Once again, Georgia’s Supreme Court justices have been asked to decide the scope of the state’s apportionment statute, this time pondering whether damages awarded under strict liability claims may be reduced by any amount deemed to have been the fault of the plaintiff.

Arguing via Zoom teleconference Tuesday morning, the lawyer for a man gravely injured when a defective brake caused him to crash his Suzuki motorcycle said the trial judge and Court of Appeals had brushed aside the state’s strict liability statute in chopping a $12.5 million verdict in half after a jury apportioned 49% of the blame to the motorcyclist.