Venue and Jurisdiction in Georgia Personal Injury Cases

Where a Georgia injury case is filed depends on which kind of court may hear it, whether that court has power over the defendant, and in which county the case belongs, and each of those has its own statute and its own deadline for objection. A case within federal diversity jurisdiction adds removal, with its own clock.

Power, Place, and the Defenses That Protect Each

Subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and venue are listed as three separate defenses in OCGA 9-11-12(b): “(1) Lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter; (2) Lack of jurisdiction over the person; (3) Improper venue.” They are treated differently once a case is underway. A defense of lack of personal jurisdiction or improper venue “is waived” if it is “neither made by motion under this Code section nor included in a responsive pleading, as originally filed” (OCGA 9-11-12(h)(1)). Subject-matter jurisdiction is not on that list of waived defenses. Instead, “[w]henever it appears, by suggestion of the parties or otherwise, that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action” (OCGA 9-11-12(h)(3)).

A defendant has 30 days after being served with the summons and complaint to serve an answer (OCGA 9-11-12(a)(1)), and a motion asserting one of these defenses “shall be made before or at the time of pleading if a further pleading is permitted” (OCGA 9-11-12(b)). Filing a motion to dismiss before an answer stays discovery until the court rules, though the stay ends for a defendant who answers before the ruling, and the court “shall decide the motion to dismiss within 90 days following the conclusion of briefing,” but when the motion raises, among others, lack of personal jurisdiction or improper venue, “limited discovery needed to respond to such defenses, to identify such persons, or to establish such jurisdiction shall be permitted notwithstanding the stay” (OCGA 9-11-12(j)(1), (4)).

Which Court Can Hear the Case

State courts have jurisdiction “concurrent with the superior courts” over “[t]he trial of civil actions without regard to the amount in controversy, except those actions in which exclusive jurisdiction is vested in the superior courts,” within the territorial limits of the county or counties for which the state court was created (OCGA 15-7-4(a)(2)).

A magistrate court may try civil claims “in which exclusive jurisdiction is not vested in the superior court and the amount demanded or the value of the property claimed does not exceed $15,000.00” (OCGA 15-10-2(a)(5)).

A federal court has original jurisdiction in diversity where “the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs” and the parties are, among other combinations, “citizens of different States” (28 U.S.C. 1332(a)(1)). For that purpose “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where it has its principal place of business” (28 U.S.C. 1332(c)(1)). Citizenship for diversity is a different question from the power of a Georgia court over a corporation.

Reaching an Out-of-State Defendant

OCGA 9-10-91 lets a Georgia court exercise personal jurisdiction “over any nonresident … as to a cause of action arising from any of the acts, omissions, ownership, use, or possession enumerated in this Code section, in the same manner as if he or she were a resident of this state.” Two of the enumerated grounds matter in an injury case. The first covers a nonresident who “[c]ommits a tortious act or omission within this state, except as to a cause of action for defamation of character arising from the act.” The second covers one who “[c]ommits a tortious injury in this state caused by an act or omission outside this state if the tort-feasor regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this state.” The jurisdiction runs “as to a cause of action arising from” an enumerated act, so the act must be connected to the claim.

Where Venue Lies

The starting rule. After naming the cases it places elsewhere, the Georgia Constitution provides that all other civil cases “shall be tried in the county where the defendant resides” (Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. II, Para. VI, as quoted in McDonald v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Ga. Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2001)).

Residence and joint tortfeasors. OCGA 9-10-31(a) records the General Assembly’s finding that Paragraph IV of Section II of Article VI of the Georgia Constitution “permits a trial and entry of judgment against a resident of Georgia in a county other than the county of the defendant’s residence only if the Georgia resident defendant is a joint obligor, joint tort-feasor, joint promisor, copartner, or joint trespasser.” Paragraph IV itself reads: “Suits against joint obligors, joint tort-feasors, joint promisors, copartners, or joint trespassers residing in different counties may be tried in either county.” Subject to OCGA 9-10-31.1, OCGA 9-10-31(b) provides that “joint tortfeasors, obligors, or promisors, or joint contractors or copartners, residing in different counties, may be subject to an action as such in the same action in any county in which one or more of the defendants reside.”

Corporations. Under OCGA 14-2-510(b), each domestic corporation and each foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Georgia “shall be deemed to reside and to be subject to venue” in the county of its registered office for “civil proceedings generally” (paragraph (1)); in tort actions, in “the county where the cause of action originated, if the corporation has an office and transacts business in that county” (paragraph (3)); and, under paragraph (4), in the county where the cause of action originated without that condition. If venue rests solely on paragraph (4), “the defendant shall have the right to remove the action to the county in Georgia where the defendant maintains its principal place of business.” The notice of removal “shall be filed within 45 days of service of the summons,” and on the plaintiff’s motion filed within 45 days of the removal the receiving court “may remand the case to the original court if it finds that removal is improper under the provisions of this paragraph.”

Nonresident defendants. OCGA 9-10-93 is the venue section of the article on personal jurisdiction over nonresidents. It places venue “in any county wherein a substantial part of the business was transacted, the tortious act, omission, or injury occurred, or the real property is located,” and allows a nonresident involved in the same transaction or occurrence to be joined “in the county where a resident defendant is suable.” If the resident defendant is dismissed before trial, “the action against the nonresident defendant shall not abate but shall be transferred to a court in a county where venue is proper”; if a verdict or judgment is returned in favor of the resident defendant, the court’s jurisdiction and venue over the nonresident “shall not be affected or lost.”

