Car Accident Lawyers in Atlanta, GA

TL;DR: Atlanta car accident claims at a glance

Short answer: This page lists car accident lawyers in Atlanta and explains the rules that decide an Atlanta crash claim, citing the official source for each one. Georgia requires drivers to carry liability insurance of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per occurrence and $25,000 for property damage, and the state insurance commissioner notes that the coverage required by law pays only for damage the policyholder causes to others. A claimant who is 50 percent or more responsible for their own injury recovers no damages at all. And you must notify law enforcement immediately if anyone is hurt or property damage exceeds $500.

• Required insurance: 25/50/25 — “coverage up to $50,000 for all persons injured in an accident, subject to a limit of $25,000 for one individual, and $25,000 coverage for property damage.” (Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire)
• No first-party medical cover is required. The commissioner’s consumer guide states that “the liability coverages required by law cover only damage the policyholder does to others.” Medical payments cover and uninsured motorist cover are optional purchases.
• The 50 percent bar: “the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.” Below that, the award is reduced in proportion to the claimant’s fault. (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, as set out in a Judicial Council of Georgia paper)
• Reporting duty: “Notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately if anyone is injured or killed, or if property damage exceeds $500.00.” (Georgia Department of Driver Services)
• Crash reports: officers complete the Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report, and the Georgia Department of Transportation stores reports in the GEARS database; copies come through BuyCrash or a GDOT request. (GDOT)
• Government vehicles: suing a city, county, transit authority or state agency requires written ante litem notice first, and the deadlines are shorter than the ordinary limitation period. The statutes are named below — act within weeks, not months.
• Where cases are heard: Atlanta spans Fulton and DeKalb counties. Magistrate court hears civil claims of $15,000 or less; state court hears civil matters not reserved to the superior court. (Judicial Council of Georgia)
• Local context: Atlanta traffic deaths peaked at 100 in 2021 and are down 23 percent since. The city’s High Injury Network is under 10 percent of its surface streets but carries about 73 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes. (Atlanta Department of Transportation)
• Deadline to sue: Georgia enforces a two-year limitation period for personal injury claims under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Exceptions apply, so confirm the deadline for your own claim with a Georgia attorney.
• Ante litem notice: six months to notify a municipality (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5), twelve months for a county (§ 36-11-1) and twelve months for the State of Georgia (§ 50-21-26). These run long before the two-year deadline.

Information on this page is current as of September 2026 and applies to crashes in Atlanta and metro Atlanta, Georgia. Every statement carries the source it came from. It is general information, not legal advice — see how this page is written and checked.

On this page

• How to use this directory of car accident lawyers in Atlanta
• Georgia car accident laws that apply in Atlanta
• Georgia car accident filing deadlines
• Is Georgia a no-fault state?
• Georgia minimum car insurance requirements
• Georgia’s 50 percent fault bar and apportionment of damages
• Suing a city, county, MARTA or the state after an Atlanta crash
• Reporting an Atlanta crash and getting the crash report
• What to do after a car accident in Atlanta
• Atlanta traffic and road safety
• Common types of car accident claims in Atlanta
• What compensation can you recover after an Atlanta car accident?
• What if the other driver has no insurance?
• Hit-and-run crashes in Atlanta
• Dealing with the insurance adjuster after an Atlanta crash
• How long does an Atlanta car accident claim take?
• How much does an Atlanta car accident lawyer cost?
• How to choose a car accident attorney in Atlanta
• Which court handles Atlanta car accident cases?
• Frequently asked questions about Atlanta car accident claims
• Areas of metro Atlanta covered by these listings
• Finding accident lawyers in Atlanta through this directory
• How this page is written and checked
• Sources and how this page was compiled
• Legal information disclaimer

How to use this directory of car accident lawyers in Atlanta

Every one of the Atlanta car accident lawyers above is profiled from the firm’s own published details: office address, phone number, practice areas and, where the firm publishes one, an email address. Each profile also names something specific to that firm — the number of metro offices it keeps, the languages it publishes, whether it handles workers’ compensation or Social Security Disability alongside crash claims, and whether its office sits inside the city or in Brookhaven or Decatur.

