FORMULA CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC v. MICHAEL APPELT

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ April 04, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A23A0109. FORMULA CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC v. APPELT et al.

After a $10,000,000 default judgment was entered against it, Formula Construction Group, LLC filed a Motion to Set Aside the Final Judgment or, Alternatively, to Stay this Matter until a Transcript of the Damages Hearing is Finished and a Motion to Dismiss or, Alternatively, to Open Default. The trial court stamped the motions “denied” and added a note directing the plaintiff to submit a proposed order within ten days. The motions bearing the stamp “denied” and the court’s directive were entered on the record on November 10, 2021.1 Formula filed a notice of appeal on December 8, 2021, describing the orders as “final orders disposing of the action.” We, however, lack jurisdiction.

A judgment is final and directly appealable “when it disposes of the entire controversy, leaving nothing for the trial court to do in the case.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Bay Meadow Corp. v. Hart, 276 Ga. App. 133, 134 (1) (622 SE2d 478) (2005); see also OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1) (a judgment is final “where the case is no longer pending in the court below”). Here, the “orders” on appeal directed the plaintiff to submit a proposed order within ten days. Thus, the orders clearly contemplated further action by both the plaintiff and the trial court, and they were not final. To appeal the order, Formula was required to comply with the interlocutory

1 There is no indication in the record that the plaintiff subsequently filed proposed orders.

appeal procedures in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). Its failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/04/2023 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.