BY: GEORGE WATERS / PARTNER/ ATLANTA

As most of you who adjust claims in Georgia have experienced lately, the stipulation approval process in GA has been extremely slow. Regardless of the reason, as a practical matter, if you are looking to settle cases in Georgia before the end of the year it will take some “pre-planning.”  We all know that at the end of the year there is always a huge push to get cases resolved. Right now the Board is taking 4 to 6 weeks (and sometimes much more) for approval. So submission of executed stipulations will need to be done much earlier than usual to have enough time to get the stipulation approved and the case closed by year end. That means that if you are considering mediations or granting authority it will need to be done before then. I know it is only the beginning of October but 4 to 6 weeks means mid-November for submission of the stipulations to still have a chance to close before the end of the year. Please plan ahead this year.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to any of our attorneys in the GA office at 678-822-9660.