was alleged a defective roof killed the couple - the same allegation in this year's $2.5 billion verdict. Not wearing a seatbelt will not be considered evidence of negligence or causation, the state's former law said.
The Senate passed changes to the seatbelt law last year but the bill died in a House committee. Other changes in this year's tort-reform package target "phantom damages" and "jury anchoring."
Phantom damages are awarded for inflated medical bills introduced in evidence. Forbidding jury anchoring would keep plaintiffs lawyers from tossing out the idea of a large verdict during closing arguments.
Steven Waguespack, the president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, called the new law the first legal reform success story of 2025.
The law will "ensure Georgia consumers, families, workers, and businesses benefit from a balanced legal environment, not trial lawyers and third-party litigation funders," he said.
"Georgia’s landmark reforms should serve as a model for other states wanting to bring fairness and certainty to their court systems and drive down costs for everyone. Keep going and keep fighting—what happened in Georgia can happen in your state.”
The law also:
-Targets negligent security claims, protecting companies from lawsuits when they adequately keep their property safe;
-Splits some trials in two, with the issue of liability being heard before plaintiffs can try to convince juries to award certain dollar amounts;
-Closes a loophole allowing for double recovery of attorneys fees;
-Keeps plaintiffs from withdrawing their cases during trials in order to refile in a more favorable jurisdiction;
-Lets defendants file their motions to dismiss faster; and
-Reforms third-party litigation funding.
Foreign companies that want to invest in lawsuits will not be allowed to, and companies that are allowed to are prohibited from having any input into litigation strategy. Their involvement in lawsuits will no longer be kept secret from defendants and judges.