If you’ve been injured in Georgia this year, or you’re in the middle of a claim that’s moving slowly toward trial, you may have a vague feeling that something has shifted. Maybe your attorney mentioned new rules. Maybe you’ve seen headlines about “tort reform” and wondered if that affects you. It does. And if no one has sat down to explain what’s actually different in plain language, that’s exactly what this is for.

On April 21, 2025, Governor Brian Kemp signed two bills, SB 68 and SB 69, that House Speaker Jon Burns called Georgia’s most comprehensive tort reform package in nearly two decades. SB 68 reshaped how injury cases are argued and what juries are allowed to consider. SB 69, which fully kicked in on January 1, 2026, rewired the rules around lawsuit financing. Together, they’ve changed the terrain for every personal injury case filed in Georgia this year. The legal community is still actively debating the real fallout, and some of these fights are heading toward constitutional challenges. But the laws are in effect right now, and if you’re hurt, you need to understand what they actually do.

What the “Phantom Damages” Rule Really Means for Your Medical Bills

Here’s what I tell people first, because it’s the change that catches most injury victims off guard.

Before SB 68, your attorney could present the full “chargemaster” rate to the jury when proving your medical damages. That’s the sticker price your hospital billed, not what insurance actually paid. If your surgery was billed at $180,000 but your insurer negotiated it down to $60,000, the jury heard $180,000. Defendants and their insurers hated this. They called the difference “phantom damages,” money that was never actually owed.

SB 68 changes that directly. Now, the defense can show the jury both numbers: what was billed and what was actually paid or accepted. The theory is that jurors should know the real cost. The practical effect, and this is the part that matters to you, is that your economic damages award for medical treatment may be significantly lower than it would have been before 2026.

What it doesn’t change is your right to recover your actual losses, your out-of-pocket costs, your future care needs, and the real financial harm you suffered. The fight now is over how that gets presented and calculated, which is exactly why the lawyers arguing these cases in 2026 have had to adjust their whole approach to building the damages picture for a jury.

Split Trials: Why You Might Not Get to Tell Your Full Story Right Away

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You might be wondering why this matters separately from the damages question. It’s a fair thing to ask, and the answer is about courtroom psychology as much as law.

SB 68 now gives defendants the right to request what’s called a bifurcated trial. That means the case is split into two phases. In phase one, the jury only decides whether the defendant is liable. They don’t hear anything about your injuries, your medical bills, how your life has changed, or what you’ve lost. Only after they find liability does phase two begin, when the jury finally hears about your damages.

According to Reynolds, Horne & Survant, a Macon-based injury firm that analyzed this reform in March 2026, this procedural change can work against plaintiffs because evidence about the nature and severity of an injury often helps establish why and how the accident happened. Separating those stories can weaken both halves. Defense attorneys know this. That’s exactly why defendants are likely to request bifurcation in cases with sympathetic plaintiffs or serious, visible injuries.

The Anchoring Restriction and What It Takes Away from Your Lawyer

There’s a courtroom technique called “anchoring,” where a plaintiff’s attorney suggests a specific large dollar figure for pain and suffering early in closing argument. The idea comes from behavioral psychology: people’s final judgments tend to cluster around the first number they hear. Plaintiff attorneys used it because it works.

SB 68 restricts this. Attorneys can still argue for pain and suffering damages, but the law limits how they frame high-dollar anchoring arguments. The National Law Review reported in July 2026 that this is one of the changes injury attorneys are most concerned about heading into the second half of 2026, because it removes a legitimate and research-backed tool for helping juries understand that non-economic suffering has real value.

The law also eliminates double recovery of attorney fees, which had allowed fees to be recovered in certain situations even when they were also addressed elsewhere in the case. That’s a narrower issue, but it affects how cases are structured financially.

SB 69 and Litigation Funding: What It Means If You Needed Outside Help

Some injury victims, especially those with serious injuries who can’t work, need financial help to stay afloat while their case moves through the courts. Litigation funding companies fill that gap. They advance money in exchange for a portion of any eventual settlement or verdict.

SB 69 puts that arrangement under a spotlight the defense can now see. Third-party litigation funders must now register with Georgia’s Department of Banking and Finance. More significantly, their funding agreements are now discoverable by opposing counsel.

Here’s what that means practically: the insurance company’s lawyers can now ask to see the details of any funding agreement you signed. They cannot use it to influence how your case is decided, and the law prohibits funders from directing legal strategy. But knowing that a funding agreement exists, and seeing its terms, gives the defense information it didn’t have before. If you have one of these agreements, your attorney needs to know about it immediately, if they don’t already.

The Bigger Picture: Who Does This Serve?

This is the question critics have been asking loudly since April 2025, and it hasn’t gotten quieter.

The reforms were backed by insurance industry groups and business lobbying organizations who argued Georgia had become a magnet for “nuclear verdicts,” jury awards so large they distorted the insurance market. Defenders of the law point to the registration requirements for litigation funders as a reasonable transparency measure.

Opponents, including plaintiff attorneys and consumer advocacy groups, argue that the people who benefit most are insurers whose industry profits are at record highs. Hoff Law noted in a 2025 analysis that the constitutional concerns around access to the justice system are real and still unresolved. Some of these challenges will likely work through Georgia courts over the next few years.

ChangeWhat It Was Before SB 68/69What It Is Now (2026)
Medical damages evidenceJury saw billed (chargemaster) amount onlyJury sees both billed and paid amounts
Trial structureSingle trial on liability and damages togetherDefendant can request split liability/damages phases
Pain and suffering argumentsAttorneys could use high-dollar anchoring freelyAnchoring arguments are restricted
Litigation funding agreementsPrivate between plaintiff and funderDiscoverable by opposing counsel
Litigation fundersUnregistered, unregulated in GeorgiaMust register with Dept. of Banking and Finance

Whether you agree with these reforms or not, they are the rules your case will play by if you’re injured in Georgia in 2026. The practical takeaway is straightforward: these changes make it more important than ever to talk to a Georgia personal injury attorney early, before assumptions get made about what your case is worth or how it should be built. The rules changed. Your strategy has to account for that.

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This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state. Consult a licensed personal injury attorney in your jurisdiction for advice specific to your situation. Most personal injury attorneys offer free consultations.

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