Court of Appeals

of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20D0148. MARSHA W. MIGNOTT v. BRIAN GARDINER.

A20D0151. THE MIGNOTT LAW GROUP, LLC v. BRIAN GARDINER.

These related applications arose out of awards of attorney fees against Marsha

W. Mignott and the Mignott Law Group, LLC (collectively the “Applicants”) in

connection with Mignott’s representation of Marilyn Ennis, the plaintiff, in a lawsuit

filed against a homeowner’s association. On March 30, 2018, the trial court entered

an order denying the plaintiff’s motion to disqualifyBrian Gardiner as counsel for the

homeowner’s association and granting attorney fees to Gardiner. The plaintiff filed

an application for discretionary appeal from the trial court’s order, which was

dismissed for failure to follow interlocutory procedures. See Ennis v. Rivercrest

Homeowners Association, Inc., Case No. A18D0443, dismissed May 16, 2018. 

Gardiner sought the issuance of a fi fa. against Ennis and the Applicants on

May 17, 2018, and the Applicants objected on the grounds that the grant of fees was

only against Ennis. On June 8, 2018, the trial court entered an order clarifying that

Gardiner was awarded attorney feesin the amount of $4,426.50 against Ennis and the

Applicants and directed the issuance of the fi fa. On June 29, 2018, the Applicants

filed “emergency motions” to stay recording of the fi fa. and to set aside the order of

attorney fees. On May 10, 2019, the trial court entered its order denying the

emergency motions and granting Gardiner an additional $1,309.00 in attorney fees

pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14 (b) due to the Applicants’ continued frivolous litigation. 

On July 6, 2019, and July 9, 2019, the Applicants filed separate applications

for discretionary appeal from the May 10, 2019, order of the trial court. This Court

dismissed those applications for untimeliness and for failure to follow interlocutory

December 02, 2019
appeal procedures. See Marsha W. Mignott v. Brian Gardiner, Case No. A19D0545

and The Mignott Law Group, LLC v. Brian Gardiner, Case No. A19D0551 (both

dismissed August 1, 2019). Thereafter on October 15, 2019, the parties in the

underlying action filed a Joint Voluntary Dismissal of All Claims and Counterclaims

with Prejudice. On October 31, 2019, and November 1, 2019, the Applicants filed

separate applicationsfor discretionary appeal,seeking to challenge yet again the trial

court’s May 10, 2019, order denying their motion to set aside attorney fees. We,

however, lack jurisdiction. 

These applications are barred by the law of the case. As stated earlier, the

Applicants previously-filed applications for discretionary review of the trial court’s

order of May 10, 2019, were dismissed for untimeliness and failure to follow our

interlocutory appeal procedures. “It is well established that any issue that was raised

and resolved in an earlier appeal is the law of the case and is binding on this Court,”

and it matters not that the dismissal of the previous appeal did not reach the merits of

the claim “because the dismissal, nevertheless, constitutes binding law of the case.”

Ross v. State, 310 Ga. App. 326, 327 (713 SE2d 438) (2011) (punctuation omitted).

See also Reeves v. Upson Regional Medical Center, 315 Ga. App. 582, 585 (1) (a)

(726 SE2d 544 ) (2012) (dismissal of an appeal because order challenged was

interlocutory is law of the case and cannot be revisited). 

Accordingly, our prior dismissals of the Applicants’ challenges to the trial

court’s denials of their motion to set aside constitute the law of the case, and we are

precluded from revisiting these issues. See id. at 328. These applications are

therefore hereby DISMISSED.
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________

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.

12/02/2019