James Greg Barineau v. Donald R. Harper

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 06, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A20I0139. JAMES GREG BARINEAU v. DONALD R. HARPER.

On November 15, 2019, the trial court entered an order denying the motion for summary judgment filed by defendant James Greg Barineau. On November 27, 2019, the trial court entered an order certifying its summary judgment order for immediate review. Barineau then filed this application for interlocutory appeal. We lack jurisdiction because the certificate of immediate review was not timely entered. Pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (b), a party may request interlocutory review only if the trial court certifies within ten days of entry of the order at issue that immediate review should be had. A timely certificate of immediate review is a jurisdictional requirement. See Von Waldner v. Baldwin/Cheshire, Inc., 133 Ga. App. 23, 24 (2) (209 SE2d 715) (1974). If the certificate of immediate review is not entered within that ten-day period, it is untimely, and the party seeking review must wait until the final judgment to appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); Wilcher v. Confederate Packaging, Inc., 287 Ga. App. 451, 452 (1) (651 SE2d 790) (2007) (“A certificate of immediate review of a court order must be signed by the trial judge and filed with the clerk of the trial court within ten days of the entry of the interlocutory order sought to be appealed.”). Here, the certificate of immediate review was entered 12 days after the summary judgment order and was therefore untimely.1 Accordingly, we lack

1 In the certificate, the trial court noted that Barineau’s motion for a certificate of immediate review was filed within the ten-day period. The operative date, however, is not the date when Barineau requested the certificate, but the date when

jurisdiction to consider this application, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/06/2020 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. the certificate was entered. See Wilcher, 287 Ga. App. at 452 (1).