ANNOUNCEMENTS

On June 9, 2010, the Court of Appeals en banc passed an Administrative order that says, the Court of Appeals will accept for consideration on the merits of any appeal any record or substitute therefor which the Supreme Court of Georgia accepts under its rules. The applicable Supreme Court rules are Supreme Court Rules 67 and 69. The Court of Appeals plans to have on its website soon an explanation of how these rules should be applied in the Court of Appeals and guidelines for preparing the record appendix.

We appreciate your patience as we continue to work on the best way to receive the record appendix from counsel.

Chief Judge M. Yvette Miller announced that the Court of Appeals of Georgia has adopted a rule which will offset that portion of House Bill 1055 which would raise the per page record preparation fee in statewide appeals. Chief Judge Miller said this is a temporary measure which will alleviate the burdensome effect on the public and the attorneys of having to pay a $10.00 per page record preparation fee which would in essence deprive certain persons of free and equal access to the appellate Courts.

Chief Judge Miller said the Court considered the rule adopted by the Georgia Supreme Court, met with legislative and Bar leaders and determined that since the Supreme Court has adopted a new rule it would be judicious and prudent for the Court of Appeals also to adopt a rule to ameliorate the harsh effect of HB 1055. An amendment to Court of Appeals Rule 17 was adopted by the Court and will provide as follows:

“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these rules, this Court will accept for consideration on the merits of any appeal any record or substitute therefor which the Supreme Court of Georgia accepts under its rules.”

Chief Judge Miller said the rule goes into effect immediately.

Oral argument in A10A1452 Catherine Jane Johnson Kesterson, et al v. Walter Jarrett, et al has been rescheduled to Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in the Court of Appeals Courtroom located in Room 617 of the State Judicial building located at 40 Mithcell Street, Atlanta, Georgia.

Judge M. Yvette Miller, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia, announced today that William L. Martin, III, the Court’s Clerk and Court Administrator, has decided to retire from the Court effective August 1, 2010. Chief Judge Miller in speaking for all of the judges on the Court said she regretted to see Martin tender his resignation because he has done an excellent job leading the Court for many years. The judges reluctantly accepted Martin’s resignation. Martin said that other than the judges, he is the highest paid employee on the Court and due to budget cuts, the Court will have to operate its fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1, 2010, with $935,000 less than it had to operate last year.

Martin came to the Court on January 1, 1994 as the sixth Clerk and the first ever Court Administrator of the Court. Prior to that time, Martin had served as the District Court Administrator for the Seventh Judicial Administrative District from 1981 until his tenure with the Court of Appeals. Martin is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and practiced law in Bremen, Georgia and Douglasville, Georgia from 1974 until July 1, 1981 when he became associated with the Seventh Judicial Administrative District.

The portrait dedication for Judge G. Alan Blackburn, who is retiring from the Court of Appeals of Georgia, will be held at 2:00 p.m., June 29, 2010, in the Courtroom of the Court of Appeals on the 6th floor of the State Judicial Building. The public is invited.

Beginning January 1, 2010, copying costs in the Court of Appeals of Georgia will be $1.50 per page. No longer will there be a minimum $5.00 charge for opinions of 5 pages or less.

The cost for a copy of an Index will remain $4.00. Also, the cost of a Case History will remain $4.00.

All attorneys representing litigants in the Court of Appeals of Georgia are eligible to register with the court to submit briefs electronically. Chief Judge M. Yvette Miller announced the Court's EFAST system, tested during the month of November, is on line today.

The effective date of the bill is July 1st, 2009. Any appellants’ briefs in civil cases or civil applications filed with the Court of Appeals of Georgia on or after July 1st, 2009 must be accompanied by the $300.00 filing fee or a sufficient pauper’s affidavit.

Pursuant to OCGA §5-6-4, the clerk is prohibited from receiving the application for appeal or the Brief of the Appellant unless the costs have been paid or a sufficient affidavit of indigence is filed or contained in the record.

For a copy of the as passed version of the bill, go to: http://www.legis.state.ga.us; click on Legislation, enter HB 283 and hit “Retrieve the Bill”.

Chief Judge Miller will have an investiture on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. The ceremony will be held in the House Chambers of the State Capitol. Presiding Judge Andrews of the Court of Appeals will administer the Oath of Chief Judge to Judge Miller.

Judge Miller has been on the Court since July 12, 1999 when she was appointed by then Governor Roy Barnes. She has been elected statewide by the voters of Georgia on two occasions.

Prior to her service on the Court of Appeals of Georgia, Judge Miller was serving as a state court judge in Fulton County. She has also served as an administrative law judge with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation and served as the Director and Judge of the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, being the first African American woman, and the youngest person ever to hold that position.

Judge Miller is a native Georgian who was raised in Macon, Georgia. She is the daughter of Patricia Miller and the late Conrad N. Miller. She has one sibling, a brother, Dr. Conrad N. Miller, Jr. of Macon.

Judge Miller received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in 1980. She earned a LLM Degree in Litigation from Emory University School of Law in 1988 and a LLM Degree in Judicial Process from University of Virginia School of Law in 2004. Judge Miller is a member of several Bar Associations including the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Gate City Bar, the Lamar Inn of Court and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, to name a few.

Judge Miller resides in Cobb County and is a member of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta.

The web docket on the Court's website is now running on real time along with the Court's docket. Therefore, you can see that an opinion has been issued as soon as the Court dockets the opinion. Once an opinion is issued, it is immediately processed and mailed to the parties.

Parties are welcome to come to the clerk's office and obtain a copy of the opinion as soon as it is issued. Copies of opinions will be charged at a minimum $5.00 plus $1.00 per page for copies more than five pages.

If you purchase a copy of the opinion in the clerk's office, the copy mailed to you will not be removed from outgoing mail, so you will receive a copy in the mail.

The clerk's office does not have the time or personnel to extract your opinions from the mail.