Georgia's New Tort Reform Law: What SB 68 Means If You're Filing an Injury Claim

If you’ve been hurt in a crash or a fall in the last year and started looking into a claim, you may have noticed old advice doesn’t quite match what you’re hearing now. That’s not a coincidence. In April 2025, Georgia enacted its most sweeping civil litigation overhaul in roughly two decades — Senate Bill 68, paired with a companion bill, Senate Bill 69 — and the changes touch nearly every stage of a personal injury case, from what a jury can hear about a seatbelt to how your medical bills get valued in court.

None of this changes whether you have the right to pursue compensation after someone else’s negligence hurts you. But it does change some of the mechanics, and if you’re weighing a claim now, it’s worth understanding the new landscape before you talk to an insurance adjuster.

Why Georgia Rewrote Its Injury Laws

For several years running, the American Tort Reform Foundation ranked Georgia among the country’s top “Judicial Hellholes,” largely in response to a run of very large jury verdicts. Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 68 into law on April 21, 2025, after Georgia lawmakers and business groups pushed for reform for close to twenty years. Supporters framed it as reining in outsized “nuclear verdicts”; consumer and trial attorneys warned it would make it harder for genuinely injured people to be fully compensated. Whichever side of that debate you land on, the practical reality is the same: the rules changed, and they apply to injury and wrongful-death claims across the state, including cases filed in Forsyth County and throughout metro Atlanta.

The Seatbelt Rule Flipped

This is probably the single biggest change for ordinary car accident claims. Since 1988, Georgia law flatly barred juries from hearing whether a crash victim was wearing a seatbelt — insurance companies couldn’t use it to argue you contributed to your own injuries. SB 68 reversed that. Under the amended O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1(d), evidence that an occupant failed to wear an available seatbelt can now be introduced in a civil case on the questions of negligence, causation, assumption of risk, and apportionment of fault, and can be used to reduce a damages award.

It’s important to understand what this does and doesn’t do. It doesn’t excuse the other driver for causing the crash. But if you weren’t buckled up, a defense attorney can now argue that your injuries would have been less severe if you had been — and ask a jury to reduce your compensation accordingly. Practically, that makes documenting seatbelt use at the scene, and simply buckling up every time, more important than ever.

”Phantom Damages” and What Your Medical Bills Are Actually Worth in Court

Before SB 68, a plaintiff could often introduce the full, undiscounted amount billed by a hospital or provider — even if insurance had negotiated that bill down to a fraction of the sticker price, or a lien had been resolved for less. Critics called the gap “phantom damages.” The new law generally limits recoverable medical damages to amounts actually paid, or reasonably likely to be paid, on a claimant’s behalf — not the initial invoice. This provision applies to claims arising after the law’s effective date, so it’s now the operating rule for essentially any new case. It’s one more reason to keep thorough records of your treatment, billing, and insurance payments from the very start.

New Limits on Pain-and-Suffering Numbers at Trial

SB 68 also restricts a tactic known as “anchoring,” where a plaintiff’s attorney suggests a specific dollar figure for pain and suffering early in a trial to set a jury’s expectations. Attorneys can now only propose a specific non-economic damages number during closing argument, and any figure has to be tied to evidence actually presented at trial — not a number chosen for its psychological effect.

This is a good moment to repeat something worth saying regardless of the law: no honest attorney can tell you upfront what your case “is worth.” What a good lawyer can do is walk you through the factors that go into a claim — the nature and severity of your injuries, your treatment and its cost, lost income, how fault is established, and what insurance coverage is actually available — and handle the process on your behalf.

Premises Liability and Negligent Security Cases Changed Too

If you were hurt on someone else’s property — a slip and fall, or an assault tied to inadequate security at an apartment complex, hotel, or shopping center — SB 68 also reshaped how premises liability and negligent security claims are evaluated, including how a jury apportions fault between a property owner and a third party who directly caused the harm, such as a criminal actor. These provisions apply to claims arising after the law’s effective date, and they generally make it more important to establish, with real evidence, what the property owner knew or should have known before the incident.

A New Layer: Litigation Financing Disclosure (SB 69)

SB 69, the companion bill, took full effect on January 1, 2026. It requires companies that finance lawsuits — advancing money to plaintiffs against a future settlement — to register with the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, disclose ownership, and follow new transparency rules, with the terms of a funding arrangement now potentially discoverable in litigation. Most people never need litigation financing, but if you’re ever approached with a “lawsuit loan” offer while your case is pending, know that the arrangement is now regulated and may not be as private as it once was.

What This Means If You’re Filing a Claim Now

None of these changes eliminate your right to compensation after a car accident, a fall, a defective product, or medical malpractice. What they do is raise the stakes on documentation and strategy from day one: buckle up as a matter of course, keep every medical bill and insurance statement, and get a clear picture of the applicable rules before you accept — or reject — anything an insurance company offers. An attorney who handles Georgia injury claims regularly should already be building your case around this new framework.

Free Consultation — We’re Here When You Need Us

If you or a family member has been hurt and you’re not sure how these changes affect your situation, Swain Injury Law can help you sort through it. Led by attorney Diana Swain, a former Fulton County prosecutor, our firm works on contingency — no fee unless we win your case — and if we happen to miss your call, we promise a callback within 10 minutes during business hours for injury inquiries. We serve clients in English, Russian, and Ukrainian. Call 470-213-5095, reach us anytime through our contact page, or review common questions on our FAQ.

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This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different — talk to a lawyer about yours.