That last distinction matters in metro Atlanta, where the built-up area runs across a dozen municipalities and two counties. A firm with nine offices ringing the Perimeter offers something different from a boutique trial firm with one office in Buckhead, and neither is automatically the better choice. Read the profile, then confirm the current service area with the firm. This directory does not rank, endorse or verify the firms listed, and inclusion is not a recommendation.

Georgia car accident laws that apply in Atlanta

Atlanta has no car accident law of its own. A collision on the Downtown Connector, on Buford Highway or in a Midtown parking deck is governed by Georgia statutes, interpreted by the Georgia courts, and heard locally in Fulton or DeKalb County. What changes from case to case is not the law but the evidence: the crash report, photographs, dashcam or business camera footage, the 911 recording, witness accounts, vehicle damage, and the medical records from the days after the collision.

The sections below set out what Georgia’s own agencies and courts publish about crash claims, and name the statute behind each rule. Where we have not been able to verify a figure against an official source, this page says so rather than repeating a number from elsewhere on the internet. That is a deliberate choice: a wrong filing deadline is the most damaging thing a page like this can publish.

Georgia car accident filing deadlines

Deadlines end claims. In Georgia there are two separate clocks, and the shorter one catches people out.

Requirement	What we can verify	Where it comes from
Personal injury lawsuit	2 years from the date of injury	O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33
Ante litem notice before suing a municipality, including the City of Atlanta	6 months	O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5
Ante litem notice before suing a county, such as Fulton or DeKalb	12 months	O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1
Ante litem notice before suing the State of Georgia or a state agency	12 months	Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26
Notifying law enforcement of a crash	Immediately, where anyone is injured or killed or property damage exceeds $500	Georgia DDS

Exceptions apply to every line in that table. A claim brought on behalf of a minor, a claim where the at-fault driver was prosecuted, and a claim against a defendant who left the state can all run differently. Treat the table as the general position and confirm the dates that apply to your own claim with a Georgia attorney — most firms listed above will answer that in a free consultation.

Note the structure, because it is where Atlanta claims are lost for reasons that have nothing to do with fault. The notice requirements for government defendants are separate from the deadline to sue, and far shorter. A claimant hit by a City of Atlanta vehicle has six months to give notice, even though the lawsuit itself would not be time-barred for two years. Miss the notice and the claim can be gone while eighteen months still remain on the other clock.

Is Georgia a no-fault state?

Georgia’s required coverage is liability insurance, and the Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire is explicit about what that does and does not do. Its consumer guide states that “the liability coverages required by law cover only damage the policyholder does to others.” No first-party medical coverage is on the required list.

The practical consequence is worth being blunt about. Unless you bought optional medical payments coverage, your own crash-related medical bills go through your health insurer, or they sit unpaid, until the liability claim resolves. That can take months. It is also why Georgia claimants are often asked to sign letters of protection with treating providers, and why the handling of medical liens at settlement has such a large effect on what actually reaches the claimant.

Georgia minimum car insurance requirements

Coverage	Georgia requirement
Bodily injury liability, per person	$25,000
Bodily injury liability, per occurrence	$50,000
Property damage liability	$25,000
Medical payments coverage	Optional purchase
Uninsured motorist coverage	Optional purchase

The commissioner’s consumer guide puts it this way: the numbers 25/50/25 mean “coverage up to $50,000 for all persons injured in an accident, subject to a limit of $25,000 for one individual, and $25,000 coverage for property damage. This is the minimum liability protection required by Georgia law; higher limits of coverage are available from most insurers.” Source: Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire and its consumer guide to automobile insurance.

Georgia at least requires bodily injury coverage, which some states do not. But $25,000 per person is a low ceiling against a serious injury: a few days in hospital, imaging and surgery can exhaust it before anyone discusses lost earnings. Where the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, the remaining sources are usually a commercial policy if a business vehicle was involved, the driver’s own assets, or your uninsured motorist coverage if you bought it.

Georgia also operates a Safety Responsibility Law, administered by the Department of Driver Services. After a crash, a driver may need their insurer to file Form SR-21 confirming they were covered at the time, or post security, to avoid licence suspension. Source: Georgia DDS, Safety Responsibility Law.

Georgia’s 50 percent fault bar and apportionment of damages

This is the rule that decides Georgia crash claims more often than any other. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, “the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.” Where the claimant’s share is less than 50 percent, the award is reduced in proportion to the fault allocated to them.

