Press Coverage August 10, 2026

The ‘Kitchen Table Issue’ Slowing Auto Nuclear Verdict Requests

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Kade Cullefer

Kade Cullefer, director of state affairs in Troutman Strategies, was quoted in the August 10, 2026, Insurance Insider article, “The ‘Kitchen Table Issue’ Slowing Auto Nuclear Verdict Requests.”

  • “Every non-lawyer or every citizen that I would explain that issue to sort of has the reaction of: ‘You’ve got to be kidding – why can’t juries learn that someone’s not wearing their seat belt?'” said Kade Cullefer, a lawyer who helped advocate for Georgia’s sweeping tort reform package in 2025, Senate Bill 68 (SB68).
  • For the insurance industry, juries now having to consider whether or not the plaintiff was wearing a seat belt, such as in Georgia, has led to significantly smaller damages requests according to Cullefer.
  • …
  • The issue played a significant role in the early stage of advocating for the bill, ultimately opening the door to the larger reform. It was a concept that was simple enough for people to grasp instantly, ultimately becoming a litmus test for new legislation in a state that hadn’t seen civil legislation reform in decades, Cullefer said.
  • “But with respect to the seat belt, it seems like an easy one, right? It just makes sense,” Cullefer said.
  • …
  • Before the tort reforms, Cullefer said, there were billboards of personal injury lawyers all along the southern part of the state – a reminder that the plaintiffs bar dominated civil courtrooms.
  • “We had insurers writing letters to the state, they weren’t marketing new products, they were leaving the state, so it was a big problem,” Cullefer said, “and really created just chaos here from a predictability standpoint in insurance markets.”
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