Tort Reform vs. the Nuclear Verdict: What Georgia’s First Year Under SB 68 Reveals

Louis Richard Cohan, Founder | Cohan & Levy

Louis Richard Cohan is the Founder of Cohan & Levy and has more than 30 years of experience litigating business and employment disputes. He has litigated more than $850 million in claims for his clients and has been recognized for his trial experience through his admission to the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Cohan is actively involved in the business and legal communities and has held several leadership positions with the Atlanta Bar Association, including Chair of its Litigation Section and Small Firm Section, service on its Board of Directors, and Chair of the Atlanta Bar Foundation. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his legal and community work, including Super Lawyer, Legal Elite, Martindale-Hubbell’s preeminent AV rating, American Board of Trial Advocates, America’s Top 100 Attorneys, and the Celebrating Service Award. He has also been actively involved in charitable efforts, including chairing the Legal Run Around 5K road race, which has raised more than $200,000 for the children of injured and fallen Atlanta Police Department officers.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Cohan attended Riverwood High School in Atlanta and was admitted into MENSA during high school. He earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Georgia in 1985, where he served as president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He received his J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 1991 and was awarded the Douglas L. Peabody Best Oralist Award during law school. He is admitted to practice in Georgia, the U.S. District Courts for the Middle, Northern, and Southern Districts of Georgia, and the Georgia Court of Appeals.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Cohan has received recognition for both his legal and community work, including a MartindaleHubbell AV rating, Georgia Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite recognition for multiple years, recognition as a Super Lawyer, America’s Top 100 Attorneys, and the Celebrating Service Award. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has held several leadership roles within the Atlanta Bar Association, including Chair of its Litigation Section, Chair of its Small Firm Section, member of its Board of Directors, and Chair of the Atlanta Bar Foundation.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Cohan is actively involved in the business and legal communities. His professional associations include MENSA, the Boards of the Atlanta Bar Association, and The Judge Clarence Cooper American Inn of Court. He has also been involved with the Atlanta Bar Foundation and Atlanta Israel Bonds. In addition to his professional involvement, he has participated extensively in charitable initiatives, including chairing the Legal Run Around 5K road race and donating blood platelets more than 230 times.

• Experience

For more than three decades, Mr. Cohan has focused his practice on litigating business and employment disputes. He has litigated more than $850 million in claims for his clients and has been recognized for his trial experience through membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates. He founded Cohan & Levy in 2011, where his practice area is identified as Business Litigation.

W. Ryan Teague, Attorney | Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC

Ryan Teague is an attorney with Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. His practice focuses on government matters, litigation, and appeals. He earned his undergraduate degree from Clemson University and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Teague earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clemson University in 2000 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2003. He is admitted to practice law in Georgia.

• Recognition & Leadership

The available profile information identifies Mr. Teague’s professional practice areas as government, litigation, and appeals. The sources reviewed do not provide additional specific awards, recognitions, or leadership positions, so none are included here.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Teague practices with Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC, an Atlanta law firm that handles complex and unusual business and regulatory disputes. His listed areas of practice include government, litigation, and appellate matters.

• Experience

Mr. Teague’s legal practice encompasses government matters, litigation, and appeals. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and practices with Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC.

SESSION 1 – Defending Injury Cases Under the New Tort Reform Statutes: Georgia’s SB 68 in Practice | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session examines Georgia’s Senate Bill 68—signed April 21, 2025—from the defense perspective, covering its most consequential provisions for personal injury and wrongful death litigation: elimination of phantom damages, anti-anchoring restrictions, bifurcated trials, the discovery stay on motions to dismiss, the negligent security overhaul, seatbelt evidence admissibility, voluntary dismissal restrictions, and the companion SB 69 litigation funding disclosure rules. Attorneys will learn how each provision operates procedurally, which effective-date rules govern pending versus new cases, and how to deploy these tools immediately in active litigation.  The presenter was actively involved in the legislative process for enacting SB 68 and SB 69 during the 2025 legislative session and will provide anecdotal commentary on how the legislation was passed and why the various provisions that passed were deemed a priority in Georgia.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Trying the Plaintiff’s Case Under the New Tort Reform Rules: Lessons from Georgia’s First Year | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session examines how Georgia’s SB 68, signed April 21, 2025, reshapes the plaintiff’s trial toolkit across six concrete areas: the anti-anchoring rule for non-economic damages, elimination of phantom medical damages, mandatory bifurcation on demand, compressed voluntary dismissal windows, discovery stays on motions to dismiss, and the new discoverability of letters of protection. Attorneys will leave able to identify which SB 68 provisions apply retroactively to pending cases versus prospectively to post-April 21, 2025 causes of action, and will gain practical strategies for adapting plaintiff trial narratives, damages arguments, and pre-suit investigation to the new framework. The session draws on the statute’s text, early practitioner analysis, and the specific gaps — including the unresolved ‘rationally related’ standard and pending constitutional challenges — that will define litigation strategy in the near term.