Following the entry of default judgment establishing liability in this personal injury case, defendant Latoria Newsome moved to set aside the judgment on the ground that she was never properly served with process. The trial court denied the motion, denied Newsome’s related motion to dismiss the action, denied her request to conduct any discovery, denied her request for oral argument on these motions, and further granted plaintiff Jim Johnson’s motion for attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. With leave of this Court, Newsome appeals the orders, arguing primarily that the trial court erred in finding she was properly served. Because some evidence supported a finding of proper service, we affirm the order denying the motions to set aside and to dismiss. We also affirm the order denying oral argument on these motions. However, as conceded by Johnson, we must vacate the order awarding attorney fees in that the court failed to hold a hearing, to make findings of fact, or to designate which subsection of OCGA § 9-15-14 supported the award; we accordingly remand the case with the instruction that the court follow the requisite procedures in determining this issue. As also conceded by Johnson, we must reverse the discovery order insofar as it precludes Newsome from conducting any discovery on damages, as that issue remains to be tried before a jury. The essential facts are undisputed. Following a July 2007 auto collision in which Newsome allegedly rear-ended Johnson, Johnson in September 2008 filed a personal-injury action against Newsome an Alabama resident in a Georgia superior court. A nonparty private process server over the age of 18 tried repeatedly to serve Newsome, speaking with her several times on the phone and setting up times to meet her at her self-described Alabama residence to serve process. She was not there each time. In late February 2009, the process server eventually did appear at Newsome’s residence when she was home and spoke to her through a closed opaque door, receiving verbal confirmation that she was Newsome; nevertheless, she refused to open the door or to show herself even though the process server announced that he only intended to serve her with legal documents. She instructed him to leave the documents at the door; he agreed, attaching the documents to the door and leaving. The initial affidavit of service was filed on May 1, 2009, which was amended by a more detailed affidavit on July 22, 2009. See OCGA § 9-11-4 i.
When Newsome failed to file an answer more than two months after service, Johnson successfully moved for default judgment on the issue of liability. Three weeks following entry of default judgment, Newsome filed an answer and requested the opportunity to conduct discovery. When Johnson then moved to strike the answer as untimely, Newsome moved to set aside the default judgment, to dismiss the action for insufficient service, and to have the trial court hear oral argument on the motions. Johnson opposed Newsome’s motions and also filed a motion for attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. Without conducting any hearing, the trial court struck Newsome’s untimely answer, denied Newsome’s motions to set aside the default judgment and to dismiss the action for want of proper service, denied Newsome the right to conduct any discovery, denied Newsome’s request for oral argument, and awarded Johnson attorney fees in the amount of $5,000. With leave of this Court, Newsome appeals these orders.
