Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed legal reforms target a growing but little-known issue: third-party litigation funding (TPLF). This practice allows outside investors—including hedge funds, loan sharks and even foreign governments—to finance lawsuits for profit. While trial lawyers often criticize corporate profits, TPLF turns lawsuits into business investments, raising concerns about justice, transparency and national security.
What do we know?
- Exploiting Plaintiffs – Some plaintiffs, such as accident victims, take high-interest loans from litigation funders to sustain their cases. If a settlement wouldn’t cover their debt, they may be forced to continue litigation longer than necessary. In some cases, funders even influence legal decisions, limiting plaintiffs’ control over their own cases.
- Foreign & Corporate Influence – Large-scale investors use TPLF to fund lawsuits against companies, sometimes as a strategy to drain financial resources or gain competitive advantages. Troublingly, foreign entities—including Russian billionaires and Chinese state-owned funds—have exploited U.S. laws to target American businesses and evade sanctions.
- Kemp’s Plan for Reform – To combat these risks, Kemp’s proposal would require TPLF funders to register with the state, prohibit them from controlling case strategy, cap their profits so they cannot make more than plaintiffs and increase transparency by ensuring defendants know when outside investors are involved.
In this week’s commentary, we talk about how without reform, our legal system risks becoming a battleground for investors and foreign influence, rather than a place for fair and impartial justice. We also have the latest news and analysis from the last week, including:
- School cellphone ban moving
- New Labor Commissioner named
- Georgians may get to vote on tax break for farmers
- U.S. economy to lose approximately $20 billion in ‘lost productivity’ from March Madness
Have a great weekend,
– Kyle Wingfield
Friday’s Freshest
Interest in the Promise Scholarship is strong. Through the first 12 days in which families could apply for a 2025-26 Promise Scholarship, some 7,000 of them had done so, according to Lynne Riley, president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission. That represents about one-third of the 22,000 scholarships available under the program’s budget cap.
The home stretch: The legislative session after Crossover Day
Beyond being the point when bills must pass out of their respective chambers to remain alive, Crossover Day further clarified this legislature’s priorities. One topic has emerged as the frontrunner as the session’s central issue: tort reform.
Markets shift but bureaucracy only grows
Why doesn’t the public sector follow the market? Consider suburban malls of the 1980s and 1990s: Town Center at Cobb has reopened, for now. But it is hard not to view these incidents as part of the decline of suburban malls. North DeKalb Mall was closed and razed, and a largely vacant Gwinnett Place Mall has bounced from one redevelopment plan to another. In a broad sense, this is the market at work.
Georgia’s legislative push for regulatory reform
A central problem with regulations is that they tend to grow perpetually absent deliberate efforts to review them. This buildup creates a burden for workers and established businesses and raises the barrier to entry for potential startups. Some states have taken steps in recent years to combat the inertia of regulatory expansion.
How much does each school district have in reserves?
Across Georgia, public school districts are refusing to go along with a reduction in property taxes that was approved by voters last fall – all while raking in taxpayer dollars like never before. Cumulatively, Georgia’s 180 city and county school districts have more than doubled their reserves to a staggering $6.5 billion.
Keep Reading
As Georgia lawmakers debate lawsuit abuse reforms, a three-part series from the Foundation’s Investigative Journalist Chris Butler looked at how Georgia’s lack of tort reform has affected the real estate industry.
Georgia landlords say they provide security, but still face legal peril
In Georgia, you can be held civilly liable if a criminal harms another person in your place of business and a court rules that you didn’t implement adequate measures for security. That, right now, is legal precedent, at least in Georgia.
Georgia’s ‘Jackpot Justice Juries’ prompt calls for tort reform
When criminals commit violent acts on the private properties of business owners, Georgia’s premises liability laws make those property owners civilly liable for those acts … even if those business owners didn’t participate in those crimes. Trial attorneys pounce upon these opportunities and take property owners to court.
The ‘well has run dry’: Property owners say Georgia trial lawyers have taken almost everything
Three people who hold high-ranking positions in corporate real estate have said that Georgia’s lack of tort reform has made doing business in the state a nightmare, and now they’re worried about what comes next. And what happens depends upon state legislators, who can either fix the problems that these businessmen and women have or offer no fix at all.
The Latest
Economy
TriNet to create 750 jobs in metro Atlanta
Gov. Brian Kemp announced that TriNet is planning to create 750 new jobs at a new corporate center in Dunwoody over the next five years, representing an estimated $15.4 million in investment in DeKalb County.
