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Attorney Fees’ Orders Awarded Final Judgment in Renewal Actions

In the case of Cook-Rose v. Waffle House Inc.. et al., the Supreme Court of Georgia addressed the issue of weather a trial court’s order could be immediately appealed or only after securing a certificate of immediate review from the trial court. The Plaintiff’s filed a premises liability suit following an incident at a Waffle House where the Plaintiff’s claim they suffered personal injuries and emotional distress due to negligence and inappropriate actions by the employees.


            The suit was originally filed in October 2019, however in April 2021 the Defendants filed a motion for sanctions due to the Plaintiff’s alleged failure to comply with a discovery order. Plaintiff’s then dismissed their lawsuit without prejudice in July 2021 and Defendant’s filed a motion for attorneys’ fees asserting that Plaintiff dismissed their lawsuit to avoid paying sanctions. After Plaintiff’s filed a renewal action, the trial court awarded the Defendants’ attorneys’ fees in the dismissed action.


The Plaintiff’s appealed the attorneys’ fees order by filing an application for discretionary review, however the Court of Appeals dismissed the application for failure to obtain a certificate of immediate review from the trial court. The Court of Appeals relied on Eidson v. Croutch, 337 Ga. App. 542, (Ga. Ct. App. 2016) in it’s analysis and reasoned that because the Plaintiffs had renewed their lawsuit, the case was still pending below and the award order was not a final judgment under OCGA § 5-6-34(a)(1). The Georgia Supreme Court weighed in on the issue of whether the award order was a “final judgment”, and could therefore be immediately appealed.


The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision, holding that the renewed suit was a new case, not a continuance of the dismissed case and so the pendency of the renewal action did not mean that the dismissed case was still pending below. They stated that the Court of Appeals erred in dismissing the application for discretionary review because the language of OCGA § 5-6-34(a)(1) the order awarding attorneys’ fees was a final judgment, and no certificate of immediate review was required. The Georgia Supreme Court relied upon SunTrust Bank v. Lilliston, 302 Ga. 840, 843, 809 S.E.2d 819 (2018), stating that it is clearly established that a renewal action is a new case and is not a continuance of the original, dismissed case. The Georgia Supreme Court remanded the case for consideration of that application.


This ruling from the Supreme Court of Georgia has significant implications for future litigation and appellate procedures in Georgia, as it provides clarification of renewal actions and definitively classifies renewal actions as de novo. It also establishes that parties can now appeal certain trial court orders immediately without obtaining a certificate of immediate review and reinforces the clear statutory intent of the Georgia legislature.

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