USA – GEORGIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Louis Cohan, Bert Levy, Adrianna Prosdocimo and Grace Vigar, Cohan & Levy
Cohan & Levy 3340 Peachtree Road NE Tower 100 Suite 2570 Atlanta Georgia 30326 USA Tel: +404 891 1770 Fax: +404 891 5094 Email: lcohan@cohanlevy.com Web: www.cohanlevy.com
Georgia Tort Reform Act of 2025: where are we? Georgia tort reform seeks to reduce litigation costs, deter litigation abuse and decrease so-called nuclear jury verdicts. The promised benefit from the litigation is the stabilisation of insurance costs. Whether the changes will deliver on the promise will depend on how the courts explore, test and interpret the new laws. • Adjustments to medical damages: one of many insurance-friendly aspects of the tort reform is that it significantly limits special damages for medi - cal and healthcare expenses. It is now up to the jury to determine the “reasonable value” of nec - essary care, treatment or services, based on the actual amount charged and the amount necessary to satisfy such charges with the plaintiff’s health insurance, regardless of whether the policy will be used and, apparently, without regard to the car - riers’ subrogation rights against their insureds. This is a substantial departure from Georgia’s past implementation of the collateral source rule, which permitted plaintiffs to submit their entire medical bill as evidence, but barred defendants from intro - ducing evidence of payments or benefits the plain - tiff received from third parties, such as insurance companies. Now, the jury will be able to assess the plaintiff’s actual out-of-pocket expenses, increas - ing transparency and, thus, likely limiting the award for damages. The premise, which may or may not be true, is that insurance companies raised premi - ums because of big verdicts. • Limitations on non-economic damages: Geor - gia Senate Bill 68 limits the scope and timing of
Market and Legal Trends for Doing Business in Georgia 2026 Introduction The interests of consumers and businesses are often at odds. Alarmed by its lead position on a Judicial Hellholes® report, Georgia recently took significant steps to prioritise business interests in litigation. As a result of the newly enacted tort reform measures, Georgia no longer appears on the list. But, as is also often true, the proverbial pendulum has a tendency to swing wide in either direction before settling some - where in between the extremes. Specifically, significant tort reform changes – including allowing parties to split trials into liability and dam - ages phases, limitations on damages, and heightened requirements for negligent security claims – benefit both businesses and property owners by theoreti - cally decreasing the risk of large jury verdicts. Simi - larly, changes to the Georgia corporate code have increased protections for directors and officers through a broader exculpation statute, expanded the jurisdiction of the State-wide Business Court (“Busi - ness Court”), and increased ownership requirements for certain shareholder derivative lawsuits. On the other hand, meaningful reform of the Property Own - ers’ Association Act to benefit homeowners is also afoot. New laws seek to safeguard residential property owners by increasing transparency, accountability and due process. Other developments targeting consumer protection include potential liability for negligent data breach claims and requiring businesses to comply with AI guidelines. Below, we dive deeper.
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