Labmd, Inc. v. Adnan Savera

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 19, 2013
• Docket: A14D0013
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ September 19, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A14D0013. LABMD, INC. v. ADNAN SAVERA.

LabMD, Inc. sued Adnan Savera for breach of contract and other claims. Following the entry of judgment for Savera, LabMD appealed to this Court, and the case was docketed as Case Number A13A1232. Back in the trial court, Savera moved for an award of attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. The court granted Savera’s motion, after which LabMD filed this application for discretionary appeal. “[A] party aggrieved by a post-judgment OCGA § 9-15-14 award is required to comply with the discretionary appeal procedure of OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (10) only in those instances where no direct appeal has been otherwise taken from the underlying judgment. However, in those instances where . . . a direct appeal has been taken from the underlying judgment, a party may also appeal directly from the OCGA § 9-15-14 post-judgment award without regard to the discretionary appeal procedures.” (Emphasis in original). Rolleston v. Huie, 198 Ga. App. 49, 52 (4) (400 SE2d 349) (1990); see also Mitcham v. Blalock, 268 Ga. 644, 647 (4) (491 SE2d 782) (1997). Thus, LabMD was entitled to a direct appeal from the attorney fee award. This Court will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35 (j) if the order is subject to direct appeal and the applicant has not timely filed a notice of appeal. Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. LabMD shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If, however, it has already filed a notice of appeal, it need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 09/19/2013 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.