Pfeiffer v. Georgia Department of Transportation, 275 Ga. 827

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia held that, absent special circumstances, a party opposing summary judgment generally may not raise new legal arguments for the first time on appeal. The court affirmed summary judgment for the Georgia Department of Transportation in a wrongful-death action arising from a construction-project accident. Two justices dissented, concluding that appellate review of summary judgment should focus on the record and the movant’s evidentiary burden rather than the arguments raised below.

Holdings

1. Absent special circumstances, an appellate court need not consider legal arguments raised for the first time on appeal from a summary-judgment ruling.
2. Dental One does not authorize a party to raise new legal issues on appeal, but a nonmovant may argue on appeal that the record lacks facts supporting summary judgment when the movant bore the trial burden of proof and the record itself fails to establish entitlement to judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Court of Appeals properly refused to consider legal arguments supporting reversal of summary judgment that Pfeiffer had not raised in the trial court.
2. Whether a nonmovant opposing summary judgment may raise on appeal a new legal argument that the movant failed to establish its evidentiary entitlement to summary judgment.

Disposition

affirmed