Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed sweeping tort reform legislation into law on April 21, 2025. Senate Bills 68 and 69, which narrowly passed the House after receiving unanimous support in the Georgia Senate, were identified as a legislative priority by both Governor Kemp and members of the General Assembly earlier this year. Introduced to combat the high litigation-related insurance costs faced by Georgia businesses and rein in excessive jury awards, Senate Bills 68 and 69 bring material changes to tort litigation in the State. This article discusses what has changed and the effective date of each provision.
I. Senate Bill 68 Amends the Standard of Care Business Owners Owe Patrons for Injuries Resulting from Tortious Conduct of Third Parties, Requires Damages to be Tied Directly to the Evidence Presented, and Gives Defendants a Procedural Mechanism to Cut Litigation Costs in Frivolous Cases, Among Other Changes.
Senate Bill 68 (SB 68) provides businesses relief from certain aspects of premises liability by establishing the standard of care business owners owe patrons and codifying that there is no liability for negligent security when a trespasser causes a patron’s injuries. Now, businesses are no longer held to the “extraordinary care” standard. Instead, plaintiffs will need to prove that (1) a third-party tortfeasor’s conduct was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the tortfeasor exploiting a condition known to the owner/occupier; (2) the owner/occupier failed to exercise ordinary care; and (3) the failure to exercise ordinary care proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries. This change is effective for any case filed after April 21, 2025.
SB 68 also eliminates “Phantom Damages” by allowing defendants to introduce evidence of how much an insurance company paid to satisfy charges providers billed for treating a plaintiff’s injuries, instead of basing damage awards on the full amount billed by providers with no consideration of collateral source payments. This provision is also effective for any case filed after April 21, 2025.
In addition, SB 68 makes the following changes, effective immediately:
- Preventing the double recovery of attorneys’ fees under O.C.G.A. § 13‑6‑11 claims and a defendant’s denial of an offer of settlement under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68, unless explicitly authorized by statute.
- Eliminating eleventh-hour dismissals by requiring that voluntary dismissals be filed no later than sixty days after a defendant’s answer is filed, keeping plaintiffs from dismissing their case on the eve of trial only to refile before a different judge.
- Allowing defendants to file a motion to dismiss instead of an answer, potentially reducing costs for claims subject to dismissal by staying discovery until the court rules on the motion.
- Allowing any party to move for bifurcated trial proceeding in bodily injury or wrongful death cases any time before the pre-trial order is entered. Courts can only deny a motion for bifurcation in cases dealing with sexual assault or when the damages alleged are less than $15,000. If the motion for bifurcation is granted, the jury must first find a defendant liable, by a preponderance of the evidence in most cases, and apportion fault among defendants if there are multiple. Only then can the plaintiff present evidence of compensatory damages. Finally, only after the jury has determined a defendant is liable for a plaintiff’s compensatory damages can plaintiffs put on evidence related to punitive damages, which must be proven by clear and convincing evidence.
- Banning “anchoring” in closing, which is when plaintiffs’ attorneys reference inflated damage amounts not tied to any specific evidence, by requiring that closing arguments relating to pain and suffering damages be tied only to the evidence actually presented at trial.
Notably, SB 68 does not place a cap on the amount of damages that a jury may award in personal injury cases involving auto accidents, premises liability, or products liability and specifically protects the jury’s decision-making responsibilities with respect to damage calculations based on evidence.
II. Senate Bill 69 Changes Third-Party Litigation Funding Rules and Admissible Evidence of Seatbelt Use.
Senate Bill 69 (SB 69) takes aim at third-party actors in litigation funding (where an outside third-party finances someone else’s lawsuit), by only allowing domestically registered entities to act as litigation financers. The law prohibits any litigation financer from directing case strategy and requires financers to indemnify plaintiffs for fees and costs recoverable by defendants, unless the levying of fees and costs is directly attributable to a plaintiff’s misconduct during trial. The litigation financing provisions of SB 69 are effective for any case filed after April 21, 2025.
The law also addresses “Admissible Seatbelt Evidence,” by allowing defendants to introduce evidence of a plaintiff’s use – or nonuse – of a seatbelt at the time of an injury attributable to an automobile accident. This provision is effective for any action filed after January 1, 2026.
For more information about how Governor Kemp’s tort reform may affect your business, please contact Bob Alpert, Jeff Douglass, Doug Hance, Mary Williams, or Isabelle Hale.
