Floyd v. First Union National Bank

I respectfully dissent. Although appellants in this case specifically prayed for both punitive damages and attorney fees, their complaint demanded judgment on both those claims only “in an amount to be determined at trial” rather than in a specific dollar amount. OCGA § 9-11-54 (c) (1) provides that “[a] judgment by default shall not be different in kind from or exceed in amount that prayed for in the demand for judgment.” (Emphasis supplied.) “[T]his court has recognized that the reason for [OCGA § 9-11-54 (c) (1)] is that it would be fundamentally unfair to have the complaint lead defendant…