Why Georgia's latest push to curb lawsuits has business groups and trial lawyers at odds

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Why Georgia's latest push to curb lawsuits has business groups and trial lawyers at odds

2025-01-09 11:37 Last Updated At：11:42

ATLANTA (AP) — After years of stalled efforts to limit civil lawsuits, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican lawmakers are doubling down with a new push.

Supporters, most prominently business groups, call the state a “judicial hellhole,” and argue that businesses are being crushed by rising insurance costs driven by excessive lawsuits that have helped plaintiffs get big payouts.

“This issue is not about business,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican. “It’s about every Georgian paying more and more premiums for their insurance. Whatever we can do to make it more affordable to own a home, operate your vehicle and protect your family with insurance, we need to do it.”

But opponents say there's no proof that lawsuits are closely linked to rising insurance rates and that limits will make it harder for injured parties to win justice in court.

“This is about trying to do some favors for people who hopefully will line your political pockets,” said Jen Jordan, an attorney and former Democratic state senator. “At the end of the day, Georgians are going to be hurt.”

Kemp in 2023 promised the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, one of his top allies, that he would seek to limit lawsuit costs, a push that many call “tort reform.” But he admitted in 2024 that the effort was complicated, and instead signed a law to gather data on lawsuit verdicts.

Even as Kemp held events to build public support ahead of the legislative session, which begins Monday, the Republican governor is having to contend with GOP lawyers in the General Assembly who make a living by filing lawsuits, Democrats who mostly oppose changes, and a state Supreme Court that has voided earlier limits.

One key issue is lawsuits against stores, apartment complexes and other businesses over crimes or injuries on their property. In one such lawsuit, Georgia mother Sheila Brooks sued Family Dollar and Dollar Tree last year after her son Lem Johnny Johnson IV was fatally shot at one of their south Atlanta stores.

Police say the shooter wasn't a Family Dollar employee, but the lawsuit alleges that Family Dollar knew about earlier incidents “involving gunshots, gunplay, assault, violent threats with weapons, and disturbing acts of violence" at and near the location. The store should have taken more security measures to protect their customers, the complaint said.

Supporters of lawsuit limits say property owners shouldn't be held responsible for the wrongdoing of customers and trespassers.

“If we fix this problem, Georgia could be a much easier, well-perceived place for businesses and their insurers,” said attorney Bill Custer. “It will fix our reputation as a bad-boy state.”

Nancy Palmer, a spokesperson for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, said Georgia’s legal landscape has driven insurance companies out, making it difficult for businesses to get adequate coverage. She said insurance costs have become “untenable” across industries, affecting day care centers, grocery store owners, pharmacies, low-income housing providers and others in urban and rural areas alike.

Darion Dunn, a managing partner at Atlantica Properties, which develops affordable housing and is behind a micro community for previously unsheltered people known as “The Melody,” said insurance companies are raising premiums or denying coverage in areas they label as “high crime" due to concerns about litigation.

“Because of these rising insurance costs, we’ve had to walk away from projects that would otherwise have brought much-needed affordable housing," Dunn said.

Dunn wants to see lawmakers limit the amount of compensation people can seek for non-economic damages such as emotional pain and suffering. Georgia’s legislature capped such verdicts in 2005, but the state Supreme Court overturned the law in 2010 as unconstitutional.

The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association disputes the idea that insurance costs are rising because of jury verdicts, and said in a statement that “insurance companies have continued to raise premiums despite making record profits.”

To limit a property owner's liability, lawmakers could limit the kind of evidence lawyers can use to prove property owners knew about the risk of incidents like Johnson's killing.

Lawmakers could also instruct juries to assign a minimum amount of blame to the person who committed the crime. In an oft-cited 2023 case, a man was awarded almost $43 million in a lawsuit against CVS after he was shot in a CVS parking lot during an armed robbery. The jury found CVS 95% responsible for the shooting, the victim 5% responsible and assigned no responsibility to the shooter.

These kinds of large verdicts are rare, said Madeline Summerville, an Atlanta attorney and political consultant for Democrats. She said large verdicts often result when insurers refuse to settle cases they should, and while some cases are “frivolous,” most aren't.

“You can’t make legislation based on the fact that there’s a minority of folks that are trying to game the system and then convince all of the people of Georgia that that’s the majority of the cases that are coming through," Summerville said.

