Full Story in The Newnan Times-Herald.

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The American Tort Reform Foundation has regularly ranked Georgia as one of the country’s number one “judicial hellholes,” and it is easy to see why. “Lawsuit abuse and excessive tort costs wipe out billions of dollars of economic activity annually. Georgia residents pay a ‘tort tax’ of $1,213.80 and 123,900 jobs are lost each year,” the tort reform outfit reported. “If Georgia enacted specific reforms targeting lawsuit abuse, the state would increase its gross product by $13.1 billion.”

These aren’t some unsubstantiated data points either. Georgia’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire also conducted an in-depth study of lawsuit abuse’s impact in Georgia. The findings were sobering, especially as it pertains to the insurance industry. Claims, claim payouts and legal involvement have been skyrocketing in Georgia. Put simply, as more and more Georgians decide to file various forms of lawsuits—some frivolous and some legitimate—the insurance industry is bearing the financial brunt of the broken legal system. In order to stay afloat, they must pass the costs onto consumers in a phenomenon called “social inflation.”

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The Legislature seems poised to deliver a major overhaul to the tort system and provide fairness and balance in the process. The result could be a seismic shift in Georgia—limiting frivolous lawsuits, shortening their length, curtailing obscene payouts and reducing the so-called tort tax—and it won’t deprive plaintiffs the justice that they deserve.

Yet, if for some reason lawmakers fail to deliver, expect Kemp to send them to the proverbial summer school and hover over them until they finish the job.