Bill > HB1185

This bill expands the jurisdiction of the Georgia State-wide Business Court, a specialized court for business-related disputes, by allowing certain shareholder claims, defined as "internal entity claims," to be brought before it. Corporations can now include provisions in their bylaws or articles of incorporation that require these internal entity claims, such as those related to a shareholder's inspection of corporate records, to be exclusively heard by the Business Court. The bill also provides mechanisms for transferring existing cases to the Business Court under specific conditions and clarifies that certain shareholder derivative lawsuits, which are legal actions brought by shareholders on behalf of a corporation, must meet specific ownership thresholds for publicly traded companies. Additionally, the bill modifies rules regarding the awarding of attorney's fees and costs in derivative lawsuits, stating that additional or amended disclosures to shareholders alone do not constitute a "substantial benefit" to the corporation for the purpose of awarding fees, and it also clarifies that such fees will not be awarded if the corporation refused inspection in good faith.