No. 21-1277

David Allen O'Neal v. Crawford County, Georgia

Lower Court: Georgia
Docketed: 2022-03-23
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: attorney-fees bankruptcy bankruptcy-court civil-procedure county-employee county-liability personal-jurisdiction third-party-release third-party-releases void-judgment
Key Terms:
AdministrativeLaw Immigration
Latest Conference: 2022-05-19
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a judgment against a county employee in his official capacity is unenforceable without personal jurisdiction over the attorney

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Under the Georgia Supreme Court Ruling in Lue v. Eady, 297 Ga. 321, 773 S.E. 2d 679 (GA 2015), a suit filed against a county employee in his official capacity is, in essence a claim against the county. Enforcement against an attorney for attorney fees requires personal jurisdiction. Under Williams v. Williams, 340 Ga. App 740, 798 S.E. 2d. 323 (Ga. App 2017), “a void judgment is one that has a defect apparent on its face.” A bankruptcy court can release a third-party debt, even though jurisdictions are split. For example, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in the case In re Seaside Engineering, 780 F.3d 1070 (11th Cir. 2015), affirmed a Chapter 11 plan containing non-consensual third-party releases over the objection of the debtor's equity holder. The questions presented are: 1. Without personal jurisdiction over the attorney, where the judgment against the County paid attorney is really a judgment against the County, isn’t such a debt unenforceable? 2. Cana bankruptcy court invalidate a third-party debt? il STATEMENT OF

Docket Entries

2022-08-01
Rehearing DENIED.
2022-07-07
DISTRIBUTED.
2022-06-17
2022-05-23
Petition DENIED.
2022-05-03
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/19/2022.
2022-04-25
Reply of petitioner David Allen O’Neal filed.
2022-04-13
Brief of respondent Crawford County, GA in opposition filed.
2022-03-16
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 22, 2022)
2022-02-09
Application (21A409) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until March 18, 2022.
2022-01-14
Application (21A409) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 17, 2022 to March 18, 2022, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

Crawford County, GA
Daniel Lewis WilderLaw Office of Emmett L. Goodman, Jr. LLC, Respondent
David Allen O’Neal
Bonnie Michelle SmithMichelle Smith Attorney at Law, Petitioner