Source: O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, as set out in a paper published by the Judicial Council of Georgia.

Note where the line sits. An even split — the kind of finding a jury reaches often in a disputed intersection or lane-change collision — means no recovery at all, because 50 percent is on the losing side of the rule. If a jury values your losses at $100,000 and allocates you 30 percent of the fault, you recover $70,000. Allocate you 50 percent and you recover nothing.

The same statute governs apportionment among defendants, so where more than one party contributed — a driver and a trucking company, or a driver and a contractor who left a road hazard — fault is divided between them. This is why insurers fight over percentage points in Georgia rather than over whether a claim exists, and why photographs, camera footage and independent witness details gathered in the first days are worth more than argument months later.

Suing a city, county, MARTA or the state after an Atlanta crash

Metro Atlanta roads carry MARTA buses, city vehicles, county trucks, school buses, state agency vehicles and police cars. A collision with any of them is a claim against a government body, and Georgia requires written ante litem notice before a lawsuit can be filed. Three separate statutes apply depending on the defendant:

• Municipalities, including the City of Atlanta — six months, under O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5. The General Assembly’s own record of the 2014 Act amending this section also requires the notice to specify the amount of damages sought, and provides for service on the mayor, or the chairperson of the city council or city commission, personally or by certified mail.
• Counties, including Fulton and DeKalb — twelve months, under O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1.
• The State of Georgia and its agencies — twelve months, under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26.

The deadline is only half of it. Georgia treats ante litem notice as something that has to be done properly before a suit can proceed, so a notice that arrives inside six months can still fail if it omits information the statute requires — the municipal requirement to state the amount of damages claimed is the clearest example. This is not a form to fill in at the last minute.

Identifying the right defendant is its own problem. A bus may belong to a transit authority, a school district or a private contractor. A road may be maintained by the city, the county or the state. The answer changes which statute applies and who must receive the notice. The Association County Commissioners of Georgia notes that where motor vehicle accidents involving county vehicles are concerned, Georgia law sets out “a limited waiver of immunity, caps on damages, and provisions protecting individual county officials and employees from suit” (ACCG, Liability of Public Officials and the County).

If any vehicle involved in your crash carried a government marking, or if you believe the road itself contributed, get advice within weeks rather than months. Several firms listed above name government and transit claims among their practice areas.

Reporting an Atlanta crash and getting the crash report

The Georgia Department of Driver Services states the duties plainly. Notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately if anyone is injured or killed, or if property damage exceeds $500. Give your name, address, licence plate number and driver’s licence number to anyone else involved, and get the same from them. Provide reasonable assistance to any person injured. Source: Georgia DDS, crashes.

Inside the city the investigating agency is usually the Atlanta Police Department; on the interstates it is often the Georgia State Patrol, and in unincorporated areas it may be Fulton or DeKalb police. Officers complete the Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report, and the Georgia Department of Transportation is the state agency that manages and stores those reports in the GEARS database. Copies are generally obtained through BuyCrash or by request to GDOT. Source: GDOT crash data and reporting.

DDS also lists “hit and run or leaving the scene of a crash” among the serious offences that count towards habitual violator status and that are treated as major violations for commercial drivers. A report is evidence, not a verdict: the investigating officer’s view of fault does not bind an insurer, a judge or a jury, and what happens to a traffic citation does not decide the civil claim.

What to do after a car accident in Atlanta

1. Check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt. Move out of live traffic if you safely can — secondary collisions on the Connector and I-285 are a real risk.
2. Notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately if anyone is injured or killed or property damage exceeds $500, as DDS requires.
3. Exchange names, addresses, licence plate numbers, driver’s licence numbers and insurance details.
4. Note whether any vehicle carries a government, transit, school or company marking, and photograph the marking and any unit number. This decides which notice rules apply.
5. Photograph vehicle positions before they are moved, damage to every vehicle, debris, skid marks, signals, signs and the wider scene.
6. Look for cameras — businesses, apartment decks, buses and rideshare dashcams. Footage is often overwritten within days.
7. Get names and phone numbers for witnesses before they leave.
8. Get medical attention promptly, even if you feel able to carry on. Gaps in treatment are used to argue an injury was minor.
9. Notify your own insurer, and check your declarations page for uninsured motorist and medical payments coverage.
10. Get the crash report number before you leave the scene, and keep every document.
11. Before giving a recorded statement to another driver’s insurer, consider getting legal advice about what is being asked and how it may be used.

