Articles Posted in Tort Reform in Georgia

A few days ago the Georgia Supreme Court heard oral arguments on constitutionality of the $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Both trial attorneys and members of the medical profession are waiting with bated breath for the court’s ruling. Watch the video of the oral argument and tell me how you think…

The tort reform legislation that passed the Georgia legislature in 2005 involved an unfortunate clash between the medical and legal professions. Then just a rank and file attorney handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases in metro Atlanta, and a back row member of the State Bar Board of Governors, I had no real leverage…

Every few months for several years, I have received emails about the “Stella Awards.” This purports to be a summary of the most frivolous and absurd lawsuits. The problem is that the stories it tells are false.  It appears to be a collection of the most absurd fictional lawsuit stories that someone could make up for…

The insurance industry always winds up blaming injury victims and their lawyers for premium increases that result from investment losses and hurricanes.  However, there is a revealing article this week in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Increases of car and insurance rates of 5% to 11% in Georgia this year are — accordnig to insurance industry…

My learned colleague and fellow Atlantan, Jonathan Wilson, writing on the Manhattan Institute’s PointofLaw.com blog, has responded to my earlier comment about the “stay of discovery” provision of the legislation recently passed as HB 29. I had commented earlier, in part, that the legislation as passed would prompt a “rash of frivolous motions to dismiss as…

As an attorney representing people with serious injury cases in Georgia, I have to keep an eye on the solvency of the insurance companies that are contractually obligated to pay legitimate liability claims against their policyholders.  For most of my career, the solvency of insurers was seldom if ever a big concern. In today’s economy, however,…

The tort reform legislation in Georgia continues to erode in the face of constitutional challenges. The latest chip in the armor is a ruling from Judge Anthony Alaimo, a legendary federal district judge in Brunswick. featured in The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero. The son of Sicilian immigrants, he was a bomber pilot…

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals was a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1993 that led to a sea change in standards for admitting expert testimony into evidence. Setting out a set of factors to be considered by courts in such decisions, it spread from questions of cutting edge science to the most mundane forms of…

There is an old saying that no one’s life or property is safe while the Georgia legislature is in session. As a trucking safety trial attorney in Atlanta, I have often reflected on the truth of that quip. This week, we have seen some remarkable developments under the Gold Dome, which have been surprisingly benign. There…

At the beginning of the current legislative session, the Governor announced plans for a “frivolous litigation” to require that any plaintiff who loses a motion to dismiss to pay the defendant’s attorney fee, and to have an automatic and indeterminate stay of discovery while a motion to dismiss is pending. As of yesterday, the bill…