New Georgia Law that Prevents Asbestos Lawsuits From Out-of-State Plaintiffs Goes into Effect Restospectivey.

It is not wonders lawyers in Georgia are up in arms, gearing up for a constitutional fight over this new law -especially the provision that makes it effective retrospectively.

The law would put a stop to asbestos claims (many of which are against Georgia-Pacific) by asbestos victims from out-of-state.

Many asbestos suits filed in Georgia courts have been from people living in Alabama, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Texas, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. It is belived that many out-of-state plaintiffs chose to file their asbestos lawsuits in Georgia primarily because the current laws in Georgia were more favorable than those in other states.

The new law not only bars out-of-state plaintiffs from filing an asbestos suit in Georgia, it also adds several new pre-requisits, including (a) a new requirement that plaintiff must provide a prima facie evidence of physical impairment, and (b) a requirement that such prima facie evidence is provided by a qualified physician. The law further defines the qualified physician as a doctor who earns no more than 20 percent of his revenue from litigation, and spends no more than 10 percent of his professional practice time such work. This new provision in the law would not allow plaintiffs from using their treating doctor as a qualified physician for litigation purposes.

Signing of this supposedly more stringent method by which plaintiffs in asbestos cases may bring or maintain their causes of action in Georgia, would impact all asbestos cases in Georgia - past and future.

Source: House Bill 925 Title 51-14 of State of Georgia General Assembly Sponsored by Representative Ralston