“Biggest Georgia Decisions of 2021.”
In a Law360 story analyzing the biggest Georgia appellate rulings of 2021, WWHGD Partner Rick Sager provides insight on how these decisions could impact legal defense in the future.
In the Alston & Bird ruling, which tightened the scope of Georgia’s apportionment statue, holding that damages cannot be apportioned based on percentage fault in single-defense cases, Sager said the ruling undermines the fairness and equity that Georgia courts have seen since the apportionment statue was implemented: “I think we’re going to have a lot of single defendants potentially having to pay far more than their fair share going forward,” he said. “Obviously, this is going to be the subject of a lot of debate, a lot of lobbying at the legislative level early next year.”
In a different decision by the Georgia Supreme Court, justices declined to overrule a nearly 30-year-old precedent granting state courts jurisdiction over companies registered to do business in Georgia, where the supreme court affirmed its holding that a foreign corporation’s registration to do business in Georgia makes it resident there for jurisdiction purposes. Sager said the rule will likely be found inconsistent with federal due process requirements at some point.
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