Discovery Disputes. U.S.C.R. 6.4(B), the rule requiring the filing of a certificate that a moving party has made a good faith attempt to resolve the controversy, now applies to motions to quash, motions for protective orders, and cases in which no discovery has been provided.

Motions for Reconsideration - Time for Response. After a party prevails on an original motion and the opponent files a motion for reconsideration, the prevailing party may not be entitled to 30 days to respond to the motion. Butler v. Bolton Road Partners, 222 Ga. App. 791 (1996).

Dismissal - Multiple Defendants. A party may not use a voluntary dismissal under Section 41 of the Civil Practice Act to dismiss claims against fewer than all defendants, but must obtain an order dropping parties under Section 21. Manning v. Robertson, 223 Ga. App. 139 (1996) (cert. pending).

Dismissal and Renewal. To obtain the right to renew a suit after voluntary dismissal, the plaintiff must pay all costs, including outstanding juror fees, and not just the costs collected by the clerk's office. Butler v. Bolton Road Partners, 222 Ga. App. 791 (1996).

Sequestration. The Court of Appeals clarified the practice of witness sequestration, ruling that OCGA § 24-9-61 gives parties a right to have the opponent's witnesses examined outside the presence of each other, but the trial court has inherent authority to require all witnesses not to listen to the testimony of all other witnesses or communicate with other witnesses about their testimony. Gray v. State, 222 Ga. App. 626 (1996). Thus one party has no right to bar the other party's expert from hearing the testimony of one side's witnesses, but the trial court may do so in the exercise of its discretion.

Motions to Strike - Timeliness. Overturning early cases that allowed a side to move to strike "illegal" (as opposed to "secondary") evidence at any time before the jury retired to deliberate, the Supreme Court required that objections to testimony be made contemporaneously and disallowed the use of a later motion to strike as procedural tool to object to evidence, except in cases where the evidence was inadmissible because it was obtained in violation of a criminal defendant's constitutional rights. Sharpe v. DOT, 267 Ga. 267 (1996).

Evidence - Federal Limits on State Courts. Reversing a case noted earlier here, the Supreme Court held that Congress has the power to preempt state rules of evidence. City of Atlanta v. Watson, 267 Ga. 185 (1996).

Evidence - Chemical Blood Tests. The statutory requirement that the State prove the qualifications of the person who draws blood is not satisfied by testimony from another that a nurse drew the blood; non-hearsay evidence must establish that the person who drew the blood has the proper legal qualifications. Carr v. State, 222 Ga. App. 776 (1996).

Evidence - DUI. The Court of Appeals held that field sobriety tests, particularly the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, have reached the stage of verifiable certainty in the scientific community so that evidence of the tests may be introduced without expert testimony as a foundation. Hawkins v. State, 223 Ga. App. 34 (1996) (cert. pending).

Argument - Failure to Call Witnesses. Disapproving suggestions in earlier cases, the Supreme Court held that a defendant may comment in closing argument on the failure of the prosecution to call a witness who has been shown to have knowledge of material and relevant facts. That the witness is on a witness list is insufficient to prove the requisite knowledge to justify the argument. Morgan v. State, 267 Ga. 203 (1996).

Argument - Defendant's Probable Future Behavior. Overruling an earlier case, the Supreme Court held that a prosecutor may not comment on the defendant's probable future behavior in the guilt-innocence phase of a trial. Sterling v. State, 267 Ga. 209 (1996).

Vehicular Negligence. A jury instruction that a driver has no absolute duty to control the vehicle to stop it in time to avoid a collision is erroneous in cases of violation of a statute requiring a driver to stop. Fouts v. Builders Transport, Inc., 222 Ga. App. 568 (1996).

Uninsured Motorist - Defense in Own Name. When an uninsured motorist carrier defends in its own name, the plaintiff must prove the policy and that the other driver was uninsured in order to prevail under a policy of uninsured motorist coverage. Williams v. Safeway Ins. Co., 223 Ga. App. 93 (1996).

Uninsured Motorist - Renewal. If the defendant driver becomes uninsured after the expiration of the statute of limitation, a plaintiff may cure the failure to serve an uninsured motorist carrier within the period of the limitation by serving the carrier, dismissing before a ruling on the carrier's statute of limitation defense, and filing a renewal action with timely service on the carrier. Reid v. U. S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 223 Ga. App. 204 (1996) (cert. pending).

Open Records - Sufficiency of Compliance. The Supreme Court held that an agency required to maintain open records complies with a request to view records by granting reasonable access to files in its custody, and is not required to search through all its files for complying documents. Felker v. Lukemire, 267 Ga. 296 (1996) (agency complied by granting access allowing party to view one box of documents, though it discovered four more boxes after suit was filed).

Commercial Accounts - Interest. A creditor may not charge 1.5% interest per month under OCGA § 7-4-16 on prior balances that include interest, at least in the absence of a contractual agreement authorizing the charge. Haughton v. Namano, Inc., 222 Ga. App. 644 (1996).