Who Can Sign the Expert Affidavit in a Georgia Malpractice Case?
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The affidavit must come from an expert who would be allowed to testify under O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702. For a medical malpractice case, that means someone who, when the alleged negligence occurred, was licensed, was in the same profession as the defendant, and had spent at least three of the previous five years actively practicing or teaching in the specific area at issue. An affidavit from an unqualified expert can be challenged and lead to dismissal.
The affidavit itself
Section 9-11-9.1(a) requires the plaintiff to file with the complaint “an affidavit of an expert competent to testify, which affidavit shall set forth specifically at least one negligent act or omission claimed to exist and the factual basis for each such claim”. The statute lists the professions it covers, including medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists, physical therapists, psychologists, radiological technicians, and respiratory therapists. Timing, the 45-day exception, and what happens to a defective affidavit are covered in the pre-suit requirements for a Georgia malpractice case.
The qualification test, element by element
Section 24-7-702(c) applies “at the time the act or omission is alleged to have occurred”. The expert must have:
| Requirement | What the statute says |
|---|---|
| License | Been "licensed by an appropriate regulatory agency to practice his or her profession in the state in which such expert was practicing or teaching" |
| Recent, specific experience | "Actual professional knowledge and experience in the area of practice or specialty in which the opinion is to be given", from active practice for at least three of the last five years, or teaching as an employed faculty member for at least three of the last five years |
| Frequency | Practice or teaching "with sufficient frequency to establish an appropriate level of knowledge, as determined by the judge", in the procedure, diagnosis, or treatment alleged to have been done negligently |
| Same profession | Be "a member of the same profession", with medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy allowed to testify about each other |
Under that wording, the experience must match the specific procedure, diagnosis, or treatment, not just the specialty’s name, and the judge decides whether the frequency was sufficient.
Physicians testifying about other providers
A physician may testify about the standard of care of nurses, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, or medical support staff if, for at least three of the five years before the alleged act, the physician “supervised, taught, or instructed” that kind of provider and knows the standard of care under the circumstances. The rule does not run both ways: those providers “shall not be competent to testify as to the standard of care of a physician” (§ 24-7-702(c)(2)(D)).
Reliability as well as qualifications
Section 24-7-702(b) separately requires that the expert’s knowledge help the jury and that the opinion rest on sufficient facts or data and on reliable principles and methods reliably applied, and subsection (f) states the legislature’s intent that Georgia courts may draw on Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals and related federal decisions. A qualified expert can still have an opinion excluded under those reliability rules. The 2005 origin of these requirements is described in Georgia’s 2005 tort reform.
Screening a proposed expert
- What exactly did the defendant do or fail to do, and in what specialty?
- Did the expert perform that procedure, make that diagnosis, or give that treatment, or teach it, during at least three of the five years before the date of the alleged negligence?
- Was the expert licensed during that period in the state where they practiced or taught?
- Is the expert in the same profession as the defendant, or within the physician-supervisor exception?
- Can the expert state at least one specific negligent act and its factual basis?
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 9-11-9.1, 24-7-702 (malpractice qualification rules in subsection (c); subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f) were revised by HB 478 in 2022).
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.