Georgia's rule: barred at 50%, not 51%
Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, an injured party can recover damages only if they are less than 50% at fault. If the fact-finder determines the claimant is 50% or more at fault, recovery is barred entirely. This is a genuinely stricter threshold than the more common 51%-bar states — in Georgia, an exact 50-50 split between claimant and defendant results in zero recovery, not a reduced one.
The 49/50 distinction, precisely
A claimant found 49% at fault still recovers 51% of their damages under Georgia's rule, because 49% is less than 50%. A claimant found exactly 50% at fault recovers nothing at all. This single-percentage-point line, one point stricter than states like Connecticut or Delaware that use a 51% bar, is what makes Georgia meaningfully less forgiving at the exact midpoint.
Worked example
Someone with $100,000 in damages, found 25% at fault, recovers $75,000 — reduced by their own share, since 25% is less than 50%. That same person, found 50% at fault instead, recovers nothing at all, even though their share of responsibility only shifted by a modest amount past the quarter mark.
A related, genuinely distinctive rule: no more joint and several liability
Georgia's same apportionment statute also abolished the old rule of pure joint and several liability among defendants. Rather than any one defendant potentially being on the hook for the full damages amount regardless of their individual share of fault, Georgia now divides damages among multiple defendants based on each one's own percentage of fault — each defendant generally pays only their own portion.
Who decides the percentage
The trier of fact — typically a jury, where a case reaches trial — compares the negligence of the claimant against the combined negligence of the defendant or defendants. In the far more common scenario of a negotiated settlement, this same comparison is effectively worked out between the parties based on the available evidence.
Why the fight over fault stays intense near the 49/50 line
Because the practical difference between a 49% finding and a 50% finding is the difference between a substantial recovery and zero, insurers have a real, concentrated incentive to argue a claimant's fault upward toward that exact threshold. See our guide to how adjusters build a fault argument in Georgia for what that negotiation actually looks like.