McHugh Fuller Law Group, PLLC v. PruittHealth-Toccoa, LLC

Summary

The Georgia Supreme Court held that a trial court improperly granted permanent injunctive relief after an interlocutory hearing without clear notice that the merits would be decided. The Court also held that the trial court erred by excluding filings made before the notice of appeal from the appellate record. The permanent injunction was vacated and remanded for further proceedings, while the appellate-record order was reversed.

Holdings

1. A trial court generally may not enter permanent injunctive relief after an interlocutory hearing unless the merits trial was properly advanced and consolidated with that hearing and the parties received fair and unambiguous notice and an opportunity to be heard on permanent relief. Because McHugh Fuller lacked such notice, the permanent injunction was improperly entered.
2. When an appellant requests that nothing be omitted from the record, the trial court may not exclude filings made in the trial court before the notice of appeal merely because they were submitted after the order being appealed or may be irrelevant to the appellate issues. The appellate record must include the designated portions of the clerk's record and conform to the truth.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court could grant permanent injunctive relief at the conclusion of an interlocutory hearing without clear notice that it would decide the merits of permanent relief.
2. Whether the trial court could exclude from the appellate record filings made in the trial court after entry of the injunction but before the notice of appeal.

Disposition

other