The Firm had an interesting experience with a case in which it successfully defended a client against a personal injury claim. The Plaintiff sued the Firm’s client for alleged personal injuries suffered when the Plaintiff allegedly slipped upon entering the Firm’s client’s store on a rainy day.
The Firm, through Attorney Chapar, secured summary judgment for the Client and the case was dismissed. Under Georgia law, a prevailing party may file a motion for attorneys fees within 45 days of the final judgment. The Firm did so on the 39th day. The filing was initially accepted. However, the Clerk of DeKalb County later “unfiled” the motion for fees and returned it to the Firm. The Clerk asserted that the motion for attorneys fees required payment of a “new case filing fee.” The Firm filed a motion with the Trial Court, claiming that such a filing fee was NOT authorized under law.
The Trial Court ruled adverse to the Firm’s client. However, the Firm appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed with the Firm’s position, and reversed the ruling of the Trial Court that required the filing fee. As such the Motion was reinstated.
The appellate decision is reported as 2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 601,* TREND STITCHERS, LLC v. WHEELER. A11A0581. A copy of the decision may be found here.