Meagan Isaac v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 10, 2021
• Docket: A22D0146
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 10, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A22D0146. MEAGAN ISAAC v. STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY.

Meagan Isaac sued Anish Thanatil for damages allegedly arising from an automobile collision. When Isaac could not locate Thanatil, the trial court permitted her to serve him by publication. Isaac then served State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, her uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier. State Farm moved for summary judgment, arguing that Isaac had failed to provide timely notification of her claim and citing, as support, its unanswered requests for admission to Issac. Isaac opposed the summary judgment motion and filed a motion to extend the discovery period and withdraw her admissions. The trial court entered separate orders granting State Farm’s summary judgment motion and denying Isaac’s discovery motion. Isaac filed this timely application for discretionary appeal seeking review of both rulings. Isaac does not indicate why she filed an application for discretionary appeal, and no provision of the discretionary appeal statute, OCGA § 5-6-35, appears to apply here. A direct appeal is proper from an “order granting summary judgment on any issue or as to any party[.]” OCGA § 9-11-56 (h); accord Andrews v. Blue Ridge NH Assocs., LLC, 353 Ga. App. 75, 77 & n. 6 (1) (836 SE2d 197) (2019). And “when a direct appeal is taken, any other judgments, rulings or orders rendered in the case and which may affect the proceedings below”—such as the discovery order that Isaac also wishes to appeal—“may be raised on appeal and reviewed and determined by the appellate court.” Headrick v. Stonepark of Dunwoody Unit Owners Assoc., 331 Ga. App. 772, 775 (1) (a) (771 SE2d 382) (2015) (punctuation omitted). We will grant a timely discretionary application if the trial court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j); see also Bullock v. Sand, 260 Ga. App. 874, 875 (581 SE2d 333) (2003) (OCGA § 5-6-35 (j) applies to the grant of partial summary judgment). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Isaac shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court, if she has not already done so. 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 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/10/2021 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.