Pittman v. Harbin Clinic Professional Ass'n, s. S93A0675
| Decision Date | 16 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | Nos. S93A0675,S93X0678,S93A0677 and S93X0679,s. S93A0675 |
| Citation | 263 Ga. 66,428 S.E.2d 328 |
| Parties | PITTMAN, et al. v. HARBIN CLINIC PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION. HARBIN CLINIC PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION v. PITTMAN. HARBIN CLINIC PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION v. HERRING. HERRING, et al. v. HARBIN CLINIC PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Bobby Lee Cook, Cook & Palmour, Summerville, Irwin W. Stolz, Jr., Seaton D. Purdom, Gambrell, Clark, Anderson & Stolz, Atlanta, for Pittman and Herring.
C. King Askew, Mark M.J. Webb, Brinson, Askew, Berry, Seigler, Richardson & Davis, Rome, for Harbin Clinic Professional Ass'n.
These appeals and cross-appeals have been filed concerning restrictive covenants in employment contracts between physicians and the Harbin Clinic Professional Association. The trial court upheld the restrictive covenants in the contracts of two Harbin Clinic partners and invalidated the restrictive covenants in the employment contracts of the doctors who were not partners. All parties invoke the appellate jurisdiction of this court based on the trial court's grant and denial of injunctions. Because any equitable relief is ancillary to the underlying issue of the construction of the contracts, we transfer these cases to the Court of Appeals.
In Beauchamp v. Knight, 261 Ga. 608, 409 S.E.2d 208 (1991), we explained that whether an action is an equity case for the purpose of invoking appellate jurisdiction in this court depends on the issue raised on appeal. "Cases in which the grant or denial of [equitable] relief was merely ancillary to underlying issues of law, or would have been a matter of routine once the underlying issues of law were resolved, are not 'equity cases.' " Id. at 609, 409 S.E.2d 208. The primary question to be answered in each of these cases is whether the trial court properly construed the contracts. Although the parties sought equitable relief, both the orders enjoining the partners from violating their contracts and the orders denying the injunctive relief were secondary to the principal issue of the construction of the contracts--an issue of law. See id. at 610, 409 S.E.2d 208. Accordingly, these cases are transferred to the Court of Appeals. 1
Transferred to Court of Appeals.
All the Justices concur.
1 Likewise, fact issues as to the existence of or breach of such a contract would ordinarily lie within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals.
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...resolved, are not equity cases."9 Beauchamp's guidelines for this Court's exercise of equity jurisdiction were refined in Pittman v. Harbin Clinic Professional Assn.,10 which involved a claim for injunctive relief based upon restrictive covenants found in employment contracts between physic......
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...Compare Redfearn v. Huntcliff Homes Assn., 271 Ga. 745, 524 S.E.2d 464 (1999) (restrictive covenants); Pittman v. Harbin Clinic Professional Assn., 263 Ga. 66, 428 S.E.2d 328 (1993) (restrictive covenants); Beauchamp v. Knight, supra (venue in a boundary-line dispute). Likewise, only this C......
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...464 (1999); Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Medical Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 178–179, 476 S.E.2d 587 (1996); Pittman v. Harbin Clinic Professional Assn., 263 Ga. 66, 66, 428 S.E.2d 328 (1993). The parties and the dissent contend that because the resolution of these cases will affect the administra......
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..."Thus, the transfer of the interlocutory application in this case to the Court of Appeals pursuant to Pittman [v. Harbin Clinic Professional Assn., 263 Ga. 66, 428 S.E.2d 328 (1993), was simply a binding determination that it is not an `equity' case within [the Supreme Court's] general appe......
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Georgia's Constitutional Scheme for State Appellate Jurisdiction
...Bank v. DeKalb County, 239 Ga. 398, 2236 S.E.2d 757 (1977). 42. 261 Ga. 608, 409 S.E.2d 208 (1991). 43. Id. at 609, 409 S.E.2d at 209. 44. 263 Ga. 66, 428 S.E.2d 328 (1993). 45. 272 Ga. 107, 527 S.E.2d 204 (2000). 46. Lewis v. Board. of Educ., 183 Ga. 687, 690, 189 S.E. 233, 234 (1936) (cit......