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Lee V. State Farm Mutual Insurance Company: A Partial Exception To Georgia's Impact Rule To Allow Parental Recovery For Emotional Distress From Witnessing The Suffering And Death Of A Child, Joseph I. Marchant

Mercer Law Review

In Lee v. State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., the Georgia Supreme Court created a partial exception to Georgia's impact rule. The court held that when "a parent and child sustain a direct physical impact and physical injuries through the negligence of another, and the child dies as a result of such negligence, the parent may attempt to recover for serious emotional distress from witnessing the child's suffering and death" regardless of whether the emotional distress arises from the physical injury to the parent.