Opinion
A22A1132
04-28-2022
RYAN BAXTER v. NATIONAL CREDIT SYSTEMS, INC. et al.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In this civil action, plaintiff Ryan Baxter filed this direct appeal from a trial court order denying his application to vacate and remand an arbitration order and granting defendants' motion to lift stay and confirm the arbitration award. We lack jurisdiction.
"[T]his Court has no jurisdiction to consider an appeal taken from a reviewing court's order confirming an arbitration award; rather, upon entry of the court's order confirming the award, a separate judgment must also be entered by the reviewing court, and this Court has jurisdiction to consider an appeal taken from the judgment." Green Tree Servicing, LLC v. Jones, 333 Ga.App. 184, 184 (1) (775 S.E.2d 714) (2015) (citing OCGA §§ 5-6-34 (a), 9-9-15, and 9-9-16); see also McFarland v. Roberts, 335 Ga.App. 40, 47 (1), n. 4 (778 S.E.2d 349) (2015) ("An order simply confirming an arbitration award is not a final, appealable judgment . . . ."). Although the confirmation order and judgment may be entered on the same document, see Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 333 Ga.App. at 185 (1), the trial court here did not enter a final judgment in the order confirming the arbitration award, and no final judgment appears in the record.
Where no final judgment has been entered, parties are required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures - including obtaining a certificate of immediate review from the trial court - to appeal the order confirming the arbitration award. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); Boyd v. State, 191 Ga.App. 435, 435 (383 S.E.2d 906) (1989). Baxter's failure to do so here deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Bailey v. Bailey, 266 Ga. 832, 833 (471 S.E.2d 213) (1996).