Georgia Personal Injury Cases & Accident Info

Georgia statutes online

This is where you’ll find Georgia's laws. The website has information regarding how long you have to bring a case, damage caps on personal injury claims, and other helpful information.

Georgia Code Online

To read:

• Do I have a legal case after my accident?
• What is personal injury law?
• What are damage caps?

Georgia's car accident statutes of limitation

In Georgia, you have two years to bring a personal injury claim, but four years to bring a property damage claim. That doesn't mean the whole lawsuit must be completed in that time frame; all that means is the paperwork has to be filed with the court before that time is up.

Car accident lawsuit time limits by state

To read:

• What is the statute of limitations?
• The claims process and how long a personal injury lawsuit takes

Finding the right Georgia lawyer

The initial meeting with a personal injury attorney is normally free of charge. (Keep in mind that other legal specialties, such as patent law or estate planning law, are different.)

After that, lawyers work on a contingency fee, which means that they will receive a third of the eventual reward, plus office expenses. If your case ends up going to trial, the percentage could rise to 40% of the eventual reward or judgment. These numbers aren't set by law, so don't be shocked if your lawyer suggests something different.

Find a lawyer in Georgia

Want to hire a lawyer and need some help? Check out some of our best articles:

• Choosing a personal injury attorney – interview questions
• Why might a personal injury lawyer deny my case?
• Preparing to meet with a personal injury attorney
• Negotiating lawyers fees - how do accident lawyers charge? Are there any hidden costs?
• When do you NOT need an attorney after an accident?
• Jurisdiction: Accidents that involve multiple states

Cases of interest and business law in Georgia

These are some of the most important Supreme Court cases that came out of Georgia:

• Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972): This case led to a moratorium on the death penalty until it complied with the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution (meaning the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause). Furman, a burglar, accidentally shot his victim during the commission of a felony, which is first-degree murder and grounds for the death penalty in the state of Georgia. However, in a 5-4 decision, Justice Potter wrote, "These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual... I simply conclude that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed." It was described as a "legal bombshell" by scholars and changed the landscape for decades.


• Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976): This case reinstated the death penalty after Furman. It consolidated a number of cases, with different states working to reshape their death penalty statutes so that they complied with the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Each of the defendants in the consolidated cases had asked the Justices to once and for all declare the death penalty to be "cruel and unusual punishment," and legal scholars thought that this case would spell the end for the practice. On the contrary, this case ended the moratorium.


• Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964), was a case in which the Supreme Court held that the United States Congress could use the power within the Constitution's Commerce Clause to force private businesses to abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The owner did not want to rent rooms to black customers and felt it was within his rights to refuse to do so under the Constitution. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, said that the government had power under the Commerce Clause because the renting of rooms was related to "interstate travel." They granted a permanent injunction that required the hotel to refrain from racial discrimination.

Data and statistics

Here is some intriguing data about the state of Georgia.

• United States Department of Labor: Georgia
• Georgia Info: Statistics
• Georgia Department of Public Health: Health Data and Statistics
• United States Census: Quick Facts: Georgia
• OASIS: Georgia

Georgia law libraries

There are certain issues you can solve without the help of an attorney. If you don't know where to begin, a law librarian can help you. They are usually legally trained, and they can help you both with texts or online research engines like Westlaw or LexisNexis. Georgia has many, many law libraries to help you:

• University of Georgia: Alexander Campbell King Law Library
• Georgia State University: Law Library
• Fulton County: Law Library
• Cobb County: Law Library
• DeKalb County: Law Library
• Athens-Clarke County: Law Library
• Dougherty County: Law Library (interesting anecdote: They have a cookbook for sale)
• Augusta-Richmond County: Law Library
• Clayton County: Law Library
• Glynn County: Law Library
• Homer M. Stark Law Library
• Mercer University School of Law: Law Library
• Emory University School of Law: Hugh F. MacMillan Law Library
• John Marshall Law School: Michael J. Lynch Law Library
• Savannah Law School: Law Library

More about Georgia