Georgia’s judicial system is currently experiencing a significant increase in activity. In the months prior to the implementation of the state’s extensive lawsuit reform legislation, attorneys representing plaintiffs inundated the courts with a multitude of new lawsuits, indicating the deep-rooted and lucrative nature of the state’s litigation culture. This rise in cases reflects a similar trend observed in Florida before its reform. Insurance Journal reported:
“A report from Lex Machina, the analytics arm of LexisNexis, a legal data firm, shows that civil litigation jumped sharply in the Atlanta area in 2024. Some 43,000 suits were filed in 2024 in seven courts in four north Georgia counties. That was almost 9,000 more suits than in any year in the last decade, the report’s authors noted.”
“For January through September 2025 show that the civil case burden on Atlanta’s state courts has continued to grow, with 2025 on track for more lawsuits to launch in these courts than any year since at least 2016.”
Martin Levinson, a partner with the Hawkins Parnell firm in Atlanta explained, “I do think that at least some members of the plaintiffs’ bar were rushing to file commercial auto claims before the direct-action statute law that was amended passed in 2024.”
“Others said the rush to the courthouse was expected after widespread publicity about the 2024 changes and the buildup to the sweeping tort-reform package championed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in 2025.”
Mike Nelson, Atlanta Attorney: “When you have the tide going out, plaintiffs see that and react to that.”
The Lex Machina analysts, Adam Mills Masarek and Chuan Qin, suggested other factors may have had an impact on the lawsuit numbers, including massive verdicts in some recent injury cases and the increased prevalence of attorney advertising:
“Knowing of such potentially large awards has perhaps led more injury claimants to file lawsuits rather than agree to pre-suit resolutions. … In Florida, the 2022 reforms, which ended one-way attorney fees and assignment-of-benefit agreements, and the broader 2023 tort-reform law have significantly reduced insurance claims litigation, most measures indicate. … With significantly lowered defense costs and containment, now down to 3.4%, the lowest in a decade, according to Gallagher Re’s research, multiple carriers have filed for homeowner insurance rate decreases in the last two years in Florida. Georgia insurers hope to see a similar impact in that state.”
Florida is setting the stage for the rest of the country. Fixing a system that once burdened consumers is making dividends, and Georgia is following suit.