The US Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform has just released its annual analysis of the legal climate in each of the 50 states as set out in its recent report, 2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey: Ranking the States.  The independent survey, conducted by Harris Poll, a leading international polling firm, included responses from more than 1,300 general counsel and leaders of companies with annual revenues of at least $100 million, the precise types of companies Georgia seeks to attract.
 
The rankings measure the treatment of tort and contract litigation, venue enforcement, certification of class action suits, damages, discovery, evidence, quality of trial judges, fairness of juries and quality of the appellate courts.
 
The report is particularly troubling for Georgians as the state fell to 40th – a decline of sixteen places in just five years and an all-time low.  Neighboring states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee all ranked ahead of Georgia in the survey. Georgia’s increasingly litigious climate is hurting our employers, our employees and the general public. “Increased litigation leads to increased prices for all consumers and largely profits only the lawyers bringing suit.  We’ve seen dramatic changes in our criminal justice system thanks to Governor Deal’s leadership and foresight, now we hope to follow the same model to improve fairness and balance in our civil courts,” said Georgians for Lawsuit Reform Executive Director Kade Cullefer.
 
There are solutions to these issues and Georgia must embrace them.  Personal injury lawyers will no doubt oppose any reform.  They will say everything is just fine the way it is. They will tell you that Georgia’s laws from 1966 are more than adequate to deal with the modern age of computers. They are wrong, and it would be dangerous to our future to continue to listen to them. They put us here in this mess.  “Georgians for Lawsuit Reform was formed to address these needs and to strengthen Georgia’s job creation credentials. It is now up to the Georgia business community to solve this problem. The truth is, Georgia has a problem with its civil justice system and the rest of the country knows it.  The good news is that it can be fixed,” said GLR Chair Ray Fortin.
 
Governor Deal’s Court Reform Council is currently working on several policy proposals to improve the balance of Georgia’s legal climate. The first step to reversing our decline is to support a new statewide business court model currently established in Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. We will also work on reforms to the Georgia Civil Practice Act to create a solution to the e-discovery and venue shopping issues in our courts.  These legislative solutions will send a message to the world that not only is Georgia open for business but our courts are prepared to consistently and predictably apply the law to all parties.