Hill v. First Atlantic Bank, 323 Ga. App. 731

First Atlantic sued Hill on a promissory note; case later moved to Camden County Superior Court.
Atwood, Hill's attorney and a state representative, obtained a legislative stay under OCGA § 9-10-150.
The stay applied during the General Assembly session and extended to hearings and proceedings.
A summary judgment hearing was scheduled during a regular session; Atwood obtained a continuance, then a later hearing date was set while the Assembly was in session.
The trial court ultimately granted summary judgment for First Atlantic; Hill appealed, arguing the legislative stay could not be overridden.
The court held the trial court erred in proceeding without Atwood and reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court could proceed despite the legislative stay	Hill argues stay barred the hearing.	First Atlantic argues stay may be overridden if other counsel is available.	Judgment reversed; court must honor the stay.
How OCGA § 9-10-150 should be interpreted	Staff must be lead counsel to invoke stay; member has broader protection.	Statute should be read to allow override when another attorney is available.	Staff lead-counsel requirement; members of General Assembly have broader protections; stay cannot be overridden in this case.
Effect of legislative history on the statute	History supports the broader interpretation of stay protections.	History does not alter the plain text requiring stay for certain officials.	History supports interpretation that favors broader stay protections for legislators.

Echols v. A.G. Thomas, 265 Ga. 474 (Ga. 1995) (interprets mandatory nature of statutory terms in stay contexts)
Haugen v. Henry County, 277 Ga. 743 (Ga. 2004) (‘shall’ indicating mandatory requirement for stay provisions)
Brantley Land & Timber v. W & D Investments, 316 Ga. App. 277 (Ga. App. 2012) (reaffirming statutory interpretation approach in Georgia)