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Georgia small-business witnesses urge tort reform, say litigation and insurance costs are harming firms
Summary
Business owners and industry representatives told the Small Business Development committee that a litigious environment and rising insurance premiums are imposing large legal and operating costs on small firms and urged support for the governor's tort reform initiative.
Small-business owners and industry representatives told the Georgia Small Business Development committee that litigation and rising insurance costs are a major obstacle to growth and urged lawmakers to support the governor's tort reform initiative.
The testimony focused on how plaintiffs'side suits, third-party litigation funding and large jury awards can drag small firms into expensive legal fights even when investigations find no fault. "We get dragged in as a consultant to the developer as a third party defendant," said Daryl Rochester, owner of Rochester DCCM, describing cases in which his civil engineering and land-surveying firm has been pulled into suits aimed at developers. Rochester said the…
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