American International Industries v. Matthew Underwood

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 20, 2019
• Docket: A19I0259
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ June 20, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19I0259. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES v. MATTHEW UNDERWOOD.

In October 2018, the Cobb County Superior Court issued a subpoena under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, OCGA § 24-13-110 et seq., on behalf of American International Industries (“AII”), directing Matthew Underwood – a resident of Cobb County – to appear for a deposition and produce certain documents in connection with a civil action currently pending in a New York state court. AII is one of the defendants in the New York action; Underwood is not a party to that action. Underwood then initiated the instant action in Cobb County Superior Court by filing a motion for a protective order and to quash the subpoena. On May 9, 2019, the Cobb County Superior Court granted Underwood’s motion in full. The court subsequently certified its order for immediate review, after which AII filed this application for interlocutory appeal. Under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), a direct appeal may be taken from “[a]ll final judgments, that is to say, where the case is no longer pending in the court below,” except as provided in OCGA § 5-6-35, the discretionary appeal statute. Here, the superior court’s May 9 order is a final order that disposed of all issues in this action, leaving nothing pending in that court, and this case does not fall within the categories of cases governed by OCGA § 5-6-35. “This Court will grant a timely application for interlocutory review if the order complained of is subject to direct appeal and the applicants have not otherwise filed a notice of appeal.” Spivey v. Hembree, 268 Ga. App. 485, 486, n. 1 (602 SE2d 246) (2004). Accordingly, this application for interlocutory appeal is hereby GRANTED. AII shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court, if it has not already done so. The trial court clerk is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the appellate record.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 06/20/2019 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.