Gold Kist, Inc. v. Wilson

I concur in the judgment that the case must be remanded for findings of fact and conclusions of law to be made by the trial judge. This is so because the law requires the court to do so “upon request of any party made prior to such ruling.” OCGA § 9-11-52 (a). The statute uses the word “shall.” The statutory requirement is an instance of procedural due process, designed not only to assure that the court as the sole factfinder and law applicator had an evidentiary basis for its understanding of the facts but also to allow appellate review of its legal conclusions applied to those facts. The…