Girish Modi v. India-American Cultural Association

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 25, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23D0018. GIRISH MODI v. INDIA-AMERICAN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

Girish Modi, proceeding pro se, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against defendant India-American Cultural Association. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss and for summary judgment and sought attorney fees, pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14. The trial court entered an order dismissing Modi’s complaint for failure to state a claim, granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and awarding attorney fees to defendant.1 Modi seeks discretionary review of the trial court’s order. Under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), direct appeals are permitted from all final orders dismissing an action in its entirety. Additionally, an order granting summary judgment on any issue or as to any party is also reviewable by direct appeal. See OCGA § 9-11-56 (h). Thus, the trial court’s order is directly appealable.2 As a general rule, this Court will grant a timely application for discretionary review if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this

1 This is Modi’s second appearance in this Court in this action. In the first, this Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Modi’s request for an interlocutory injunction in an unpublished opinion. See Case No. A21A1502 (Dec. 7, 2021). 2 “Although OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (10) requires that an appeal of an award of attorney fees made pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 be preceded by the grant of a discretionary application, a direct appeal is permitted when it is appealed as part of a judgment that is directly appealable.” Mitcham v. Blalock, 268 Ga. 644, 646-647 (4) (491 SE2d 782) (1997) (punctuation omitted).

application is hereby GRANTED. Modi shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court. If Modi has already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, he need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/25/2022 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.