Patterson v. Ellerbee

Because I believe that the trial court erred in dismissing the claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim before considering whether the complaint met the requirements for a class action pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-23 (a), I must respectfully dissent.

The majority argues that the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction because Patterson should have pursued this issue and exhausted her legal remedies in the juvenile court, and that her failure to do so divests the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction. Failure to exhaust all available legal…