Georgia and Maine

Georgia vs Maine Personal Injury Laws: A Comprehensive Legal Analysis

8 min read

  • 13 rules side by side
  • 10 sections

Maine’s general deadline to sue is six years (14 M.R.S. § 752); Georgia’s is two. That longer period has exceptions: three years from the act for malpractice, three years from death for wrongful death, two years for alcohol-seller claims, and 365 days to notify a government entity. Both states bar an injured person who is equally at fault, but Maine juries reduce damages in dollars, not percentages, and Maine keeps joint and several liability among defendants.

Which state’s law applies

A Georgia court applies the law of the state where the injury happened. In Dowis v. Mud Slingers, Inc. (2005), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that “a tort action is governed by the substantive law of the state where the tort was committed.” A Maine injury sued in Georgia is therefore decided under Maine rules on fault and damages. Deadlines follow a different rule. In Harvey v. Merchan (2021), the Supreme Court of Georgia said that “[s]tatutes of limitations are generally procedural in nature, and therefore those of the forum state govern”, so a suit filed in Georgia generally runs on Georgia’s two years, not Maine’s six. The exception is a foreign statute that “creates a cause of action that is not recognized in the common law and includes a specific limitation period”: that period governs when it is shorter than Georgia’s. Whether a Georgia court can hear the case at all, which depends on jurisdiction over the defendant and on venue, is a separate question that these rules do not answer. A Maine court applies its own choice-of-law rules.

Side by side

Topic Georgia Maine
General injury deadline 2 years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) 6 years after the cause of action accrues (14 M.R.S. § 752)
Medical malpractice deadline 2 years from injury; 5 years from the act at most (§ 9-3-71) 3 years from the act or omission; foreign object from discovery (24 M.R.S. § 2902)
Wrongful death deadline 2 years from death (§ 9-3-33) 3 years after death; 6 years from discovery for a homicide (18-C M.R.S. § 2-807(2))
Alcohol-seller claim deadline 2 years (§ 9-3-33) 2 years, plus written notice to all defendants within 180 days (28-A M.R.S. §§ 2513, 2514)
Claim against a government entity City 6 months; county and State 12 months (§§ 36-33-5, 36-11-1, 50-21-26) Written notice within 365 days (14 M.R.S. § 8107)
Injured person's own fault Reduced by percentage; barred at 50% or more (§ 51-12-33) Reduced "by dollars and cents, and not by percentage"; barred if "equally at fault" (14 M.R.S. § 156)
Defendants sharing fault Each pays only its own share, apart from concerted action (§ 51-12-33(b)) Each defendant "jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for the full amount" (14 M.R.S. § 156)
Wrongful death damages Full value of the life, no cap (§ 51-4-2) Pecuniary injuries; loss of comfort, society, and companionship up to $1,000,000 adjusted for inflation; punitive up to $500,000 (18-C M.R.S. § 2-807(2))
Alcohol-seller damages limit None $350,000 per occurrence for losses other than medical expenses (28-A M.R.S. § 2509)
Government damages limit State: $1 million / $3 million (§ 50-21-29) $400,000 for all claims from one occurrence, costs included; no punitive damages (14 M.R.S. § 8105)
Dog bites Vicious dog, careless management or running at liberty, no provocation (§ 51-2-7) Off the owner's premises: owner or keeper liable; on the premises: owner's negligence required (7 M.R.S. § 3961)
Minimum liability limits $25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000 (§ 33-7-11) $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000, plus $2,000 medical payments (29-A M.R.S. § 1605(1)(C))
Uninsured motorist coverage Included unless a named insured rejects it in writing (§ 33-7-11(a)(3)) Required in every Maine liability policy (24-A M.R.S. § 2902(1))

Maine punitive damages outside wrongful death, premises duties, the treatment of insurance and other collateral payments, and the screening panel’s hearing procedure are not compared here.

Six years, with four shorter clocks

Section 752 says: “All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards”, unless “otherwise specially provided”. The special provisions are where an injured person can lose a claim:

  1. Malpractice: “Actions for professional negligence must be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrues”, and the cause of action “accrues on the date of the act or omission giving rise to the injury”. A minor must sue within six years after accrual or within three years after reaching majority, “whichever first occurs”. A foreign object left in the body accrues at discovery (24 M.R.S. § 2902). The action is begun by “[s]erving a written notice of claim, setting forth, under oath, the professional negligence alleged”, or by filing that notice with the Superior Court, under the subchapter on mandatory prelitigation screening and mediation panels (24 M.R.S. § 2853(1)). The three years are “tolled from the date upon which notice of claim is served or filed in Superior Court until 30 days following the day upon which the claimant receives notice of the findings of the panel” (24 M.R.S. § 2859). If the panel’s unanimous findings go against the claimant, the claimant must release the claim without payment or face the admission of those findings in a later suit (24 M.R.S. § 2858(2)).
  2. Wrongful death: the action “must be commenced within 3 years after the decedent’s death”, or within six years after the personal representative discovers a cause of action when the death was caused by a homicide (18-C M.R.S. § 2-807(2)).
  3. Alcohol sellers: an action against a server “must be brought within 2 years after the cause of action accrues” (28-A M.R.S. § 2514), and every plaintiff “must give written notice to all defendants within 180 days of the date of the server’s conduct creating liability” (28-A M.R.S. § 2513).
  4. Government entities: written notice of the claim within 365 days after it accrues, unless good cause is shown for later notice (14 M.R.S. § 8107(1)).

