Grant Nh, LLC v. Jonathan Sule

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ December 11, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A14A0447. GRANT NH, LLC v. JONATHAN SULE.

Grant NH, LLC, has filed a notice of appeal from the trial court’s order purporting to confirm an arbitration award and to enter judgment in favor of plaintiff Jonathan Sule, M.D. As this Court noted in Barge v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 245 Ga. App. 112 (535 SE2d 837) (2000), however, the order confirming the arbitration award and the entry of judgment must be on separate documents. See id. at 117 (2); see also OCGA § 9-9-15 (a) (upon confirmation of an arbitration award, “judgment shall be entered in the same manner as provided by Chapter 11 of this title and enforced as any other judgment or decree”). Where, as here, both actions are undertaken in a single document, there is no valid final judgment. Barge, supra. Because Grant NH, LLC, has not demonstrated that the trial court entered final judgment as contemplated by OCGA § 9-9-15, it is not entitled to a direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34. Instead, the case remains pending in the trial court. To appeal without a final judgment, Grant NH, LLC was required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b) and obtain a timely certificate of immediate review, which it did not do. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Scruggs v. Ga. Dept. of Human Resources, 261 Ga. 587, 588 (1) (408 SE2d 103) (1991). Because the case remains pending in the trial court, the trial court has jurisdiction to enter a final judgment, from which Grant NH, LLC would be entitled to a direct appeal.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/11/2013 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.