Georgia and Arizona

Georgia vs Arizona Personal Injury Laws: A Comprehensive Legal Analysis

10 min read

  • 12 rules side by side
  • 13 sections

Arizona’s constitution forbids any law limiting damages for injury or death, and a claim against an Arizona public entity must be filed within 180 days, with a lawsuit within one year. Arizona also uses pure comparative negligence: an injured person 70 percent at fault still recovers 30 percent of the damages, where Georgia allows nothing at 50 percent or more.

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.” An Arizona crash sued in Georgia is therefore decided under Arizona 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 deadline, not Arizona’s. 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. An Arizona court applies its own choice-of-law rules, which should be checked before filing there.

Side by side

Topic Georgia Arizona
Injured person's own fault Recovery reduced; barred at 50% or more (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) Pure comparative negligence: recovery reduced, never barred, except for a claimant who intentionally, wilfully, or wantonly caused the injury (A.R.S. § 12-2505)
Defendants sharing fault Each pays only its own share, apart from concerted action (§ 51-12-33(b)) Several only, except for acting in concert, agent or servant, and federal employers' liability claims (A.R.S. § 12-2506)
Damages caps No cap on compensatory damages; punitive cap $250,000 with exceptions (§ 51-12-5.1) No law may limit damages for death or injury, apart from a crime victim exception (Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 31)
Personal injury, malpractice, wrongful death deadline 2 years; malpractice also 5 years from the act at most (§§ 9-3-33, 9-3-71) 2 years; a death claim accrues at death (A.R.S. § 12-542)
Product liability outer limit 10 years from first sale for strict liability claims, with negligence exceptions (§ 51-1-11) Statute's 12-year bar held unconstitutional as applied in Hazine v. Montgomery Elevator Co. (1993) (A.R.S. § 12-551)
Claims against government City notice 6 months; county and State 12 months (§§ 36-33-5, 36-11-1, 50-21-26) Claim within 180 days after accrual, with a specific settlement amount; suit within 1 year (A.R.S. §§ 12-821.01, 12-821)
Malpractice expert requirement Expert affidavit with the complaint (§ 9-11-9.1) Certificate on whether expert testimony is needed, filed with the claim; if needed, a preliminary expert affidavit with initial disclosures (A.R.S. § 12-2603)
Alcohol sellers Knowing service to a noticeably intoxicated person or unlawful service to a minor, knowing the person will soon drive (§ 51-1-40) Licensee who sold to an obviously intoxicated purchaser or to an underage purchaser without checking identification or knowing the age (A.R.S. § 4-311)
Social hosts Covered by § 51-1-40 ("a person") Not liable for serving a person of legal drinking age (A.R.S. § 4-301)
Dog bites Vicious dog, careless management or running at liberty, no provocation (§ 51-2-7) Owner liable for a bite in a public place or to a person lawfully on private property, "regardless of the former viciousness of the dog" (A.R.S. § 11-1025)
Decedent's own claim after death The estate's claim is separate from the wrongful death claim (§ 9-2-41) Survives, but the decedent's pain and suffering is not allowed (A.R.S. § 14-3110)
Minimum liability limits $25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000 (§ 33-7-11) $25,000 / $50,000 / $15,000 for policies issued or renewed from July 1, 2020 (A.R.S. § 28-4009)

Arizona’s common-law collateral source rule, its premises liability rules, and its expert qualification rules are left out of this comparison; read current Arizona law for the date of the injury on those points.

Pure comparative negligence

Under A.R.S. § 12-2505(A), “the claimant’s action is not barred, but the full damages shall be reduced in proportion to the relative degree of the claimant’s fault which is a proximate cause of the injury or death”. “There is no right to comparative negligence in favor of any claimant who has intentionally, wilfully or wantonly caused or contributed to the injury or wrongful death.”

Injured person's fault, $100,000 found Georgia Arizona
30% $70,000 $70,000
50% $0 $50,000
70% $0 $30,000
90% $0 $10,000

Each defendant’s liability “is several only and is not joint”, and “[e]ach defendant is liable only for the amount of damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant’s percentage of fault” (A.R.S. § 12-2506(A)). The trier of fact considers the fault of all persons who contributed, including nonparties named by notice before trial (A.R.S. § 12-2506(B)). A party pays for another’s fault only when they acted in concert, when the other was its agent or servant, or under the federal employers’ liability act (A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)).

No damages caps

The Arizona Constitution provides: “No law shall be enacted in this state limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the death or injury of any person”, except that “a crime victim is not subject to a claim for damages by a person who is harmed while the person is attempting to engage in, engaging in or fleeing after having engaged in or attempted to engage in conduct that is classified as a felony offense” (Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 31). A second provision, quoted in Hazine v. Montgomery Elevator Co. (1993), states that “the amount recovered shall not be subject to any statutory limitation” (Ariz. Const. art. 18, § 6).

Georgia caps punitive damages at $250,000 except in product liability, specific-intent, and impairment cases (§ 51-12-5.1(e) to (g)), and its malpractice cap cannot be applied to pain and suffering (Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery v. Nestlehutt, 2010) or to a death verdict that also includes the decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering; whether it reaches a wrongful death award standing alone is unresolved (Clark v. Leigh, 2026).

