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No Cap on Compensatory Damages in Georgia Injury Cases

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In most Georgia injury cases, there is no legal limit on how much a jury can award you for your actual losses, including pain and suffering. The Georgia Supreme Court struck down the state’s cap on medical malpractice pain and suffering awards in 2010. The court said the cap violated the right to a jury trial in the Georgia Constitution. A few narrow limits still exist, and they are explained below.

What the Law Says

The right at the center of this issue is in the Georgia Constitution, Article I, Section I, Paragraph XI(a). As quoted by the Supreme Court of Georgia in Clark v. Leigh (2026), it reads:

The right to trial by jury shall remain inviolate, except that the court shall render judgment without the verdict of a jury in all civil cases where no issuable defense is filed and where a jury is not demanded in writing by either party. In criminal cases, the defendant shall have a public and speedy trial by an impartial jury; and the jury shall be the judges of the law and the facts.

The cap that the court struck down is O.C.G.A. § 51-13-1(b). As quoted by the court in Medical Center of Central Georgia v. Turner (2025), it reads:

(b) In any verdict returned or judgment entered in a medical malpractice action, including an action for wrongful death, against one or more health care providers, the total amount recoverable by a claimant for noneconomic damages in such action shall be limited to an amount not to exceed $350,000.00, regardless of the number of defendant health care providers against whom the claim is asserted or the number of separate causes of action on which the claim is based.

You can read the full text of O.C.G.A. § 51-13-1 on the Georgia General Assembly’s official code site. The court opinions are available from the Supreme Court of Georgia.

In Plain English

“Compensatory damages” are the money meant to make you whole after an injury. They include economic damages, like medical bills and lost pay. They also include noneconomic damages, like pain and suffering. Some states put a hard dollar limit, or “cap,” on these awards. Georgia does not have a general cap for ordinary injury cases.

Georgia did try a cap once. In 2005, the legislature passed a law limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $350,000 per claimant. In 2010, the Georgia Supreme Court decided Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt. A patient had been seriously injured by a surgeon’s negligence. The jury awarded more than the cap allowed. The court held that the cap violated the right to a jury trial. The court’s reasoning was that deciding the amount of damages has always been the jury’s job. A law that cuts the jury’s number down after the fact takes away part of that right. The ruling struck down the cap as applied to pain and suffering and loss of consortium in malpractice cases.

The issue came back to the court in 2025 and 2026. In Medical Center of Central Georgia v. Turner, decided June 24, 2025, a jury awarded $7.2 million for a wrongful death. The court ruled that Nestlehutt did not decide whether the cap could apply to a wrongful death claim, which is a claim created by statute. The court sent the case back for the lower courts to study that question.

Then, on June 16, 2026, the court decided Clark v. Leigh. The court reaffirmed Nestlehutt. It also held that the cap statute cannot be applied at all when a verdict includes pain and suffering damages on a malpractice claim, even if the same verdict also includes wrongful death damages. The court did not decide whether a cap could ever apply to a wrongful death claim standing alone. That question remains open. The Clark opinion was still subject to revision when this page was written.

A few limits on damages do still exist in Georgia. Punitive damages, which punish a defendant rather than pay you back, are capped at $250,000 in most cases. Claims against the State of Georgia under the Georgia Tort Claims Act are capped at $1 million per person and $3 million per event. In 2023, the court upheld the punitive damages cap in Taylor v. Devereux Foundation. The court found that punitive damages of that kind did not exist for juries to award in 1798, so the jury trial right did not protect them.

Example

Loretta, age 58, has gallbladder surgery in Columbus in 2024. The surgeon cuts a bile duct and does not notice. Loretta spends two months in the hospital and needs two more operations. Her medical bills are $410,000. She has lasting pain and cannot return to her job as a nurse.

At trial, the jury awards Loretta $410,000 for medical bills, $300,000 for lost earnings, and $2 million for pain and suffering. The hospital asks the judge to cut the pain and suffering award to $350,000 under O.C.G.A. § 51-13-1. Under Nestlehutt and Clark v. Leigh, the judge cannot do that. Loretta’s pain and suffering award stands at $2 million.

If Loretta had instead been hurt by a state agency, the Tort Claims Act cap would limit her total recovery to $1 million. If she had sued for punitive damages against a private company, that part of the award would be limited to $250,000 unless an exception applied.

Key Points to Remember

  • Georgia has no general cap on compensatory damages in ordinary injury cases.
  • The 2005 medical malpractice cap of $350,000 was struck down in Nestlehutt in 2010.
  • The court held the cap violated the Georgia Constitution’s right to trial by jury.
  • In 2026, Clark v. Leigh reaffirmed Nestlehutt and refused to apply the cap to a mixed malpractice and wrongful death verdict.
  • Whether a cap could ever apply to a wrongful death claim alone is still an open question.
  • Punitive damages are capped at $250,000 in most cases, and that cap was upheld in 2023.
  • Claims against the State are capped at $1 million per person and $3 million per event.

Related Georgia Laws

Official Sources

This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different. Talk to a licensed Georgia attorney about your situation.