Law Firms in Atlanta, GA

Hiring a lawyer in Atlanta: what is different

The limitation period for a personal injury is two years from the injury, under section 9-3-33 of the Official Code of Georgia. The deadlines that catch people are the notice rules, and Georgia has three different ones depending on who you are suing. A municipality wants written ante litem notice within six months under section 36-33-5. A county wants twelve months under section 36-11-1. The State of Georgia and its agencies want twelve months under the Tort Claims Act at section 50-21-26, delivered to the Department of Administrative Services. Miss the right one and the claim is gone regardless of its merits.

Georgia also bars recovery entirely once you are found fifty per cent or more at fault, under section 51-12-33, which is stricter than a pure comparative state and makes the apportionment argument the whole case in a contested crash.

Fulton County hears civil matters in both its State Court and its Superior Court, and injury cases commonly go to the State Court. DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett run their own. Federal matters go to the Northern District of Georgia.

What we can and cannot verify about a Georgia firm

Less than anywhere else in this directory, and the profiles say so rather than quietly scoring a zero. Georgia publishes no attorney register we are able to query and no business register we may read, so licensure and entity registration are both recorded as checks without a source rather than as findings against a firm.

One check does have a source. Attorney discipline in Georgia is decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia and published as opinions styled “In the Matter of”, which are indexed and readable, so that is the one gate in this state standing on evidence rather than on an absence. Without it every Atlanta profile would carry three unanswered checks instead of two.

Deadlines that catch Georgians out

• Personal injury: two years from the injury, under OCGA § 9-3-33.
• A claim against the City of Atlanta or another municipality: written ante litem notice within six months, under OCGA § 36-33-5.
• A claim against Fulton, DeKalb or another county: twelve months, under OCGA § 36-11-1.
• A claim against the State or MARTA: twelve months’ notice under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, OCGA § 50-21-26.
• Loss of consortium: four years, which outlives the injury claim it arises from and is routinely missed for that reason.