Kemp unveils tort reform to curb lawsuits, lower insurance costs

BY Tammy Joyner

Kemp’s tort reform aims to curb frivolous lawsuits and lower insurance costs

Proposed laws shield businesses, limit damages and disclose seat belt use

Democrats skeptical, citing concerns over fairness and corporate influence

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled Thursday what he called a “comprehensive but reasonable” tort reform package intended to curb frivolous lawsuits and excessive jury verdicts while reining in insurance costs.

The two pieces of legislation cover a wide range of measures designed to fix what Republican leaders called an out-of-balance litigation and insurance system where $1 million-plus jury verdicts have steadily increased and insurance claims have jumped 25% over the past five years.…

The state Democratic Party said Competitive Georgia, which is running ads encouraging tort reform in Georgia, has no public filing other than an IRS determination letter addressed to a self-identified member of the conservative Federalist Society. 

“Juries made up of real people determine what consumers are owed when corporate negligence hurts Georgians — not Brian Kemp, his enablers in the General Assembly or the negligent corporations themselves,” Georgia Democrats spokesman Dave Hoffman said.

Hoffman disputed claims Kemp made during his recent State of the State address about civil litigation costs going up for businesses and consumers.

“Four decades of data compiled by [New York Law School's] Center for Justice & Democracy have shown that argument to be categorically untrue as “insurance premiums ‘do not fall in parallel with costs’ [and] caps lead to ‘sustained supranormal profits,’” Hoffman said. 

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