What is an interlocutory appeal?

It is an appeal of a ruling taken before the case is over — while the matter is still pending in the trial court. Because it interrupts ongoing litigation, Georgia allows it only through a special procedure under O.C.G.A. § 5-6-34(b) that requires both the trial court's certification that the issue warrants immediate review and the appellate court's permission to hear it. It is the route for the mid-case ruling that is too important to leave uncorrected until final judgment.

How long do I have to pursue an interlocutory appeal?

Two short deadlines control. The trial judge must issue a certificate of immediate review within 10 days of entering the order, and once that certificate is entered, you have 10 days to file your application with the appellate court. Both windows are jurisdictional, and the first begins the moment the order is entered. Because the timeline is so compressed, an interlocutory appeal has to be evaluated and pursued almost immediately.

What if the trial judge won't issue the certificate?

Then the interlocutory route is generally closed, and the issue usually must wait to be raised in a direct appeal after final judgment. There are limited exceptions for certain kinds of orders that are appealable on their own, but as a rule, no certificate means no interlocutory appeal. We assess at the outset whether the certificate is realistically obtainable and what your alternatives are if it is not.

How likely is the application to be granted?

Interlocutory review is granted sparingly — appellate courts are protective of the rule against piecemeal appeals and take up only the rulings that genuinely justify interrupting a case. That makes the quality and focus of the application decisive. We will give you a candid assessment of where your ruling falls before you commit, rather than filing on long odds without telling you they are long.

Interlocutory Appeals | Resurgens Legal Counsel

Q: What does the trial court have to certify?

That the order is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had — specifically, that it involves a controlling question of law on which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and that an immediate appeal may materially advance the end of the litigation. The certificate is the gateway: without it, the appellate court cannot consider the appeal, no matter how strong the underlying issue.

An appeal before the case is over

Most appeals come after a final judgment. An interlocutory appeal is the exception: it is how you ask an appellate court to review a significant ruling while the case is still pending in the trial court. Because it interrupts an ongoing case, Georgia makes it hard to get—it requires clearing two gates, under a procedure set out in O.C.G.A. § 5-6-34(b), and it runs on deadlines short enough that hesitation alone can forfeit the right.

Resurgens Legal Counsel handles interlocutory appeals to the Court of Appeals of Georgia and the Supreme Court of Georgia, both for cases we are litigating and for trial counsel who need experienced appellate hands on a mid-case ruling. These are time-compressed, high-stakes filings, and they reward a lawyer who can frame a single controlling question with precision and speed.

When immediate review is worth seeking

Not every adverse ruling justifies stopping the case to appeal it. The interlocutory procedure is built for the order that is both wrong and consequential enough that waiting until the end would do real damage. To certify an order for immediate review, the trial court must find that it involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and that an immediate appeal may materially advance the termination of the litigation.

Rulings that sometimes fit that standard include:

Denials of dispositive motions—motions to dismiss or for summary judgment—that should have ended the case
Decisions on jurisdiction, venue, or whether a claim belongs in arbitration
Significant evidentiary rulings, including the admission or exclusion of evidence that will shape the trial
Disputes over privilege and the compelled disclosure of protected material

The judgment call is whether the issue is worth the cost and delay of an interlocutory appeal, or whether it is better preserved for a direct appeal after final judgment. We give you a straight answer on that before the clock forces the decision.

The two ten-day deadlines

The interlocutory procedure turns on two short, unforgiving windows:

The certificate of immediate review. The trial judge must certify the order for immediate review within 10 days of its entry. Without that certificate, the appellate court has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal—full stop.
The application to the appellate court. Once the certificate is entered, you have 10 days to file an application for interlocutory appeal with the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, asking it to take the case.

The appellate court then decides, in its discretion, whether to grant the application; it generally must act within 45 days. If it grants review, the case proceeds much like a direct appeal. Both ten-day deadlines are jurisdictional, and the first one starts running the moment the order is entered—which is why an interlocutory appeal is a decision that has to be made almost immediately, not after weeks of deliberation.

What we do

We move on the timeline the statute imposes. That means evaluating the ruling and the odds quickly, persuading the trial court to issue the certificate where the standard is met, and preparing an application that makes the case for review in a tight, self-contained package—jurisdictional statement, the controlling question, and the record material the court needs, assembled to the appellate court’s rules. Where we are brought in by trial counsel, we handle the appellate piece without disrupting the case below.

How we approach an interlocutory appeal

The application is the whole ballgame. Interlocutory and discretionary filings do not get the time and attention a fully briefed direct appeal receives, so the argument has to land fast and clean. We lead with the controlling question, frame it around the standard of review, and make the court’s path to granting review as easy as possible. We are also candid about the odds: interlocutory review is granted sparingly, and we will tell you honestly whether your ruling is the kind the appellate courts tend to take up—and what waiting for a direct appeal would mean if it is not.

When to call

Immediately. With a 10-day clock running from the moment the order is entered, an interlocutory appeal is one of the few legal decisions where a delay of even a few days can be fatal. If you have just received a ruling you believe is both wrong and serious enough that the case should not proceed without correcting it, call before the window closes.

Atlanta Interlocutory Appeals Attorney