Wayne Longe v. Linda Fleming

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 31, 2013
• Docket: A13A2032
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ July 31, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A13A2032. WAYNE LONGE v. LINDA FLEMING.

Wayne Longe has filed a direct appeal from the trial court’s order directing him to pay attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. We lack jurisdiction. This case was previously before us on Longe’s direct appeal from an order enforcing the parties’ settlement agreement. See Longe v. Fleming, 318 Ga. App. 258 (733 SE2d 792) (2012). As part of that appeal, we reviewed the trial court’s award of attorney fees and determined that the court had failed to make the requisite findings to support its award. Accordingly, we remanded the case to the trial court. Post-remand, the trial court entered an order explaining the basis for its award. Longe then filed this direct appeal. Appeals from orders awarding attorney fees and litigation expenses under OCGA § 9-15-14 must be made by discretionary application, not direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (10). Longe’s failure to comply with the discretionary review procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal. See Capricorn Systems v. Godavarthy, 253 Ga. App. 840 (560 SE2d 730) (2002). Because a direct appeal is not available from an OCGA § 9-15-14 attorney fee award which is not part of a judgment that is otherwise directly appealable, we lack jurisdiction. This appeal is therefore DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 07/31/2013 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.