Deadlines, and a repose statute that does not hold

Actions “for injuries done to the person of another including causes of action for medical malpractice”, and actions “when death ensues from such injuries”, must be brought within two years; the death claim is “considered as accruing at the death of the party injured” (A.R.S. § 12-542).

A.R.S. § 12-551 bars a product liability action “if the cause of action accrues more than twelve years after the product was first sold for use or consumption”, unless it is “based upon the negligence of the manufacturer or seller or a breach of an express warranty”. In Hazine v. Montgomery Elevator Co. (1993), the Arizona Supreme Court held that “A.R.S. § 12-551 abrogated that constitutional right by barring the action even before the injury occurred”, and reversed the dismissal of a strict liability claim brought after the 12 years. Georgia’s 10-year repose for strict liability claims is in force (§ 51-1-11).

Claims against public entities

A claim against a public entity, public school, or public employee must be filed “within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues” with the person authorized to accept service. It must contain facts sufficient to show the basis of liability and “a specific amount for which the claim can be settled and the facts supporting that amount”. “Any claim that is not filed within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues is barred and no action may be maintained thereon” (A.R.S. § 12-821.01(A)). A cause of action accrues when the injured person “realizes he or she has been damaged and knows or reasonably should know the cause” (§ 12-821.01(B)), and the claim is deemed denied 60 days after filing unless denied earlier in writing (§ 12-821.01(E)).

“All actions against any public entity or public employee shall be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues and not afterward” (A.R.S. § 12-821), and neither a public entity nor an employee acting within the scope of employment is liable for punitive damages (A.R.S. § 12-820.04).

Georgia’s notices run six months for a city and 12 months for a county or the State (§§ 36-33-5, 36-11-1, 50-21-26).

Malpractice: the expert certificate

When a claim is asserted against a health care professional, the claimant “shall certify in a written statement that is filed and served with the claim” whether expert opinion testimony is necessary. If it is, “the claimant shall serve a preliminary expert opinion affidavit with the initial disclosures that are required by rule 26.1”, stating the expert’s qualifications, the factual basis, the acts or omissions that violated the standard of care, and how they caused the damages (A.R.S. § 12-2603(A), (B)). If the affidavit is not filed and served, the court “shall dismiss the claim against the health care professional … without prejudice” (A.R.S. § 12-2603(F)).

In a medical malpractice action, the defendant may introduce evidence of health insurance, disability, workers’ compensation, and similar benefits payable to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff may answer with evidence of what was paid for those benefits and of any lien or subrogation right (A.R.S. § 12-565).

Alcohol

A licensee is liable if it “sold spirituous liquor either to a purchaser who was obviously intoxicated, or to a purchaser under the legal drinking age without requesting identification containing proof of age or with knowledge that the person was under the legal drinking age”, the purchaser drank it, and the drinking was a proximate cause of the injury (A.R.S. § 4-311(A)). “Obviously intoxicated” means “inebriated to such an extent that a person’s physical faculties are substantially impaired and the impairment is shown by significantly uncoordinated physical action or significant physical dysfunction that would have been obvious to a reasonable person” (A.R.S. § 4-311(D)).

A licensee is not liable to an adult drinker who is injured, or to an adult companion who was present and knew of the drinker’s impaired condition (A.R.S. § 4-312(A)). A person other than a licensee or its employee “is not liable in damages” for serving a person “of the legal drinking age” (A.R.S. § 4-301).

Dogs

“The owner of a dog that bites a person when the person is in or on a public place or lawfully in or on a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, is liable for damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of its viciousness.” The breed of a dog “may not be considered” in deciding whether it is aggressive or vicious or has created liability (A.R.S. § 11-1025(A), (C)).

Wrongful death and survival

An Arizona wrongful death action is brought by the surviving spouse, child, parent or guardian, or personal representative, for the surviving spouse, children, or parents, or for the estate if none survive (A.R.S. § 12-612(A)). In an action for wrongful death, “the jury shall give such damages as it deems fair and just with reference to the injury resulting from the death to the surviving parties”, having regard to “the mitigating or aggravating circumstances attending the wrongful act” (A.R.S. § 12-613).

The injured person’s own claim survives death, “provided that upon the death of the person injured, damages for pain and suffering of such injured person shall not be allowed” (A.R.S. § 14-3110). Georgia measures the death claim by the full value of the life of the decedent (§ 51-4-2), and the estate’s claim is a separate action (§ 9-2-41).

Work injuries caused by someone else

An injured worker entitled to Arizona workers’ compensation may sue a negligent third party. If the worker does not sue “within one year after the cause of action accrues”, the claim “is deemed assigned to the insurance carrier or self-insured employer”, which may sue, settle, or reassign it to the worker (A.R.S. § 23-1023(B)). The carrier’s lien reaches “the total recovery less the reasonable and necessary expenses, including attorney fees” (A.R.S. § 23-1023(D)).

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. For a claim against an Arizona city, county, school, or the State, the date 180 days after accrual, and the settlement amount stated in the claim.
  3. The date one year after accrual, for the lawsuit against a public entity.
  4. For a malpractice claim, the expert certificate filed and served with the claim.
  5. For a work injury caused by a third party, the date one year after the injury, when the claim can pass to the comp carrier.

How Georgia’s own rules work is explained in the Georgia personal injury law guide. Another pure comparative negligence state is compared in how New Mexico’s fault rule compares with Georgia’s.

Sources

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