With the Georgia criminal racketeering (RICO) case involving former President Donald Trump and several others now officially concluded, attention is turning to the potential surge of civil lawsuits on the horizon.

Earlier this week, the much-debated RICO case, initiated by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was finally dismissed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.

In his decision to dismiss the case, Judge McAfee approved a motion from the acting prosecutor, who characterized the prolonged legal battle—nearly two years in the making—as inefficient and costly, describing it as being “on life support.”

However, recent developments indicate that Georgia might soon experience a financial shift in the legal landscape.

In March, the Georgia legislature introduced Senate Bill 244. This bill proposes that defendants in criminal cases be entitled to “reasonable costs and attorney’s fees” if the prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to misconduct.

In April, the state house passed the bill. In May, the state senate passed the bill, which was then signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

The language of the final bill offers a suite of recoupment opportunities based on the end results of a successful disqualification. The law went into effect on the first day of July.

The law reads, in relevant part:

If the disqualification of the prosecuting attorney results in the criminal case being dismissed against the defendant who filed the motion for disqualification due to improper conduct, the defendant who filed the motion for disqualification shall be entitled to an award of all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the defendant in defending the case…

The defendant who filed a successful motion for disqualification of a prosecuting attorney based upon the misconduct of such prosecuting attorney shall file a motion for reasonable attorney’s fees and costs upon the termination of the underlying criminal case. The judge to whom the criminal case was assigned shall consider such motion for reasonable attorney’s fees and costs and shall award such reasonable attorney’s fees and costs as provided under this Code section to such defendant.

Other avenues for redress are available, for example, to a defendant who only disqualifies the prosecutor but fails to dismiss the case. And when such fees and costs are awarded, the money “shall be paid from the treasury of the county in which such criminal case was brought.”

While exact numbers are unavailable, the defense of the case — which began in August 2023 — almost certainly amounted to millions of dollars in legal fees incurred by the multiple people charged.

The 45th and 47th president’s costs alone likely ran into the millions. And he will certainly avail himself of his rights under the new law.

“Now that President Trump has won his Georgia case, we will be moving for attorney’s fees and costs under Georgia code,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in the case, recently told Atlanta-based ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

Other co-defendants say they will take advantage of the opportunity as well.

“This has been a long ordeal,” Chris Anulewicz, attorney for Robert Cheeley, told the TV station. “It’s been an expensive ordeal, and he was very relieved and grateful about the nonprosecution that came about today.”