Hja Alexander v. Thomas Parham, Jr.

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 31, 2014
• Docket: A14A2156
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 31, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A14A2156. HJA ALEXANDER v. THOMAS PARHAM, JR.

In July 2011, the Supreme Court entered an order appointing Herald J. A. Alexander as receiver of all the files and records of attorney Charles A. Mathis, Jr., who died in April 2011. In the instant legal malpractice action filed by Thomas Parham, Jr. against the Estate of Charles A. Mathis, Jr., d/b/a the Mathis Law Firm in 2012, Parham filed a motion to compel financial documents, which the trial court granted. After Alexander failed to produce the documents, Parham filed a motion for sanctions against Alexander. The trial court entered sanctions against Alexander, and he appeals therefrom. Alexander has since filed a “Suggestion of Bankruptcy” asserting that this appeal is subject to an automatic stay due to his bankruptcy filing in federal court. The appellate courts of this state are constitutionally required to dispose of every case at the term of court for which it is entered on the court’s dockets for hearing or at the next term of court. See 1983 Ga. Const., Art. VI, Sec. IX, Para. II. Consequently, this Court does not have the power to stay a case. See Boardman v. Brenninkmeijer, ___ Ga. App. ___ (Case No. A14A1000, decided August 26, 2014). Accordingly, we REMAND this case to the trial court until the stay of proceedings is lifted. At that time, Alexander may re-institute the appeal by filing a new notice of appeal in the trial court within 30 days of the date of the entry of the order in the bankruptcy court lifting the stay. See DCA Architects v. American Bldg. Consultants, 203 Ga. App. 598 (1) (417 SE2d 386) (1992).

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 10/31/2014 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.