Georgia’s latest effort to curb lawsuits has business groups and trial lawyers at odds

ATLANTA (AP) — After years of stalled efforts to limit civil lawsuits, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican lawmakers are doubling down on it with a new effort.

Supporters, most prominently business groups, call the state “judicial hell” and argue that businesses are being crushed by rising insurance costs due to excessive lawsuits, which have helped plaintiffs receive larger payouts.

“This issue is not about business,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican. “This is about every Georgian paying higher and higher premiums for their insurance. We need to do everything we can to make it more affordable to own a home, own a vehicle, and protect our families through insurance.”

But opponents say there is no evidence the lawsuits are closely linked to rising insurance rates and that the limit would make it harder for injured parties to win justice in court.

“It’s about trying to do some favors for people who hopefully line your political pockets,” said Jane Jordan, an attorney and former Democratic state senator. “At the end of the day, the Georgian people are going to be hurt.”

Kemp has promised the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, one of his top allies, in 2022 that he will try to limit litigation costs through what many call “tort reform.” But he acknowledged in 2023 that the effort was complicated, and instead signed a law to collect data on trial decisions.

Even as Kemp holds events to build public support ahead of the legislative session that begins Monday, the Republican governor is having to contend with GOP lawyers in the General Assembly who earn a living by filing lawsuits, Democrats who mostly There is opposition to the changes, and a state Supreme Court has struck down earlier limits.

A major issue is lawsuits against stores, apartment complexes and other businesses over crimes or injuries on their property. In a similar lawsuit, Georgia mother Sheila Brooks sued Family Dollar and Dollar Tree last year after her son, Lame Johnny Johnson IV, was fatally shot in their South Atlanta store.

Police say the shooter was not a Family Dollar employee, but the lawsuit alleges that Family Dollar was aware of prior incidents, including “shootings, gunfire, assaults, assaults” in and around the location. Violent threats with weapons and disturbing acts of violence were included”. The complaint states that they should have taken more security measures to protect their customers.

Supporters of lawsuit limits say property owners should not be held responsible for the wrongdoings of customers and trespassers.

Attorney Bill Custer said, “If we fix this problem, Georgia could be a much simpler, better-understood place for businesses and their insurers.” “This will cement our reputation as a bad-boy state.”

Georgia Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Nancy Palmer said Georgia’s legal landscape has left insurance companies out of business, making it difficult for businesses to get adequate coverage. He said insurance costs have become “unsustainable” across all industries, affecting day care centers, grocery store owners, pharmacies, low-income housing providers and others in urban and rural areas alike.

Darian Dunn, managing partner of Atlantic Strategies, which develops affordable housing and is behind a micro-community for previously unsheltered people known as “The Melody,” said insurance companies are raising premiums or paying less in those areas. are denying coverage to what they label as “high crimes”. For concerns about litigation.

“Because of these rising insurance costs, we have had to turn away from projects that would otherwise bring much-needed affordable housing,” Dunn said.

Dunn wants lawmakers to limit the amount of compensation people can seek for non-economic damages like emotional pain and suffering. The Georgia legislature banned such decisions in 2005, but the state Supreme Court overturned the law in 2010, ruling it unconstitutional.

The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association disputes the idea that jury verdicts are causing insurance costs to rise, and said in a statement that “insurance companies have continued to raise premiums despite earning record profits.”

To limit a property owner’s liability, lawmakers could limit the type of evidence attorneys can use to prove that property owners knew about the risk of incidents like Johnson’s murder. Was.

Lawmakers can also instruct juries to give the minimum level of guilt to a person who commits a crime. In an oft-cited 2023 case, a man was awarded nearly $43 million in a lawsuit against CVS after he was shot in a CVS parking lot during an armed robbery. The jury found CVS 95% responsible for the shooting, found the victim 5% responsible, and assigned no responsibility to the shooter.

These types of major rulings are rare, said Madeline Somerville, an Atlanta attorney and political consultant for Democrats. He said large verdicts often occur when insurers refuse to settle cases they should settle, and while some cases are “frivolous”, most are not.

“You can’t make a law based on the fact that there is a minority of people who are trying to game the system and then lead all of Georgia to believe that that is the majority of cases,” Somerville said.

Somerville is particularly concerned about the shift in medical malpractice lawsuits, where people sue medical providers for poor work. If physicians are not held accountable, the standard of care will decline, he said.

At a roundtable organized by Kemp last fall, medical executives said insurance costs are rising and doctors are afraid to work in Georgia because they could be sued. Van Loskowski, CEO of Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa, said the hospital could not recruit obstetricians due to fear of lawsuits and stopped delivering babies in 2021. Loskowski said the hospital’s medical malpractice premiums have declined 13%.

Lawmakers could also consider other measures, including some similar legislation passed in Florida in 2023. For example, they may require lawyers to show jurors how much the plaintiff actually paid in medical bills, rather than “phantom damages” based on the amounts originally charged. Lawmakers can also order separate trials to determine who is at fault for medical damages and what those damages are.

Kraman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.