MICHAEL G. LALONDE v. TAYLOR ENGLISH DUMA, LLP

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 17, 2023
• Docket: A24A0434
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 17, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24A0434. MICHAEL G. LALONDE v. TAYLOR ENGLISH DUMA, LLP et al.

Michael Lalonde sued his former attorneys, Taylor English Duma, LLP, and one of its partners, Michael H. Trotter, for legal malpractice. The trial court granted summary judgment to the law firm and Trotter, and Lalonde appealed to this Court. We affirmed the grant of summary judgment in Lalonde v. Taylor English Duma, LLP, 349 Ga. App. 853 (825 SE2d 237) (2019) (physical precedent only), and in doing so, determined that the cross appeal was moot. Id. at 863 (4). The Supreme Court initially granted Lalonde’s application for writ of certiorari, see Lalonde v. Taylor English Duma, LLP, Case No. S19C1110 (Nov. 18, 2019), but later determined the writ was improvidently granted and denied it. See Lalonde v. Taylor English Duma, LLP, Case No. S19G1110 (Apr. 6, 2020). Upon remittitur, Lalonde filed a motion for a pretrial conference, arguing that the trial court granted summary judgment only on one of his claims and that his lost market value and attorney fees claims remained to be adjudicated. The trial court denied Lalonde’s motion, finding that all of his claims were fully resolved adversely to him by this Court. From that order, Lalonde filed this direct appeal. Pretermitting whether the trial court’s order was final under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), the court correctly determined that this Court previously adjudicated all of Lalonde’s claims. And Lalonde may not relitigate issues already decided by this Court. See Massey v. Massey, 294 Ga. 163, 165 (2) (751 SE2d 330) (2013) (“‘[A] party is not entitled to a second appeal from a single order.’[Cit.]”). “It is axiomatic that the same issue cannot be relitigated ad infinitum. The same is true of appeals of the same issue on the same grounds. Our determination in the earlier appeal is res judicata; the instant appeal is therefore barred, and we are without jurisdiction to review this same matter for a second time.” Echols v. State, 243 Ga. App. 775, 775 (534 SE2d 464) (2000) (citation omitted). Accordingly, Lalonde presents no issue for review, and this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/17/2023 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.