Atlanta traffic and road safety

The Atlanta Department of Transportation reports that traffic fatalities in the city peaked at 100 people in 2021, the highest annual total in a decade on Georgia Department of Transportation crash data, and that deaths are down 23 percent since then following measures including a 25 mph default speed limit and a nighttime visibility partnership. The city completed its Vision Zero Action Plan in November 2023, with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.

The most useful figure for anyone assessing risk on Atlanta roads is the High Injury Network. ATLDOT reports that it covers less than 10 percent of the city’s surface streets yet accounts for about 73 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes. Crashes are not spread evenly across Atlanta; they concentrate on a small number of wide, fast arterial roads.

Source: Vision Zero, Atlanta Department of Transportation, using GDOT crash data.

The roads carrying most of that traffic are familiar to anyone who drives here:

• I-75/I-85, the Downtown Connector
• I-285, the Perimeter, and its interchange with GA-400
• I-20 east and west
• Peachtree Street and Peachtree Road
• Buford Highway through Brookhaven and Doraville
• Ponce de Leon Avenue, Memorial Drive and Moreland Avenue
• Campbellton Road, Metropolitan Parkway and Cascade Road
• Northside Drive, Howell Mill Road and Piedmont Road

Two local factors shape Atlanta claims in ways that do not apply everywhere. The freight economy puts a heavy share of commercial trucks on the Perimeter and I-20, which brings federal motor carrier rules and corporate insurers into what looks like an ordinary collision. And the airport and convention traffic mean a high proportion of unfamiliar drivers and rental cars, and parties who may have left the state within days of a crash.

Common types of car accident claims in Atlanta

• Rear-end collisions in stop-start traffic on the Connector and Perimeter
• Intersection and left-turn crashes on wide arterials
• Lane-change and merge collisions at interstate interchanges
• Commercial truck and tractor-trailer crashes
• Delivery van and last-mile courier collisions, where the driver may work for a contractor rather than the brand on the vehicle
• Rideshare collisions involving Uber or Lyft, where coverage depends on whether the app was active
• Collisions with MARTA buses, school buses, city or county vehicles
• Pedestrian and cyclist collisions, including on High Injury Network corridors
• Motorcycle and scooter crashes
• Hit-and-run and uninsured driver claims
• Drunk and impaired driving collisions
• Crashes in a work vehicle, which can generate a workers’ compensation claim alongside the injury claim

These are descriptive categories, not legal ones. How a crash is labelled does not decide who is liable.

What compensation can you recover after an Atlanta car accident?

Georgia’s apportionment statute refers to “the injury or damages claimed,” and what falls within that in an individual case depends on the evidence. The categories people generally pursue after a crash are:

• Medical expenses already incurred
• Future medical care, surgery and rehabilitation
• Lost income, and reduced earning capacity where an injury changes what work is possible
• Pain and suffering
• Vehicle repair or replacement
• Out-of-pocket costs such as rental, towing and travel to treatment
• In a fatal crash, the claims Georgia’s wrongful death statutes provide for, which are brought by specified family members and by the estate

What each category is worth, which of them apply, and how Georgia measures wrongful death damages are questions for a lawyer with the file in front of them. No honest source can value a claim from a web page, and you should be sceptical of any firm that quotes a figure before reading the medical records.

What if the other driver has no insurance?

Georgia requires liability coverage, but requirement and reality differ, and a minimum policy is quickly exhausted by a serious injury. The state insurance commissioner’s answer to this is direct: “To protect yourself in the event you have an accident with one of these illegal motorists, you can purchase uninsured motorists coverage. You will be paid for damages just as if the other driver was covered.”

Source: Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, consumer guide to automobile insurance.

Uninsured motorist coverage is an optional purchase in Georgia rather than a requirement, so the first thing to do is read your own declarations page. How the coverage interacts with the at-fault driver’s limits depends on the policy wording and on O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 — a point worth raising directly with a lawyer or your agent, because the difference between policy types can be larger than the premium difference.

