Gov. Brian Kemp unveils 'tort reform' proposal that would reduce liability, damages

• Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle
• Date: Jan 30, 2025
• Firm: Penn Law Group

By: Tyler Wilkins, Atalnta Business Chronicle

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has revived a yearslong effort to enact “tort reform,” a contentious effort to change the civil litigation process that has had fits and starts for decades.

Kemp, flanked by political allies, medical professionals and business leaders at a Thursday press conference, shared his legislative proposal with recommendations aimed at limiting large jury awards and reducing the volume of claims.

The package calls for limiting the liability faced by businesses when injuries occur on their properties, restricting how damages are calculated for personal injury cases and allowing juries to know whether a plaintiff wore a seatbelt during a car accident.

Parties would be able to request trial bifurcation, in which liability would be established before the jury hears evidence detailing the extent of the plaintiff’s damages. Constraints would be placed on third-party companies that fund litigation.

Other recommendations include preventing plaintiff lawyers from recovering fees more than once for the same lawsuit and eliminating the practice of dismissing a lawsuit in hope of refiling in a more favorable jurisdiction.

“We’ve got to get something done now,” said Kemp, who has threatened to call a special session if lawmakers fail to pass legislation by April. “We cannot afford even another year of this.”

Kemp has positioned tort reform as a solution to high insurance premiums, a claim rejected by opponents. Democratic lawmakers and trial lawyers have argued that restrictions on civil litigation would benefit insurance companies and prevent wronged Georgians from seeking justice.

Darren Penn, founder of Atlanta-based Penn Law LLC, said tort reform would hurt innocent victims by weakening the right to trial by jury.

“It makes zero sense," Penn said. "We’re worried about insurance premiums, so let’s limit the ability of somebody to hold someone else accountable in the single greatest regulatory system that exists in our country that we have a constitutional right to have."

The governor believes that the legal environment is “out of balance” and hopes to enact regulations on par with those found in states such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee, which compete with Georgia for jobs and economic development projects.

The proposal is backed by hospital executives and leaders of big businesses, including The Home Depot, Waffle House and Uber. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Metro Atlanta Chamber also support it.

The legislation will be carried by state Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy. It will likely be challenged by some members, with Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II and other top Democrats already wary of the changes.

Missing from the proposal are new damage caps on jury verdicts — possibly because the idea has been shot down in the past. In 2005, former Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a broad law that included a $350,000 cap on non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims. But the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the cap violated the state constitution.

Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber, said Kemp's proposal is a common-sense approach that is "not too far to the right or too far to the left."

“We’ve got a legal system now that people are using for jackpots instead of justice," Clark said, "and the governor wants to pull that back in."