Court Opinion

ID: 9900979
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-20 22:02:55.864124+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:23.932302
License: Public Domain

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

                                        ATLANTA,____________________
                                                 November 20, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24E0034. RAJ K. PATEL v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICES, INC.

      Raj K. Patel filed separate lawsuits against United Parcel Service, Inc., in
Fulton County State Court and Fulton County Superior Court. On March 7, 2023, the
state court dismissed the lawsuit before it, and on June 30, 2023, the superior court
dismissed the lawsuit before it. On November 18, 2023, Patel filed in this Court an
“Emergency Petition for a Writ of Mandamus,” in which he challenges the orders of
the lower courts and asks this Court to compel those courts to take certain actions in
his lawsuits.
      Appellate courts have mandamus authority in aid of their jurisdiction, see Ga.
Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. IV, but the need to resort to the appellate courts
for such relief is “extremely rare” because “the superior courts of this state have the
power, in proper cases, to issue process in the nature of mandamus, prohibition,
specific performance, quo warranto, and injunction[.]” Brown v. Johnson, 251 Ga.
436, 436 (306 SE2d 655) (1983). Moreover, mandamus will issue “only if (1) no
other adequate legal remedy is available to effectuate the relief sought; and (2) the
applicant has a clear legal right to such relief.” Bibb County v. Monroe County, 294
Ga. 730, 734 (2) (755 SE2d 760) (2014).
      Here, Patel has not shown a clear legal right to the relief sought, and he could
have availed himself of the normal appeal procedures in order to challenge the lower
court’s dismissal orders. See OCGA §§ 5-6-33 (a) (1); 5-6-34 (a) (1). Accordingly,
Patel’s “Emergency Petition for a Writ of Mandamus” is hereby DENIED.

                                   Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
                                          Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
                                                                    11/20/2023
                                          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.