Product Liability Lawsuit Funding in Georgia

Georgia applies a two-year limitations period to personal-injury and product liability claims (O.C.G.A. §9-3-33), with the substantive product liability standard itself codified at O.C.G.A. §51-1-11. Georgia separately imposes a 10-year statute of repose, running from the date of first sale for use or consumption of the product that caused the injury (O.C.G.A. §51-1-11(b)(2)). Georgia enacted a sweeping tort-reform act in its 2025 legislative session; whether that act altered any product-liability-specific provision, as opposed to its more widely discussed premises-liability and general tort-procedure changes, should be confirmed against the enrolled act before this repose period is relied on for a specific claim.

Georgia applies modified comparative fault with a 50% bar (O.C.G.A. §51-12-33), and Georgia's apportionment statute applies broadly to actions seeking damages for injury to person or property — a scope that extends to strict-liability product claims and not just negligence claims. A plaintiff's own fault reduces recovery and bars it entirely once the plaintiff bears 50% or more of the fault.

Georgia has no general statutory cap on compensatory damages in a product liability action; the Georgia Supreme Court struck down the state's medical-malpractice non-economic damages cap in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, 286 Ga. 731 (2010), and product liability has no separate cap of its own.

Georgia does not award traditional pre-judgment interest on unliquidated personal-injury damages; instead, Georgia's offer-of-settlement statute (O.C.G.A. §9-11-68) can impose fee-and-expense consequences on a party that rejects a reasonable settlement offer and fails to improve on it at trial.

Product liability suits are typically filed in the Georgia county of the defendant's residence (Ga. Const. Art. VI, §II, Para. VI; O.C.G.A. §9-10-31 for non-resident and multiple-defendant scenarios). Because manufacturer defendants are frequently incorporated and headquartered outside Georgia, an out-of-state manufacturer can support removal to federal court on diversity grounds (28 U.S.C. §1332) as an alternative to the state venue rule.

Georgia regulates consumer litigation funding under the Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (SB 69), O.C.G.A. Title 7, Ch. 10, §§ 7-10-1 et seq.. No fixed percentage or APR cap.

How does Georgia's 10-year repose period affect a claim involving an older product?

Because the repose clock runs from the date the product was first sold for use or consumption, a claim involving a product purchased more than 10 years ago faces a real risk of being time-barred regardless of when the injury occurred, which makes an early check of the purchase date essential before underwriting proceeds.

Unlike some states with discovery-based exceptions built into their repose statutes, Georgia's 10-year period is comparatively straightforward, which means the sale date itself — not the injury or discovery date — is often the first fact a Georgia product liability funding decision has to pin down.

Why does Georgia's recent tort-reform legislation matter for a funding decision right now?

Georgia regulates consumer litigation funding under the Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (SB 69), O.C.G.A. Title 7, Ch. 10, §§ 7-10-1 et seq. Signed 4/21/2025; most provisions effective 1/1/2026. No fixed percentage or APR cap. A financier's recovery is limited to a "proportional share" of proceeds rather than a numeric ceiling; financings of $25,000 or more can trigger joint-and-several liability for frivolous-litigation sanctions. Disclosure and conduct rules: Written agreement with required consumer disclosures; 5-day right to cancel without penalty; agreements of $25,000+ are discoverable in the underlying case; financiers must register with the Georgia Dept. of Banking and Finance via NMLS; foreign-government-affiliated financiers are barred.

What does the 50% comparative-fault bar mean for a Georgia product case?

Georgia's apportionment statute applies to strict-liability product claims, so a case is only fundable if the plaintiff is not expected to be found half or more at fault for the incident giving rise to the injury.

This makes early diligence on any misuse or failure-to-heed-warnings argument the manufacturer is likely to raise a standard part of underwriting a Georgia claim, alongside the core defect analysis.