Real Estate & Property Law

Judge ponders consolidating

By Alan Ackerman

Gwinnett Daily Post

A judge will consider consolidating two cases involving a controversial land deal to buy property for the McGinnis Ferry Road extension.

Tony Powell, an attorney representing Old Peachtree Partners, asked Judge Debra Turner to consolidate the breach of contract case the county filed when the partners backed out of the contract with the county's condemnation case filed a year later.
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But Deputy County Attorney Mike Ludwiczak said combining the two 'simple' cases would create 'one mess of a case that is fraught with danger.'

'I just don't have the time to try it twice,' Turner said before the arguments were complete.
    
There is always a problem in trying to obtain a resolution by negotiated settlement if the settlement is later offered as part of the litigation when the resolution breaks down.  Most jurisdictions maintain that settlement negotiations are not admissible for that specific reason.

Conflicting with the policy barring proposed settlements and negotiations is the notion that cases should be consolidated in the best interest of justice and for the proper running of the courts.  The simple notion by the Georgia trial court judge that the court 'did not have time to try the case twice'is not a rational basis for consolidation.  Court time alone should not be the sole consideration. 

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on November 14, 2009 (boomark / email).