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Elizabeth K. Glass, As Next Friend Of Ashley Glass Et Al.v.Phillip D. Faircloth Et Al.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A21A1737
DecidedMarch 10, 2022
Reporter354 Ga. App. 326
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilBusiness LawProperty LawFiduciary DutyCivil ProcedurePreliminary InjunctionVacaturRemand
Case Summary

Beneficiaries of the Glass Dynasty Trust challenged an order requiring the Trust to continue advancing attorney fees for former trustees Phillip Faircloth and Ted Sexton. The Trust held substantial assets, and the beneficiaries alleged that the trustees had improperly paid themselves millions of dollars in compensation and expenses. An earlier order had denied an interlocutory injunction but had not affirmatively required ongoing fee payments. The trial court later treated its enforcement order as merely implementing that earlier ruling and directed continuing payments without applying the legal standard for a new injunction. The Court of Appeals of Georgia held that the order was, in substance, a new mandatory interlocutory injunction and was directly appealable. Because the trial court had not considered irreparable injury, balancing of harms, likelihood of success, and the public interest, the appellate court could not perform that discretionary analysis in the first instance. It vacated the enforcement order and remanded for the trial court to apply the proper injunction framework.

Opinion

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