Court Opinion

ID: 9578800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:48:36.49314+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:30.324394
License: Public Domain

Blackburn, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with Divisions 1 through 3 and Divisions 5 and 6 of the majority opinion. I agree that the trial court’s findings on the issue of laches should be affirmed and the trial court’s determination of the number of dogs the Kings can reasonably maintain must be reversed. However, I must respectfully dissent from Division 4 of the majority opinion.
*236Decided July 13, 1994
Reconsideration denied July 29, 1994
Millard C. Farmer, Jr., for appellants.
Harwell, Brown & Harwell, Ronald H. Harwell, Levine & Block, Stephen H. Block, Webb, Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Stair, Johannes S. Kingma, Drew, Eckl & Farnham, Richard T. Gieryn, Jr., for appellees.
The trial court erred in awarding attorney fees in this action for equitable relief. Attorney fees are recoverable only where authorized by statute or contract. Where, as in this case, the complaint set out only an action in equity, a party is not entitled to attorney fees under OCGA § 13-6-11. Glynn County Fed. Employees Credit Union v. Peagler, 256 Ga. 342 (3) (348 SE2d 628) (1986). Moreover, the covenant at issue does not provide for the recovery of attorney fees in enforcing its provisions. While the majority asserts that the Supreme Court’s decisions in Clayton v. Deverell, 257 Ga. 653 (362 SE2d 364) (1987); C & S Nat. Bank v. Haskins, 254 Ga. 131 (327 SE2d 192) (1985); Jones v. Spindel, 239 Ga. 68 (235 SE2d 486) (1977); and Grant v. Hart, 197 Ga. 662 (30 SE2d 271) (1944), authorize a recovery of attorney fees in the present action for equitable relief only, in each of those cases, the plaintiffs/petitioners sought monetary damages in addition to equitable relief and therefore, attorney fees were appropriate in those cases. The award of attorney fees against the Bakers should be reversed however, as only equitable relief was sought in this case.
I am authorized to state that Judge Andrews, Judge Smith and Senior Appellate Judge Harold R. Banke join in this dissent.