Andrea Page Harper v. Donald R. Harper

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 02, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A20I0137. ANDREA PAGE HARPER v. DONALD R. HARPER.

On November 15, 2019, the trial court entered an order denying defendant Andrea Page Harper’s motion for summary judgment. On November 26, 2019, the court entered a second order certifying its summary judgment order for immediate review. Andrea Page Harper then filed this application for interlocutory review. 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.”). In this case, the trial judge signed the certificate of immediate review on the tenth day (November 25, 2019), but the order was not filed with the clerk of the court until the eleventh day (November 26, 2019). Thus, the certificate was not timely

entered. See Wilcher, 287 Ga. App. at 452 (1). We therefore lack jurisdiction to consider this application, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/02/2020 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.