The Atlanta Gleaner.

Legal News

Edited By George Washington

(Testing in progress)

George Washington Statue at Federal Hall

Burtsv.City of Atlanta

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A25A1273
DecidedSeptember 3, 2025
Reporter376 Ga. App. 582; 920 S.E.2d 368; 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 358; 2025 LX 378797; 2025 WL 2527615
JudgesDOYLE, Presiding Judge. Markle and Padgett, JJ., concur.
Tags
CivilMunicipal LiabilityAnte Litem NoticeOCGA 36-33-5Offer of CompromisePolicy Limits DemandMotion to DismissRipley's Believe It Or NotProcedural LabyrinthsMoney, Insurance & SettlementsContracts & Technicalities
Case Summary

Ashlee Burts sued the City of Atlanta after a collision with a City police vehicle and was met with a motion to dismiss based on the ante litem notice statute. Her follow-up notice offered to settle for the City's liability policy limits or $250,000, whichever was greater, and the City argued that this was not a sufficiently specific damages demand. The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed the dismissal. It held that the notice stated one definite settlement amount, not two competing numbers, because the restrictive clause identified a single finite figure that the City itself could determine from its own insurance information. Given Georgia's substantial-compliance approach to municipal ante litem notices, the demand was specific enough to function as a valid offer of compromise.

Opinion

Loading published copy…

The Far Side