Georgia procedural guides

Plain-English guides to the Georgia Civil Practice Act, each one tied to the rules it relies on. Every rule named in a guide has its own page with the official text.

• Responding to a Georgia complaint: 30 days, automatic default, and the 15 days that followGeorgia puts a case into default automatically when no answer is filed in 30 days — and then gives 15 days to open it as a matter of right, on payment of costs.
• Amending a Georgia pleading: no leave needed until the pretrial orderGeorgia has the most permissive amendment rule in the country — a party may amend as a matter of course, with no limit on the number, until a pretrial order is entered.
• Georgia summary judgment: 30 days' notice, and no deadline to fileO.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 sets one timing rule — the motion must be served at least 30 days before the hearing. A defending party may move at any time; a claimant must wait 30 days after filing.
• Georgia discovery deadlines: 30 days, 45 for a defendant, and 50 interrogatoriesGeorgia gives 30 days to answer written discovery — 45 if you're a defendant served at the outset — and permits 50 interrogatories, double the federal limit.
• The Georgia expert affidavit: it goes with the complaint, not 60 days laterGeorgia O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 requires an expert affidavit to be filed with the complaint in any professional malpractice action — with one narrow 45-day exception the court cannot extend.
• The Georgia offer of settlement: 75 percent, 125 percent, and 30 days openGeorgia O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68 lets either party in a tort case shift attorney's fees by offer of settlement — a defendant at 75 percent, a plaintiff at 125 percent — with the offer open 30 days.
• The Georgia motion to dismiss: 15 days after the ruling, and a discovery stay you have to ask forGeorgia O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12 lists seven defenses that may be raised by motion, gives 15 days to answer after the court rules, and stays discovery only if the motion is filed within the answer period.
• Opening a Georgia default: fifteen days as of right, then a four-part showingGeorgia lets a defendant open a default as a matter of right within 15 days by filing defenses and paying costs — after that, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-55(b) requires a sworn showing with four separate elements.
• Georgia requests for production: 30 days, 45 for a defendant, and non-parties tooO.C.G.A. § 9-11-34 gives 30 days to respond to a request for production — 45 for a defendant served with process — and the same section reaches non-parties.
• Stopping a Georgia garnishment: no deadline to claim, and a hearing within ten days as of rightGeorgia lets a garnishment defendant file a claim at any time before the money is disbursed — and once filed, the court must set a hearing within ten days and nothing may be paid out until it happens.
• The Georgia motion to compel: silence is not excused by an objection you never filedGeorgia O.C.G.A. § 9-11-37 shifts fees to the losing side either way, and says a total failure to respond cannot be excused by objections unless a protective order was sought.

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