A UM claim is made against your own insurer, which is a different negotiation from a claim against a stranger’s carrier. Your policy also imposes notice and cooperation duties, and missing them can affect the claim.

Hit-and-run crashes in Atlanta

The Georgia Department of Driver Services lists hit and run, or leaving the scene of a crash, among the serious offences that count towards habitual violator status. For the injured person the practical problem is different: with no identified driver there is no liability insurer, so recovery usually depends on uninsured motorist coverage.

Report the crash to law enforcement promptly, notify your own insurer, and preserve anything that might identify the vehicle — a partial plate, a description, paint transfer, or nearby camera footage. Those things are perishable, and a UM insurer will expect to see that a genuine effort was made to identify the driver.

Dealing with the insurance adjuster after an Atlanta crash

An adjuster may call within days, sometimes before you have seen a doctor. That call is part of the insurer’s investigation, and what you say becomes part of the claim file.

• You generally have duties to your own insurer under your policy, including cooperation. What you owe another driver’s insurer is a different question, and worth advice before giving a recorded statement.
• Because Georgia requires no first-party medical coverage, an adjuster may offer to pay some medical bills early. Understand what signing for that payment does before you accept it.
• A broad medical authorisation can open your entire history, not only the injuries from this crash.
• An early offer usually arrives before the full extent of an injury is known. Once a release is signed, the claim is closed even if treatment continues.
• Ask in writing for the liability limits of every vehicle involved. Against Georgia’s 25/50/25 minimums, the limits often decide what can realistically be recovered.
• Expect fault to be contested rather than the claim denied outright. Under the 50 percent rule, moving you from 30 percent to 50 percent is worth the entire claim to an insurer.

How long does an Atlanta car accident claim take?

Nobody can give you a date, but the stages are predictable, and knowing them makes an unreasonable delay easier to spot.

1. Treatment and documentation. Nothing settles sensibly until doctors can say whether an injury is lasting. This stage usually takes the longest and sets the value of the claim.
2. Ante litem notice, if a government body is involved. This comes first and cannot wait, whatever stage treatment has reached.
3. Investigation. Crash report, photographs, footage, witnesses, and confirmation of every available policy.
4. Demand and negotiation. Records and a demand go to the insurer, which responds with an offer, a denial or a request for more.
5. Filing suit if negotiation fails, inside whatever limitation period applies to the claim.
6. Discovery. Written questions, documents, depositions and medical examinations.
7. Mediation or negotiated settlement. ACCG’s guide to county litigation notes that “the parties may agree — or the judge may require — that the case go to mediation before a jury is empaneled.” Most claims end here rather than at trial.
8. Trial. Reached by a small minority of claims.

A modest claim with clear fault and completed treatment can settle in months. A disputed claim with a serious injury, a commercial defendant or a government body can run for years. Ask any firm how it decides when a case is ready to settle, and what would make it file suit.

How much does an Atlanta car accident lawyer cost?

Most Georgia personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee: the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, and no fee is owed if there is no recovery. Fee conduct is governed by the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, published by the State Bar of Georgia. Ask for the fee agreement in writing and read it before signing — and ask these questions:

• What percentage applies, and does it change if the case goes into litigation or to trial?
• Are case costs — records, experts, filing fees, depositions — separate from the fee?
• Who pays those costs if the case is lost?
• Are costs deducted before or after the fee is calculated? The order changes what reaches you.
• How are medical liens and letters of protection handled at settlement? In a state with no required first-party medical coverage, this often decides your net recovery.
• If the case is referred to another firm, how is the fee split?
• Which attorney will handle the case day to day, and who would try it?
• What happens if I end the representation partway through?

Fee arrangements vary between firms and between cases. This directory does not verify any firm’s fees, and several listed firms publish no fee terms at all.

How to choose a car accident attorney in Atlanta

Confirm the lawyer is licensed in Georgia

Attorneys can be looked up by name through the State Bar of Georgia member directory. It takes a minute and is the most useful check you can make before signing anything.

Experience with your type of collision

A two-car rear-end claim is not the same problem as a tractor-trailer crash governed by federal carrier rules, a MARTA bus claim with an ante litem requirement, a rideshare collision, or a claim against an uninsured driver. Ask how many cases like yours the firm has handled recently.

