ATLANTA – Efforts to enact sweeping changes for aspects of Georgia’s civil courts stumbled in the state Senate Tuesday after the sponsor of a wide-ranging “tort reform” bill shelved the measure following hours of discussion.
The sprawling Senate Bill 415 would alter many areas of Georgia’s civil judicial system from landlord protections and large medical damages to key tweaks on what evidence can be presented in court like seatbelt use.
But the bill ran up against opposition from Senate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, wary that too many changes were crammed into a single bill. They narrowly voted 27-26 to table the bill upon request from its sponsor, Senate Majority Whip Steve Gooch.
Gooch’s bill marks what may be the last push for major tort-reform legislation this year, after a separate bill he sponsored was gutted in committee and a similar measure in the Georgia House of Representatives stalled.
“There’s a long road ahead on this bill,” Gooch said after the table vote.
Bills have until Thursday, “crossover day,” to pass out of the chamber from which they originated – or they will be dead this legislative session.
The last significant tort-reform bill that made it through the Georgia General Assembly came in 2005, when lawmakers set a $350,000 cap on non-economic damage awards only to see the Georgia Supreme Court rule the limit unconstitutional in 2010.
Georgia’s trial lawyers have long opposed legislative stabs at tort reform, arguing many of the proposed changes to the state’s court system would harm everyday citizens to the benefit of big businesses and insurance companies.
But backers of Gooch’s bill emphasize Georgia’s worsening reputation as a lawsuit-happy environment out of step with the state’s business-friendly image. Speaking from the Senate floor Tuesday, Gooch said large lawsuit awards in recent years have driven up Georgia’s insurance rates and scared off prospective businesses, especially insurance companies.
“Georgia’s civil justice system is currently one of the most dangerous places for business in the country,” said Gooch, R-Dahlonega.
Last year, the Institute for Legal Reform ranked Georgia’s civil justice system 41st among all states, down from 24th just seven years ago. Georgia was also labeled the sixth worst “Judicial Hellhole” in the American Tort Reform Association’s annual rating.
Some of the big-ticket items in Gooch’s bill include a prohibition against seeking “phantom damages,” or monetary awards beyond what a suing person will actually pay for medical care after an injury, and broad legal immunity for landlords when guests or other people who are not leaseholders injure themselves on an owner’s property.
The bill would also allow juries to consider evidence in lawsuits involving people injured in vehicular accidents who were not wearing their seatbelts. Representatives for insurers say seatbelt evidence should be treated like motorcycle helmets, the use of which is admissible as evidence, while trial attorneys argue the change would have a chilling effect on crash victims.
Also, Gooch’s bill would require payment agreements to be disclosed between health insurers and third-party groups that pay hospital bills, block juries from hearing certain details about how monetary damages would be divvied up and separate considerations of liability and damages into different trials.
“In combination, these factors level the playing field and let juries get practical results based on the evidence,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, who pushed strongly for the bill.
Opposition from both sides of the aisle surfaced Tuesday in an hours-long debate from the Senate floor.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jesse Stone called the measure unwieldy and pushed too quickly to the floor after clearing an insurance-focused committee instead of the courts-focused committee he chairs.
“Folks, this bill has not been probably vetted,” said Stone, R-Waynesboro. “It is nowhere close to being properly effective, even with all the amendments flying around.”
Sen. Harold Jones II, D-Augusta, highlighted part of the bill that would lengthen the statute of limitations to file lawsuits for victims of felony crimes only, not misdemeanors. That change could leave victims of violent misdemeanors like domestic violence with no recourse to seek financial compensation, he said.
“It’s so problematic for those who are victims of crime,” Jones said.
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, also chastised the bill’s scope and urged its provisions to be considered separately.
“Yes, there needs to be tort reform,” Unterman said. “But let’s take a bite out of that apple. Let’s not take the whole apple crate.”