Does releasing one at-fault driver release the other defendants in Georgia?
Releasing one at-fault party does not automatically release the others under Georgia law. The state has moved away from the old common-law trap in which settling with one wrongdoer wiped out claims against all of them. Today, a release discharges only the parties actually identified in it, so a claimant can settle with one defendant and keep pursuing the rest.
The modern Georgia approach ¶
Georgia abandoned the rule that releasing one joint tortfeasor freed them all. Under the controlling decision in Lackey v. McDowell (1992), only the parties named or otherwise specifically identified in a release are discharged by it. That replaced the older approach of guessing at the parties’ intent with a clear test: a defendant left out of the release stays exposed. So a claimant who settles with one driver, and identifies only that driver in the release, can continue pursuing the others for the same crash.
Release versus covenant not to sue ¶
Drafting choices matter here:
- A release aimed only at the settling party, with language preserving claims against others, generally lets the claimant continue pursuing the remaining defendants.
- A covenant not to sue one party is treated as not discharging other wrongdoers, leaving the claimant free to proceed against them.
- A document phrased as a complete satisfaction of the entire claim can end the matter against everyone, because the law does not allow a double recovery for the same injury.
The dividing line is whether the deal resolves only one party’s share or the whole claim. Settling for one defendant’s policy while expressly reserving rights against the rest keeps those rights alive.
The no-double-recovery limit ¶
One ceiling remains. A claimant is entitled to be made whole once, not paid twice for the same harm. Amounts already received from a settling party are accounted for so the claimant does not collect the full damages again from the remaining defendants. Georgia’s apportionment system, which assigns fault by percentage, also shapes how much each remaining defendant may owe.
The bottom line ¶
In Georgia, releasing one at-fault driver does not release the others when the settlement names only that party and reserves claims against the rest. Who the release identifies controls, and the main constraint is that the claimant cannot recover twice for the same injury once one defendant has paid.
This article is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and Georgia law may change. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed Georgia personal injury attorney.