When the resident defendant drops out. For other defendants, OCGA 9-10-31(d) provides: “If all defendants who reside in the county in which an action is pending are discharged from liability before or upon the return of a verdict by the jury or the court hearing the case without a jury, a nonresident defendant may require that the case be transferred to a county and court in which venue would otherwise be proper. If venue would be proper in more than one county, the plaintiff may elect from among the counties in which venue is proper the county and the court in which the action shall proceed.”

For example, imagine a Cobb County resident injured on a Fulton County road by a driver who resides in DeKalb County and who was driving for a corporation whose registered office is in Fulton County. For this venue provision, the Court of Appeals has treated an employer sued only on respondeat superior for an employee’s acts as a joint tortfeasor with the employee (McDonald v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, citing RC Cola Bottling Co. v. Vann, 220 Ga. App. 479 (1996)). On that footing, OCGA 9-10-31(b) allows one action against both in DeKalb, where the driver resides, or in Fulton, where the corporation is deemed to reside under OCGA 14-2-510(b)(1). If the case is filed in DeKalb and the driver is discharged before verdict, OCGA 9-10-31(d) lets a nonresident defendant require transfer to a county in which venue would otherwise be proper, and the plaintiff then elects among those counties; the example treats the corporation as a defendant that does not reside in DeKalb.

Changing the County

A court “on written motion of a party” that finds “in the interest of justice and for the convenience of the parties and witnesses” that a claim “would be more properly heard in a forum outside this state or in a different county of proper venue within this state” is directed to decline to adjudicate the matter under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. For a claim better heard in another Georgia county “the venue shall be transferred to the appropriate county” (OCGA 9-10-31.1(a)). The court considers seven factors: ease of access to sources of proof; availability and cost of compulsory process for unwilling witnesses; possibility of viewing the premises; unnecessary expense or trouble to the defendant; administrative difficulties for the forum courts; local interests in deciding the case locally; and “[t]he traditional deference given to a plaintiff’s choice of forum.” Dismissal in favor of a forum outside Georgia additionally requires a written stipulation by the defendants that they waive statutes of limitations in other states where the claim was not barred when filed (OCGA 9-10-31.1(b)).

Removal to Federal Court

A defendant may remove to federal court “any civil action brought in a State court of which the district courts of the United States have original jurisdiction” (28 U.S.C. 1441(a)). In a case removable solely on diversity, removal is barred “if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of the State in which such action is brought” (28 U.S.C. 1441(b)(2)). The notice of removal “shall be filed within 30 days after the receipt by the defendant, through service or otherwise, of a copy of the initial pleading setting forth the claim for relief,” and when a case is removed solely under section 1441(a) “all defendants who have been properly joined and served must join in or consent to the removal” (28 U.S.C. 1446(b)(1), (b)(2)(A)). A diversity case that becomes removable later “may not be removed under subsection (b)(3) … more than 1 year after commencement of the action, unless the district court finds that the plaintiff has acted in bad faith in order to prevent a defendant from removing the action” (28 U.S.C. 1446(c)(1)).

A motion to remand “on the basis of any defect other than lack of subject matter jurisdiction must be made within 30 days after the filing of the notice of removal,” and “[i]f at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded” (28 U.S.C. 1447(c)).

For example, imagine a corporate defendant served with a summons and complaint on March 2, 2027, in a county where venue rests solely on the place the tort occurred. Thirty days after service is April 1, 2027, the date by which an answer is due under OCGA 9-11-12(a)(1) and, if the complaint was received on the date of service, the date thirty days from receipt for a federal notice of removal under 28 U.S.C. 1446(b)(1), if the case is removable. The 45-day period for a notice of removal to the county of the corporation’s principal place of business under OCGA 14-2-510(b)(4) ends April 16, 2027. These dates are a simple count of calendar days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a medical malpractice case be moved to the doctor’s home county?
A nonresident defendant “may require that the case be transferred to the county of that defendant’s residence if the tortious act upon which the medical malpractice claim is based occurred in the county of that defendant’s residence” (OCGA 9-10-31(c)).

Can a failure-to-state-a-claim defense be raised later in the case?
Yes. That defense, the defense of failure to join an indispensable party, and an objection of failure to state a legal defense “may be made in any pleading permitted or ordered under subsection (a) of Code Section 9-11-7, or by motion for judgment on the pleadings, or at the trial on the merits” (OCGA 9-11-12(h)(2)).

What happens in the state court once a notice of removal is filed?
The defendant must promptly give written notice to all adverse parties and file a copy with the clerk of the state court, “which shall effect the removal and the State court shall proceed no further unless and until the case is remanded” (28 U.S.C. 1446(d)).

Can a court award fees when a removed case is sent back?
“An order remanding the case may require payment of just costs and any actual expenses, including attorney fees, incurred as a result of the removal” (28 U.S.C. 1447(c)).

Sources and Legal Authorities

• Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. II, Paras. IV, VI (Para. VI as quoted in McDonald v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Ga. Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2001)); RC Cola Bottling Co. v. Vann, 220 Ga. App. 479 (1996) (as cited in McDonald)
• OCGA 9-10-31; OCGA 9-10-31.1
• OCGA 9-10-91; OCGA 9-10-93
• OCGA 9-11-12(a), (b), (h), (j)
• OCGA 14-2-510
• OCGA 15-7-4(a); OCGA 15-10-2(a)
• 28 U.S.C. 1332(a), (c); 28 U.S.C. 1441(a), (b); 28 U.S.C. 1446(b), (c), (d); 28 U.S.C. 1447(c)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about jurisdiction and venue under Georgia and federal law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Venue and removal deadlines are short, and a missed deadline can waive a defense or a right of removal. Anyone with a specific question about where a case may be filed or heard should consult a licensed Georgia attorney about the particular situation.