Apportionment of fault presents advocacy challenge to lawyers for innocent...
In a case of negligent security against a commercial property owner, Couch v. Red Roof Inns Inc., S12Q0625, the Georgia Supreme Court last week upheld Georgia’s apportionment statute, O.C.G.A. §...
View Article“Loser pays” tort reform? Georgia already has offer of judgment rule
We hear talk of another round of “tort reform” legislation including a “loser pays” rule. But some of the folks talking about it may not realize that Georgia already has five different “loser pays”...
View ArticleGeorgia “loser pays” tort reform rule #2 – frivolous claim or defense
“Loser pays” is a popular theme among advocates of “tort reform,” many of whom may not understand what the popular political calls for “loser pays” or “tort reform” really mean in any detail. Perhaps...
View ArticleGeorgia “loser pays” rule #3 – fee awards for no justiciable issue, delay or...
Advocates of tort reform often call for “loser pays” legislation. Georgia already has five different “loser pays” rules. In earlier posts I have discussed OCGA § 9-11-68, enacted as part of tort reform...
View ArticleGeorgia’s “loser pays” rule # 4 – tort claim for abusive litigation
Before rushing into legislation to create yet another “loser pays” rule in Georgia law, it is useful to examine the five forms of “loser pays” rules we already have. I wrote earlier about OCGA 9-11-68...
View ArticleGeorgia “loser pays” rule # 5 – bad faith, stubborn litigiousness, undue...
Brig. Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb, father of Georgia’s first “loser pays” statute” The oldest of the five “loser pays” rules in existing Georgia law has been in effect for nearly 150 years, having first...
View ArticleDoes Georgia really need more than five “loser pays” rules?
Do advocates of more “loser pays” rules offer a solution in search of a problem? Are people unaware of the “loser pays” sanctions that are already part of Georgia law? As discussed in previous posts,...
View ArticleKey Georgia legislator tells tort reform advocates to go slowly and work...
Georgia State Capitol 1904 The Georgia Chamber of Commerce held a forum on tort reform last week. According to today’s Daily Report, Rep. Rich Golick, chair of the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee...
View ArticleJury can decide if ER malpractice was under “gross negligence” or “ordinary...
In the national debate over health care there has been much discussion of the fact that many people go to hospital emergency departments for medical care that is not necessarily due to a true...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court of Georgia quoted Ken Shigley in a unanimous decision...
In the case of Hartley v. Agnes Scott College, the Supreme Court addressed the question “whether a campus police officer employed by a private college qualifies as a “state officer or employee” who...
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