"Georgia Supreme Court's New Test for Determining Foreseeability at a Business Property."
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In an article published on June 30, 2023 in Law360, Jad Dial provides insight into the Georgia Supreme Court’s new test for determining foreseeability at a business property.
According to Dial, the judgment seems to increase the scope of potential liability for a property owner, with the need now to factor in prior crimes which occurred near the property as part of the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis.
"There's been an argument for years about whether crimes on other properties or in the area can be used to establish foreseeability, but this seems to indicate that that would be allowed," Dial said. "My initial review of the opinion is it doesn't really change much, but if anything, I think it potentially expands the scope of what can be used or cited as evidence to support an argument that a crime was foreseeable.”
Dial went on to say the decision did seem to clarify the court’s existing foreseeability analysis, commenting, “It just reaffirmed the law with a few clarifications on a few issues. It didn't go the other way, and so I think we're kind of where we've always been."