Court Opinion

ID: 9569107
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:10:40.298993+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:48:59.802260
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
On motion for rehearing, counsel for the plaintiff argues that he should not be penalized for making “a good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of the law,” since such advocacy is expressly authorized by Ethical Consideration 7-4 of the Code of Professional Responsibility adopted by the State Bar of Georgia. Interestingly, counsel omits any reference to the remaining language of this provision, which is as follows: “However, a lawyer is not justified in asserting a position in litigation that is frivolous.”
The damages authorized by OCGA § 9-15-14 and, to a lesser extent, those authorized by Yost v. Torok, supra, are intended not merely to punish or deter litigation abuses but also to recompense litigants who are forced to expend their resources in contending with claims, defenses, or other positions “with respect to which there exists] such a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact that it could not be reasonably believed that a court would accept the asserted claim, defense, or other position.” Id. For the reasons stated in our original opinion, we are unable to conclude as a matter of law that the plaintiff’s claim in this case falls outside that category. The motion for rehearing is consequently denied.