City of Atlanta v. Block, Inc. of Delaware F/K/A Square, Inc.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 08, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24D0388. CITY OF ATLANTA et al v. BLOCK, INC. OF DELAWARE f/k/a SQUARE, INC.

Defendants City of Atlanta, Atlanta Mayor, and Atlanta City Council have filed a timely application for discretionary review of the trial court’s order denying their motion to dismiss and granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in this tax refund action. Under OCGA § 9-11-56 (h), the grant of summary judgment on any issue or as to any party is reviewable by direct appeal. Olympic Dev. Group v. American Druggists’ Ins. Co., 175 Ga. App. 425, 425 (1) (333 SE2d 622) (1985). Additionally, except for cases listed in the discretionary appeal statute, OCGA § 5-6-35 (a), Georgia law permits a direct appeal from “[a]ll final judgments, that is to say, where the case is no longer pending in the court below[.]” OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1). It does not appear that any provision of OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) applies here. See Fulton County. v. T-Mobile South, LLC, 305 Ga. App. 466, 468-69 (1) (699 SE2d 802) (2010) (allowing direct appeal from grant of summary judgment in tax refund action). Thus, defendants were not required to file an application to obtain review of the order in question. Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (j), this Court will grant a timely application for discretionary review if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See City of Rincon v. Couch, 272 Ga. App. 411, 412 (612 SE2d 596) (2005). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Defendants shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court, if they have

not already done so.1 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,____________________ 07/08/2024 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.

1 It appears that the defendants have already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court. If so, they need not file a second notice.