Articles Posted in Tort Reform in Georgia

The Center for a Just Society is a conservative outfit that seeks to “advance and defend Judeo-Christian principles of human dignity and social justice in law, policy and the public square.”  If you read their web site, it’s clearly a conservative organization.  In light of that faith-based conservatism, it is enlightening to read what they…

Here’s an interesting commentary on the presidential race and one putative Republican candidate who opposes national “tort reform” on the basis of conservative principles: Fred Thompson has not officially entered the race for President of the United States, yet already he is being assailed by Republican bluebloods who want preferential treatment in America’s civil justice…

The nut case administrative law judge in Washington, DC, who sued a dry cleaner for $65 million for a lost pair of pants has lowered his price to $54 million.  Roy L. Pearson  — who turned down an offer of $15,000 for his precious pants — is proving the maxim that he who represents himself…

The Georgia Supreme Court has held that OCGA 9-11-68 is unconstitutional, at least with regard to cases that arose before the effective date of the statute. See the full opinion in Fowler Properties Inc. v. Dowland here. The opinion is a bit enigmatic in that the Court stated “Our conclusion that OCGA § 9-11-68 is…

In a show of good sense, North Carolina doctors and trial lawyers have  joined to support a bill that would place a $1 million dollar cap on some medical malpractice cases. The bill would limit monetary damages in medical negligence cases for parties who agree to enter into binding arbitration. Lawmakers are hopeful that the…

The American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America) has  filed an ethics complaint against Washington, D.C., administrative law judge Roy Pearson Jr., the guy who made news with a  $65 million lawsuit against a local dry cleaner for losing a pair of his pants.  Clearly we lawyers need to do something…

The Supreme Court of Georgia yesterday struck down the provision of SB 3, the omnibus tort reform bill passed in 2005, which required a plaintiff to provide a medical records authorization authorizing ex parte discussions with all treating physicians, upon filing of any medical malpractice suit.  The Supreme Court held that this requirement was preempted…

4/15/07.  The  doctrine of respondeat superior has been deeply ingrained in Anglo-American common law tradition since long before the American Revolution.  The origins of respondeat superior are disputed. Compare Holmes, Agency I, 4 HARV.L.REV. 345 (1891) (respondeat superior developed from Roman law) with Wigmore, Responsibility for Tortious Acts: Its History, 7 HARV L.REV. 315 (1894)…

OCGA 9-11-68, the rather overbearing version of an offer of judgment / offer of settlement statute that was enacted as part of Senate Bill 3 in 2005, has been held unconstitutional by several trial courts. Now the constitutional challenge is reaching the Georgia Supreme Court.  In light of the fact that a plaintiff won $4…

Despite the political surge to tort “reform” and the distinctly conservative tone we see in jury panels these days, when serious cases are well tried jurors repeatedly show the willingness to award adequate verdicts.  We experienced it a couple of weeks ago with a $2.3 million verdict in rural Gordon County for a young man…