Opinion
A23A0409
10-19-2022
MELANIE LAWSON v. DARIN W. MITCHELL, JR.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Plaintiff Melanie Lawson filed this direct appeal from the trial court's order denying her motion to enforce a settlement agreement. According to Lawson, the order was the de facto grant of summary judgment, which may be appealed directly. We disagree.
Lawson does not contend the case is final, which would entitle her to a direct appeal in accordance with OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1). Rather, she relies upon OCGA § 9-11-56 (h), which permits a direct appeal from the partial grant of summary judgment. Contrary to Lawson's contention, however, a trial court's order denying a motion to enforce a settlement agreement does not constitute the grant of partial summary judgment. "A motion for summary judgment is designed to test the merits of a claim." Forest City Gun Club v. Chatham County, 280 Ga.App. 219, 221 (633 S.E.2d 623) (2006) (punctuation omitted). Where, as here, the motion at issue did not seek to dispose of any claim, the ruling on the motion does not constitute a viable grant of summary judgment. See Nugent v. Myles, 350 Ga.App. 442, 445-446 (1) (a) (829 S.E.2d 623) (2019).
Lawson filed a prior appeal from an order granting in part and denying in part motions for summary judgment. In an unpublished opinion, we affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instruction. See Case No. A20A1515 (Nov. 2, 2020). That opinion left claims pending below, and it appears those claims have not been resolved.
Because the case remains pending before the trial court - and because the order is not otherwise directly appealable - Lawson was required to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures in order to appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); Forest City Gun Club, 280 Ga.App. at 221 . Her failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.