ATLANTA – While most of the action on tort reform in this year’s General Assembly session has been in the Georgia Senate, the state House of Representatives is about to jump into the fray.
House Speaker David Ralston has appointed 15 House members to an ad hoc committee that will consider legislation seeking to make significant changes in Georgia’s civil justice system, including a bill introduced into the House this week, the chamber’s first tort reform measure of the 2020 legislative session.
“For the last seven years in a row, Georgia has been named the best state in the nation in which to do business,” Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said in announcing the formation of the Special Committee on Access to the Civil Justice System. “Any legislation which may negatively impact our business climate and limit access to our civil justice system must be carefully considered.”
The Senate began working on tort reform early in the session and already has passed one tort reform bill. Two others have cleared Senate committees and await action by the full Senate.
Representatives of insurance companies, physician groups and tort reform advocates have pointed to “runaway” jury verdicts in Georgia in recent years that have driven up the cost of insurance premiums as evidence of the need for tort reform. Opponents, spearheaded by the trial lawyers lobby, say the bills are skewed in favor of insurers and make it harder for victims of car crashes and medical malpractice to get their day in court.
House Bill 1089, sponsored by Rep. Tom McCall, R-Elberton, would require separate trials to determine guilt and assess damages in cases where the plaintiff seeks more than $150,000 in damages. Like other legislation pending before the Senate, it also would allow defense lawyers to introduce as evidence whether an injured plaintiff was wearing a seatbelt at the time of a motor vehicle crash.
The new committee will be chaired by House Majority Whip Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown.