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Governor unveils plan to help rein in what he calls abusive lawsuits against Georgia

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DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Gov. Brian Kemp plans to overhaul Georgia’s legal system to reign in what he says are abusive lawsuits that drive up insurance rates for all Georgians.

But Democrats insist his plan is not the solution to Georgia’s many problems.

“Georgia needs tort reform, and they need it now,” Kemp said during a news conference on Thursday.

Kemp laid out his plans to overhaul parts of Georgia’s legal system to curb what he calls frivolous lawsuits that drive up insurance rates and he warned, if lawmakers can’t or won’t do it this session, he’ll make them come back and try again.

“We cannot afford even another year of this, and that is why we need to do this session, do that this session. If we can’t we’ll have another one to tackle this issue,” Kemp said.

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The issue is complicated -- trying to reform the legal system while still allowing Georgians to sue for damages if injured.

It’s a multi-pronged effort aimed at combating frivolous lawsuits and jackpot awards.

This will not happen without a fight from Georgia trial lawyers, including those in the General Assembly.

“I want to make clear to everyone here, this is not an anti-lawyer bill. This is not a pro-insurance company bill. This is a pro-Georgia consumer bill is what this is,” Kemp said.

“Today, the difference could not be any clearer between these two parties,” state Sen. Harold Jones said.

But Senate Democrats said the proposal is a pro-insurance company bill to bring down their payouts in lawsuits.

They think Georgia plaintiffs who have been injured should get what a jury awards them.

“What the governor was saying was when he was talking about the plaintiff, what they have suffered with these Georgians have suffered with does not mean as much because the insurance industry now has complained,” Jones said.

Kemp has the backing of the lieutenant governor and house speaker, but there are a lot of trial lawyers in both chambers. He’ll have to work to push this through unamended.

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