Does Georgia law require trucking companies to preserve evidence even without a lawsuit being filed?

Does Georgia law require trucking companies to preserve evidence even without a lawsuit being filed?

Yes. Georgia law — confirmed by the Georgia Supreme Court in Phillips v. Harmon — makes clear that the duty to preserve evidence arises when a party “contemplates” that litigation may occur. A trucking company does not need to receive formal notice of a lawsuit to be bound by this obligation. The severity of a crash, the nature of injuries, the company’s own internal reporting to its insurer and lawyers, and the simple fact that truck accidents routinely result in litigation are all sufficient to trigger the duty to preserve. Carriers who destroy evidence and then claim they “didn’t know” a lawsuit was coming rarely prevail on that argument.