# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A1 7 E0 04 9 . BRYCE v . HATFI ELD.

M i ch el e Bry ce p ro s e fi l ed a m o t i o n p u rs u an t t o Co u rt o f Ap p eal s Ru l e 4 0 (b ).

I n h er m o t i o n

, Bry ce req u es t s t h at t hi s Co u rt req u i re t h e Su peri o r Co urt o f L e e

Co u n t y t o tran s m it t o t h i s Co u rt fo r d o ck et i ng h er ap peal i n h er act io n ag ai n s t Hen ry

Hat fi el d. It ap p ears t h at

, i n es s en ce, Bry ce i s s eek i ng p ret ri al ap p el l at e rev i ew o f t h e

t ri al co u rt ’ s o rd er d en y i ng h er m o t i o n t o jo in a n eces s ary p art y b efo re p ro ceed i n g to

a t ri al on t h e m eri t s

. Su ch an i n t erl o cu t o ry o rd er i s rev i ewab l e b efo re fi n al ju d g m en t

o n l y i f t h e ap p el lan t ap p l i es fo r an d i s gran t ed an in t erl o cu t o ry ap p eal as p ro v i d ed in

OCGA § 5 -6 -3 4 (b ). See Ch a ney v. Ha r ri s on & Lyn a m, LLC

, 30 8 G a. Ap p

. 8 0 8 (7 0 8

SE2 d 6 72 ) (2 0 1 1 ); S

. Fa r m Bu r ea u Li

f e In s

. Co

. v. Do u g l as

, 19 3 Ga. Ap p

. 47 6 (3 8 8

SE2 d 6 7 ) (1 9 8 9 ).

Al t h ou g h Bry ce fi l ed a p l ead i n g s t y l ed as “ a p et i t i o n fo r a wri t of m an d am u s ,”

t h e d en i al o f wh i ch wo u l d b e d i rect l y ap p eal ab l e u n d er OCGA § 5 -6 -3 4 (a) (7 ), we

are n ot b ou n d by th at d es i g n at i o n

. See Ku r i a t n yk v. Ku r i a t n

yk

, 28 6 Ga. 5 8 9

, 5 8 9 -5 9 0

(6 9 0 SE2 d 3 9 7 ) (2 0 10 ) (Th e s tan d ard s ap pl i cab l e t o a m o t i o n d ep en d s u p o n t h e i s s u es

rai s ed , as “ s u b s t an ce, rat h er th an n o m en cl at u re, g o v ern s p l ead i n g s.”) (ci t at i o n s an d

p u n ct u at i o n om it t ed ); Ca in v. St a t e

, 27 5 Ga. 7 8 4, 7 86 (5 7 3 SE2 d 4 6 ) (2 0 0 2 ) (Un d er

Geo rg i a l aw, t h e co u rt s are n o t b o u n d b y t h e d es i g n at i o n g i v en t o a m o t i o n b y a p art y

b u t “ l o o k t o s u bs t an ce o v e r n o m en cl at u re.”) (ci t at i o n s an d p u n ct u at i o n o m i t t ed ).

Rat h er, l oo k i n g t o t h e su b st an ce Bry ce’ s p l e ad i n g s

, s h e h as n o t s h o wn t h at an y

i m m ed i at e act i o n i s n eces s ary to p res erv e ju ri s d i ct io n o f h er an ti ci p at ed ap p eal fro m

t h e t ri al co u rt ’s d e n i a l o f h er jo i n d er m o ti o n o r t o p rev en t t h e co n t es t ed i s s u e fro m May 01, 2017b eco m i n g m o o t

. See Ru le 4 0 (b ) (“ In t h e ex erci s e o f i t s in h eren t p o wer, t h i s Co u r t

m ay is s u e s u ch o rd ers o r g i v e s uch d i rect i o n t o t h e t ri al co u rt as m ay be neces s ary to

p res erv e ju ri s d i ct i o n o f a n a p p e a l o r t o p rev en t t h e co n t es t ed i s s u e fro m beco m i n g

m o ot

. Th i s p o wer s h al l b e ex erci s ed s pari n g ly

. Gen eral l y

, n o o rd er sh al l b e m ad e o r

d i rect i o n g iv en i n an ap p eal u n t i l i t h as b een d ock et ed i n t h is Co u rt .”). Acco rd i n g l y

,

h er Ru l e 4 0 (b ) m o t i on i s h ereb y DENIED.

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e

, A t la n t a

,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti fy t h a t t h e a b o v e is a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

.

W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t

h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

. 05/01/2017