Maine’s two-year statute, 14 M.R.S. § 753, as amended in 2021, now covers only slander and libel.

Georgia’s general deadline is two years, and its malpractice clock runs from the date the injury occurred, with five years from the act as the outer limit (§§ 9-3-33, 9-3-71).

Fault in dollars, and joint liability

Maine’s comparative negligence statute directs the jury “to find and record the total damages that would have been recoverable if the claimant had not been at fault”, then “to reduce the total damages by dollars and cents, and not by percentage, to the extent considered just and equitable” and return both amounts. “If such claimant is found by the jury to be equally at fault, the claimant may not recover.” (14 M.R.S. § 156.)

The same statute keeps joint liability: “In a case involving multiparty defendants, each defendant is jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for the full amount of the plaintiff’s damages.” A defendant may ask the jury, through special interrogatories, for each defendant’s percentage of fault. In Georgia, damages are reduced by the injured person’s percentage of fault, recovery is barred at 50 percent or more, and each defendant pays only its own share, apart from defendants who acted in concert (§ 51-12-33).

Wrongful death: two caps Georgia does not have

A Maine wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative or special administrator, and the recovery goes directly to the heirs under the intestacy laws, after funeral expenses and the costs of recovery. The jury may award “fair and just compensation with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from the death”. It may also award damages “not exceeding $1,000,000 adjusted for inflation” for loss of comfort, society, and companionship, including emotional distress, and punitive damages “not exceeding $500,000” (18-C M.R.S. § 2-807(2)).

Georgia measures the claim by the full value of the life of the decedent, with no cap, and the right to sue belongs to the spouse, then the children, then the parents (§§ 51-4-2, 51-4-4).

Government claims

A claim against a Maine governmental entity, its employees, or both, may not exceed “$400,000 for any and all claims arising out of a single occurrence”, and court costs and prejudgment interest count toward that limit (14 M.R.S. § 8105(1), (2)). “No judgment or award against a governmental entity shall include punitive or exemplary damages” (14 M.R.S. § 8105(5)). A claimant who believes a claim against the State exceeds the limit may apply to the Legislature for special authorization (14 M.R.S. § 8105(3)).

Georgia’s cap for the State is $1 million per person and $3 million per occurrence (§ 50-21-29), and its notice deadlines run from the event: six months for a city, 12 months for a county or the State.

Dog bites

Maine has two rules. On the owner’s or keeper’s premises, the owner or keeper is liable when the animal causes damage “due to negligence of the animal’s owner or keeper”, if the damage was not caused by the injured person’s fault. Off those premises, “when a dog injures a person who is not on the owner’s or keeper’s premises”, the owner or keeper is liable for the damages, and the injured person’s fault reduces damages for physical injury only if it “exceeded the fault of the dog’s keeper or owner” (7 M.R.S. § 3961). Georgia has no location rule; § 51-2-7 requires a vicious or dangerous dog, careless management or allowing it at liberty, and no provocation.

Car insurance

A Maine policy must carry at least $50,000 for injury to one person, $100,000 per accident, $25,000 for property damage, and $2,000 in medical payments (29-A M.R.S. § 1605(1)(C)), and it must include uninsured vehicle coverage (24-A M.R.S. § 2902(1)). Georgia’s minimum is 25/50/25, and uninsured motorist coverage can be rejected in writing (§ 33-7-11).

Dates and documents to pin down

  1. Where the injury happened, which sets the governing law in a Georgia court, and where the suit will be filed, which generally sets the deadline.
  2. Whether a shorter Maine clock applies: malpractice, death, alcohol seller, or government defendant.
  3. For an alcohol-seller claim, the date of the service, because the 180-day notice runs from it.
  4. For a malpractice claim, the date of the act, because Maine’s three years start there.
  5. Whether more than one defendant may be liable, because Maine allows collection of the full amount from any of them.

How Georgia’s own rules work is explained in the Georgia personal injury law guide. Another state that pairs a long general deadline with shorter special clocks is compared in how Minnesota’s limitation periods compare with Georgia’s.

Sources

General information about Georgia and Maine law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.