Whether they handle the parallel claims

A crash while working can generate a workers’ compensation claim as well as an injury claim, and a lasting injury can lead to a disability application. Several firms above list all three. One firm handling them together avoids the claims being argued against each other.

Language

Most firms listed here publish Spanish service, and some publish more. Explaining a crash and reading a settlement offer in your first language is a practical advantage, not a courtesy.

Willingness to litigate

Most claims settle, but the prospect of trial shapes what an insurer offers, and under Georgia’s 50 percent rule a firm’s willingness to put fault to a jury matters. Ask how often the firm files suit and who tries its cases.

Communication and office location

Ask who your point of contact will be, how quickly calls are returned, and whether meetings happen at the office listed, by video, or at your home or hospital. Metro Atlanta traffic makes this a practical question, not a small one.

Which court handles Atlanta car accident cases?

Atlanta sits mostly in Fulton County, with part of the city in DeKalb County, so the court depends on where the crash happened and where the parties are. Georgia has three trial courts that may hear a motor vehicle claim.

Court	Civil jurisdiction
Magistrate court (small claims)	Civil claims of $15,000 or less
State court	Civil matters not reserved exclusively to the superior court
Superior court	Broad civil and criminal jurisdiction

Sources: Judicial Council of Georgia, Navigating the Courts and the Fulton County Magistrate Court. Venue depends on the facts — where the collision occurred, where a defendant resides or does business, and whether a corporate or government defendant is involved. Confirm the correct court for a specific case with a licensed attorney.

Frequently asked questions about Atlanta car accident claims

How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Atlanta?

Two years from the date of injury for a personal injury claim, under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Exceptions apply — claims involving a minor, or where the at-fault driver was criminally prosecuted, can run differently — and where a government body is involved a separate ante litem notice is due much sooner: six months for a city, twelve months for a county or the state. Confirm your own dates with a Georgia attorney.

Is Georgia a no-fault state?

Georgia’s required coverage is liability insurance, and the state insurance commissioner’s guide states that it “cover[s] only damage the policyholder does to others.” There is no required first-party medical coverage, so unless you purchased medical payments coverage your own bills are not automatically paid after a crash.

Who pays my medical bills after an Atlanta crash?

Unless you bought optional medical payments coverage, bills go through your health insurer or are handled under a letter of protection until the liability claim resolves.

Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?

Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, “the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.” Below 50 percent, the award is reduced in proportion to your share of the fault.

What insurance must Georgia drivers carry?

25/50/25 — $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per occurrence and $25,000 property damage, per the Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire. Medical payments and uninsured motorist coverage are optional purchases.

Do I have to report a crash in Atlanta?

Georgia DDS instructs drivers to notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately if anyone is injured or killed or if property damage exceeds $500, to exchange identifying details with the others involved, and to provide reasonable assistance to anyone injured.

How do I get a copy of my Atlanta crash report?

Georgia crash reports are stored by the Department of Transportation in the GEARS database and are generally obtained through BuyCrash or by request to GDOT. Have the date, location and report number to hand.

What if a MARTA bus or a city vehicle hit me?

Written ante litem notice is required before suing a government body in Georgia: six months for a municipality such as the City of Atlanta (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5), and twelve months for a county (§ 36-11-1) or the State of Georgia (§ 50-21-26). The municipal notice must also state the amount of damages claimed and be served on the mayor or council chairperson. Get advice within weeks, not months.

What if the other driver had no insurance?

The state insurance commissioner’s guidance is to carry uninsured motorist coverage, under which “you will be paid for damages just as if the other driver was covered.” It is an optional purchase in Georgia, so check your declarations page.

Which court would hear my Atlanta car accident case?

Magistrate court hears civil claims of $15,000 or less. Larger claims go to the state or superior court in the county where venue lies, which for Atlanta is usually Fulton or DeKalb.

How much do Atlanta car accident lawyers charge?

Typically a contingency percentage of the recovery, governed by the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. Percentages and the treatment of case costs vary by firm and by case stage, so get the agreement in writing.

Do I need a lawyer for a minor Atlanta crash?

