Georgia Wrongful Death Lawyer Directory: Augusta

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Augusta, the seat of Richmond County, sits on the Savannah River along the South Carolina line and is the medical and commercial hub of the Central Savannah River Area. Wrongful death claims here arise from fatal vehicle and truck collisions, medical errors, and unsafe premises, but what distinguishes them from other injury cases is the statutory structure governing who may sue and how the loss is valued. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2, the right to bring the claim follows a fixed order, and Georgia’s distinctive “full value of the life” measure, recovered separately from the estate’s own claim, shapes the case from the start.

Anyone considering a wrongful death claim in Georgia should understand two features of the law. First, O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 sets who may bring the claim: the surviving spouse first, then the surviving children if there is no spouse, then the surviving parents, and finally the estate’s representative if none of those survive, with a surviving spouse’s share never less than one-third regardless of the number of children. Second, Georgia measures damages as the “full value of the life of the decedent,” combining the economic value of lost income and services with the intangible value of the life itself, generally without deducting the decedent’s own living expenses, and a separate estate claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-5 can recover the decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering, medical bills, and funeral costs. Most wrongful death actions must be filed within two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, though tolling can apply, and Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule can reduce or bar recovery based on the decedent’s share of fault.

The directory below lists five Augusta firms that handle wrongful death cases, each verified from a dedicated wrongful death page on the firm’s own official website. It is organized for comparison rather than ranking, so the entries focus on practice areas, attorney background, office locations, and founding history rather than promotional claims.

1. Nicholson Revell Personal Injury Attorneys

Nicholson Revell maintains a dedicated Augusta wrongful death page on its site. The page explains that Georgia law lets surviving family members recover the decedent’s “full value of the life,” which it notes is highly subjective, and walks through how negligence is established, indicating a wrongful-death-aware emphasis grounded in the Georgia measure of damages.

The practice handles wrongful death alongside broader personal injury, and the firm states it has carried a name in Augusta law for decades. Any references to past results are firm-reported and have not been independently confirmed against court records.

2. Chris Hudson Law Group

Chris Hudson Law Group maintains a dedicated wrongful death page on its site, serving the Central Savannah River Region. The page stresses the filing deadlines that keep a wrongful death case active and how missing them can derail a claim, and it describes assessing the full range of a family’s losses, indicating a wrongful-death-aware emphasis.

The practice handles wrongful death alongside broader personal injury, and the firm states founding attorney Chris Hudson has more than 14 years of experience. That figure is firm-reported and has not been independently confirmed against court records.

3. The Hawk Firm

The Hawk Firm maintains a dedicated Augusta wrongful death page on its site. The page sets out the four elements of a Georgia wrongful death claim beginning with duty of care, and explains that under modified comparative negligence a family may still recover if the deceased was less than 50 percent at fault, with recovery reduced by that percentage, indicating strong wrongful-death-specific accuracy.

The practice handles wrongful death alongside broader personal injury on a contingency-fee basis. Any references to past results are firm-reported and have not been independently confirmed against court records.

4. Horst Shewmaker

Horst Shewmaker maintains a dedicated Augusta wrongful death page on its site. The page frames the claim as a civil action available to family members when a life is lost to negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct, and emphasizes compassionate counsel paired with aggressive advocacy, indicating a wrongful-death-aware emphasis.

The practice handles wrongful death alongside broader personal injury. Any references to past results are firm-reported and have not been independently confirmed against court records.

5. Claridge Law Firm LLC

Claridge Law Firm maintains a dedicated wrongful death page on its site within a personal injury practice. The page frames attorney Roger R. Claridge’s work supporting families through a sudden loss and the decision of whether to file a claim, indicating a wrongful-death-aware emphasis within a local Augusta practice.

The firm handles wrongful death within a broader personal injury practice. Any results it cites are firm-reported and have not been independently checked against court records.

After a Wrongful Death in Augusta: Practical Notes

Two features shape most Augusta wrongful death claims: who may bring the claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2, and how Georgia values the loss. The right to sue follows a fixed order beginning with the surviving spouse, then children, then parents, then the estate, and the recovery is measured as the full value of the decedent’s life, separate from the estate’s own claim for pre-death pain and suffering and final expenses.

Georgia’s measure of damages is unusual and worth understanding. The wrongful death claim itself seeks the “full value of the life of the decedent” from the decedent’s perspective, which includes both tangible losses such as lost income and the intangible value of living, and it is generally not reduced by what the decedent would have spent on their own support. A separate estate claim can pursue the decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering and the medical and funeral expenses, so families often have two related but distinct claims. Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule can reduce the recovery by the decedent’s share of fault and bars it entirely at 50 percent or more, and the 2025 tort reform law (Senate Bill 68) changed how certain evidence and damages arguments are presented at trial.

When comparing the firms above, useful points of distinction include whether the office shows genuine wrongful-death-specific depth (the O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 order, the full-value-of-life measure, the comparative-negligence reduction, the four elements of a claim) versus a general injury practice, whether it is a single Augusta-area office or operates across multiple locations, and the size and tenure of the attorney team. None of the entries here is endorsed or ranked; the list is a verified starting point for a grieving Augusta family’s own research.

Note: This list is not a ranking and makes no “best” claim. Many more attorneys handle wrongful death cases in the area. The five firms above are verified records, each confirmed from a dedicated wrongful death page on the firm’s own official website (the Web link for each entry points to that page, not just the home page). Where a street address is not published on the firm’s own site, it is omitted rather than taken from a third-party listing. Firm-reported results have not been independently confirmed against court records. This directory is general information about Georgia law and individual firms, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship; the legal points summarized here reflect general Georgia law as of the date below and can change or be affected by recent reforms, so an injured person should confirm how current law applies to their own situation with a licensed Georgia attorney. Data current as of June 6, 2026.

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