Summerville is particularly worried about changes to medical malpractice lawsuits, where people sue medical providers for botched work. If medical practitioners aren't held accountable, the level of care will decline, she said.

In a roundtable hosted by Kemp last fall, medical executives said insurance costs are rising and doctors fear working in Georgia because they might get sued. Van Loskoski, CEO of Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa, said the hospital couldn't recruit obstetricians because of the fear of lawsuits and stopped delivering babies in 2021. The hospital’s medical malpractice premiums then fell by 13%, Loskoski said.

Lawmakers also could consider other measures, including some similar to laws passed in Florida in 2023. For example, they could require attorneys to show jurors how much plaintiffs actually paid in medical bills, as opposed to “phantom damages” based on the amounts they were originally charged. Legislators could also order separate trials to determine who is at fault for medical damages and what those damages are.

This story has been updated to correct that Kemp promised tort reform in 2023 but delayed action in 2024, instead of in 2022 and 2023, respectively; and to correct the name of Atlantica Properties, not Atlantic Strategies.

Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.

Firefighters battle devastating Los Angeles wildfires as winds calm somewhat

2025-01-10 01:29 Last Updated At：01:32

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters began to make progress battling the deadly and devastating fires in the Los Angeles area early Thursday, especially because the ferocious winds that have been driving the fast-moving flames are expected to slow down.

Firefighters were able to knock down a major threat that broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills as flames struck closer to the heart of the city, the roots of the entertainment industry. By morning, authorities lifted an evacuation order for the area.

The weather forecast could provide an opportunity for firefighters to make progress in reining in blazes that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and caused thousands of people to frantically flee their homes.

Flare-ups overnight illuminated the Santa Monica Mountains above Pacific Palisades. Homes continued to burn, but unlike Tuesday night when a fierce wind blew embers sideways and fueled new outbreaks, sparks mostly drifted upward.

“Damage assessments are ongoing at the Palisades fire. Preliminary reports estimate the damage or destroyed structures to be in the thousands,” LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said during a news conference Thursday morning. “It is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles.”

At least 180,000 residents are under evacuation orders for all blazes in the county, officials said.

The flames from the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills had put the densely populated neighborhoods on edge. Only about a mile away, the streets around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were bustling, and onlookers used their phones to record video of the blazing hills.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because “we hit it hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday.”

On Wednesday, hurricane-force winds blew embers, igniting block after block in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades and in Altadena, a community near Pasadena. Aircraft were grounded for a time because of the winds, hampering firefighting efforts.

Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes — called the Palisades and Eaton fires — and the number is expected to increase. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

More than 100,000 people are under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 45 square miles (116 square kilometers) — roughly the size of the city of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles' history.

Jose Velasquez sprayed his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business selling churros, a Mexican pastry. Many of his neighbors were at work when they lost their homes.

“So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing,” he said. “We had to tell them that it’s not.”

In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city's water system was stretched and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds.

“Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire,” he said.

Still, questions were being raised about why some hydrants ran dry and what caused the water system to buckle when it was needed most.

The dramatic level of destruction was apparent in a comparison of satellite images before and after the fire.

About 250 homes in Altadena that had been dotted with green leafy trees were reduced to rubble. Only a few homes remained, some still in flames according to images from Maxar Technologies. Just a handful of 70 wall-to-wall homes overhanging the Pacific Ocean in Malibu appeared intact.

In Pacific Palisades, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes, block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house. Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.

The main fires grew rapidly in different areas that had two things in common: densely packed homes in places that are choked with dry vegetation that was primed to burn.

Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape, some abandoning their vehicles and setting out on foot. Police sought shelter inside their cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed to safety in wheelchairs and hospital beds.

The flames tore through affluent neighborhoods home to California’s rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton were among the stars who lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away," the Crystals said in a statement.

In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

“It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Dylan Vincent, who said his elementary school had burned down.

California’s wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.

Winds gusted at 80 mph (129 kph) Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Fire conditions could last through Friday, but wind speeds were expected to be lower on Thursday.

President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.

Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park.

Several Southern California landmarks were heavily damaged, including the Reel Inn in Malibu, a seafood restaurant. Owner Teddy Leonard and her husband hope to rebuild.

“When you look at the grand scheme of things, as long as your family is well and everyone’s alive, you’re still winning, right?” she said.

Golden reported from Seattle and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed.