Does apportionment apply when there is only one defendant in my Georgia case?

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Yes. In a single-defendant Georgia case, the apportionment statute still applies, and a jury can place fault on the plaintiff and on properly identified non-parties even though only one defendant has been sued. This is settled, but it has a complicated recent history that is worth understanding.

The current rule

Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, after the jury settles on a damages figure it spreads the blame in percentages across everyone responsible, the plaintiff included, along with any non-parties who were properly noticed and backed by evidence. The number of defendants does not switch the statute off. A lone defendant can still ask the jury to reduce the recovery by the plaintiff’s own share and to allocate part of the blame to an absent actor, subject to the usual notice and proof requirements.

How the law got here

The single-defendant question was unsettled for a time. The Georgia Supreme Court had read an earlier version of the statute to mean that fault could not be apportioned to non-parties when only one defendant was named, a holding that surprised many practitioners who had assumed otherwise for years. The General Assembly responded by amending the statute to restore non-party apportionment in single-defendant cases, and that amendment governs cases accruing after it took effect. The practical upshot is that today a single defendant can pursue an apportionment defense much as a group of co-defendants could.

What it means in practice

For an injured person bringing a one-defendant case, the consequences are concrete:

  • The defendant may try to reduce its exposure by blaming someone who was never sued.
  • The plaintiff’s own conduct can still cut the recovery, and bar it entirely at 50% or more fault.
  • The defendant must follow the notice rules and produce real evidence before any non-party share counts.

Because the empty-chair strategy remains available, plaintiffs often have to be ready to rebut accusations aimed at absent actors even when facing a single named defendant.

The bottom line

Apportionment is not limited to multi-defendant cases in Georgia. A single defendant can invoke the statute to shift blame onto the plaintiff and, with proper notice and proof, onto non-parties. After a period of legal uncertainty that a statutory amendment resolved, single-defendant non-party apportionment is firmly part of current Georgia practice.

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.

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