Today, the American Tort Reform Association celebrates Gov. Brian Kemp signing two important pieces of legislation in Georgia that aim to improve the state’s “Judicial Hellhole®” status.
“After a heated legislative session, we are pleased that commonsense ultimately won and that Georgia will enact robust reforms this year,” Lauren Sheets Jarrell said, ATRA’s vice president and counsel for civil justice policy. “Gov. Kemp’s strong leadership was critical in this effort and the civil justice community is grateful for his principled diligence.”
Gov. Kemp’s signature on Senate Bill 68 puts into effect immediately reforms addressing problematic “phantom” damage awards and “jury anchoring” as well as empowering juries with critical evidence regarding seat belt use in cases involving vehicle crashes.
“Phantom” damages are awards based on inflated medical bill amounts that were never actually paid — Georgia courts often base awards on these billed amounts rather than real payments. Jury anchoring is a practice in which lawyers suggest an unreasonably large award before a jury with that number becoming an “anchor” point in jurors’ minds.
This comprehensive bill also will address the expansion of premises liability in Georgia that has left businesses responsible for criminal acts committed by third parties on or near their property – even if they had no way to predict or prevent such acts. These practices lead to higher litigation costs across the board.
Senate Bill 69 addresses third-party litigation financing and will go into effect January 1, 2026. Senate President Pro Tempore John F. Kennedy was the primary sponsor for each of these bills.
“Signing S.B. 69 into law is a major step toward restoring transparency and integrity in Georgia’s courts,” Sheets Jarrell said. “These reforms will help ensure that outside investors can no longer secretly drive litigation for personal profit. Georgians deserve a legal system that puts fairness and accountability first, and these new laws move the state closer to that goal.”
Excessive tort costs in Georgia result in a $1,415 annual “tort tax” paid by each resident, or nearly $5,662 annually for a family of four. This cost has increased more than 27% since 2021 and also leads to an estimated loss of 134,898 jobs across the state each year.
The American Tort Reform Foundation ranked Georgia the nation’s fourth-worst “Judicial Hellhole®” in its latest report. After spending two years atop the list at No. 1, the state dropped slightly in the rankings due to Gov. Kemp’s prioritization of and steady calls for tort reform in Fall 2024.
