"Increased Cap: What Lawyers Need to Know About Revised Statute Involving Settlement"

Following the Georgia legislatures decision to amend changes to Georgia’s settlement statute for claims involving minors in May 2022, Gillian Crowl provided perspective on the changes for an article published by the Daily Report on Halloween 2022 – a holiday that sees an uptick in car accidents involving child pedestrians.

Crowl offered insight on the key changes to the minor settlement statute, including an increase in the amount that can be paid to settle a minor’s claim before a court must approve the settlement, which is now $25,000 (previously $15,000). “When minor settlements reached that $15,000.00 threshold, court approval was mandated, which in turn required the parent or guardian be appointed as a conservator for the minor child,” Crowl explained, adding that the conservatorship step often delays the approval of settlement. The increased cap enables this step to be skipped if the proposed gross settlement of the claim remains less than $25,000.

For more details, the full article is available here.

Crowl also detailed the rule update in the firm’s Fall 2022 Tort Report, which is available here.