Georgia Power to argue new long-term plan to PSC
The Georgia Public Service Commission is scheduled to begin hearing testimony later this month from Georgia Power officials about how the state’s largest utility plans to spend billions of dollars to meet its skyrocketing energy demand, primarily due to the projected growth of large data centers supporting artificial intelligence.
County to consider data center ordinance
A proposed ordinance aimed at data centers will be considered at today’s special called meeting of the Glynn County Commission. Data centers are not specifically defined in the Glynn County zoning ordinance, which commissioners plan to rectify through a proposed permitted use in limited, basic and general industrial.
Education
Bill to promote charter schools moving in General Assembly
Charter schools are gaining traction in Northwest Georgia, with the NWGA Charter Academy seeking approval from the state to open and a new charter, Cherokee Classical Academy, opening in the fall. Amid the rising interest, state legislators are working to address one of the main problems facing charter schools: low approval rates from local school systems.
The incredible shrinking Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education recently launched historic, unprecedented layoffs. While the specifics remained murky at week’s end, reports suggest that the cuts will eliminate close to half of the department’s 4,000-odd positions. What to make of all this?
Legislation to ban cellphones in Georgia schools takes one more step toward becoming law
A bill that would ban cellphones in all of Georgia’s public elementary and middle schools has cleared another hurdle toward becoming law. House Bill 340 passed a Senate committee on Tuesday and could get a vote by the full Senate soon. The House of Representatives approved the measure two weeks ago amid rising frustration with social media and other distractions.
Government accountability
Kemp names Albany business leader as next labor commissioner
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp named Bárbara Rivera Holmes as the next labor commissioner. Holmes will serve out the remainder of a term for Bruce Thompson, who was in his first term when he died of cancer in November. An Albany resident who heads the local chamber of commerce and its foundation, Holmes will be the first woman to lead the labor department.
Mayor Dickens defends shift away from rail on Beltline’s eastside trail
Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens defended his sudden shift away from installing light rail along the eastside trail of the Beltline. Instead, the mayor is pushing MARTA to prioritize adding light rail along the southside trail, saying “a lot of this is about righting the wrongs of the past.”
Georgia Department of Public Safety partnering with ICE
All 1,100 sworn officers at the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) will receive training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help identify and apprehend illegal immigrants considered a public safety risk, Gov. Brian Kemp announced this week. DPS Commissioner Billy Hitchens has submitted a Memorandum of Agreement request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Housing
New legislation offers Georgia farmers pathway to reduce property taxes
This week, the Georgia Senate passed House Bill 90 and House Resolution 32, which could provide tax cuts to farmers, if approved by voters. HB 90 would amend Georgia Code to double the acreage that farmers and other agricultural producers can place under a protective covenant in return for smaller property tax bills. This would mean 4,000 acres are eligible.
Gwinnett extended-stay hotel to become affordable housing
The Gwinnett Housing Corporation recently purchased the old Springswallow extended-stay hotel for $7.7 million. The organization will rehabilitate all 73 units to create apartments for young people aging out of foster care and seniors.
Bonus
Braves announce vendors for new food court
The Atlanta Braves are bringing new local flavors to the ballpark this season. The brand new Outfield Market will be a 4,600-square-foot outdoor food court with eight stalls, dining space and at least one large LED screen so fans don’t miss a play. Construction is nearly complete, and the market will be open for business inside the Chop House Gate right in time for the Braves’ home opener on April 4.
A recent report from the Action Network — a top sports betting and media brand that boasts nearly 400,000 cumulative social media followers — surveyed 3,000 college basketball fans who work full-time between February 20 and February 26, 2025. The study found that March Madness could cause the U.S. economy to lose approximately $20 billion in ‘lost productivity.’
Trump cancels Biden’s heat pump crisis
It isn’t easy figuring out the single most ridiculous Biden administration climate policy, but its declaration that electric heat pumps are critical to the nation under the Defense Production Act may deserve the prize. Fortunately, President Donald Trump just announced that he is revoking this silly decision.
Quotes of Note
“We didn’t lose. You lose when you don’t go out and apply the ability and talent that you have to the challenge that faces you. When you apply yourself like we did, you don’t lose. You get beat.” Andy Landers, University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs, 1979-2015
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” – Mark Twain