Not always. Where injuries are minor and fault is clear, some people handle the claim themselves. Advice is more valuable where injuries are lasting, where fault is disputed — which matters more in Georgia because of the 50 percent rule — or where a government, commercial or uninsured vehicle is involved. Most firms listed here offer a free initial consultation.

Areas of metro Atlanta covered by these listings

The firms above serve clients across metro Atlanta, including Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead, Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park, West End and the BeltLine corridor, Grant Park and East Atlanta, the Westside and Northside, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, Decatur and Brookhaven, College Park and the airport area, Marietta and Smyrna in Cobb County, and the Gwinnett, Clayton, Douglas and Rockdale suburbs.

Several firms listed here keep offices outside Atlanta city limits — Brookhaven and Decatur are separate cities, and a number of the firms run suburban offices from Alpharetta to Jonesboro. Each profile says where the office actually is, because an office address and a service area are not the same thing. If your crash happened in Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point or Stone Mountain, an Atlanta firm may still be the right choice; confirm the service area with the firm.

This directory also covers other major cities. See car accident lawyers in Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Finding accident lawyers in Atlanta through this directory

Before you call, have the following to hand: the date and location of the crash, the crash report number if you have one, your own insurance declarations page, the other driver’s details, whether any vehicle involved was a government or company vehicle, a list of the medical providers you have seen, and any time you have missed from work.

Speaking to more than one firm is normal, and consultations are usually free. This directory is a starting point for finding car accident lawyers in Atlanta; it does not determine which attorney is right for your case.

How this page is written and checked

We think you should know how this page was produced before you rely on any of it.

• Every statement of law or data on this page is tied to a named source — a Georgia statute, a state agency publication, a court-published document, or the General Assembly’s own record. Each one is listed in the sources section below.
• Every deadline and rule is cited to the statute or agency it comes from, so you can read the original rather than take a summary on trust. Where a statement comes from an agency publication we quote its own words.
• We describe what sources say; we do not advise you on them. This site is a directory, not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice, and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship.
• All deadlines and statutes have been directly verified against the current Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.). However, this page has not been reviewed by a licensed attorney. It is strictly an informational directory and not a substitute for professional legal counsel. For advice about your specific crash, speak to a lawyer licensed in Georgia — most firms listed above offer a free initial consultation.
• Firm details come from each firm’s own website. Where a firm does not publish something — an email address, a fee policy — the profile says so instead of filling the gap with a guess.
• Law changes, and so does this page. The review date is shown above, and corrections are welcome through our contact page. If you can point us to the official text of a rule we have left blank, we will add it and cite it.

Sources and how this page was compiled

These are the sources behind every statement on this page. Links go to the original.

• Minimum liability insurance, uninsured motorist coverage and what required coverage does not include: Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire and its consumer guide to automobile insurance; also the Georgia Department of Revenue
• Comparative negligence and the 50 percent bar, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33: Judicial Council of Georgia paper on apportionment of damages
• Duties after a crash and the $500 reporting threshold: Georgia Department of Driver Services
• Safety Responsibility Law and Form SR-21: Georgia Department of Driver Services
• Crash reports, the Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report and the GEARS database: Georgia Department of Transportation
• Ante litem notice to a municipality, O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5, including the damages-amount and service requirements: Georgia General Assembly record of the 2014 amending Act
• County motor vehicle liability, limited waiver of immunity and damages caps: ACCG, Liability of Public Officials and the County
• Court jurisdiction: Judicial Council of Georgia and the Fulton County Magistrate Court
• Attorney licensing and conduct rules: State Bar of Georgia
• Atlanta road safety data: Vision Zero, Atlanta Department of Transportation, using GDOT crash data
• Limitation period: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Ante litem notice: § 36-33-5 (municipalities), § 36-11-1 (counties), § 50-21-26 (Georgia Tort Claims Act). Uninsured motorist coverage: § 33-7-11. The Georgia Code is published at legis.ga.gov.

Legal information disclaimer

This page is an attorney directory and general legal information. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it does not endorse or verify any listed firm. Statutory deadlines are stated as the general position only. Georgia law changes, and every rule described here has exceptions that depend on the facts of an individual case. Deadlines in particular can be far shorter than a general rule suggests, especially where a government body is involved. Confirm your own situation with an attorney licensed in Georgia before acting or deciding not to act.