This appeal stems from an action brought by appellant Marshall Wall in Lee County Superior Court against the appellee, Judge James Thurman, a magistrate judge in Lee County. Wall alleged that, during a warrant-application hearing, Judge Thurman violated his constitutional rights and issued bond conditions that were beyond Judge Thurman’s jurisdiction. Wall was, and still is, represented by appellant James Finkelstein. In Case No. S08A0549, the appellants appeal from, among other things, orders of the trial court denying the appellants’ motion to recuse the trial court, dismissing Wall’s action, ruling that Finkelstein was liable for the appellee’s attorney fees, and restricting Finkelstein’s ability to practice law. In Case No. S08A0550, the appellants appeal from an order setting the amount of attorney fees. For the reasons that follow, in Case No. S08A0549, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in part and reverse it in part, and in Case No. S08A0550, we reverse. 1. Wall filed his complaint in December 2006, and filed a voluntary dismissal of his action on May 17, 2007.1 The trial court’s orders that are the subject of these appeals were entered on August 21, August 24, and October 8, 2007. The appellants contend that the trial court was without authority to enter these orders. The appellants reason that, once Wall had voluntarily dismissed his action on May 17, 2007, the trial court was deprived of jurisdiction to take any further action in the case with the exception that, under OCGA § 9-15-14 b,2 the trial court had forty-five days, or until July 2, 2007, in which to enter an order on attorney fees.
We conclude that the trial court had the authority to enter the orders in question. In numerous cases, we have held that, under our voluntary dismissal statute, OCGA § 9-11-41 a, a trial court’s announcement of its decision on the merits of the case precludes a voluntary dismissal.3 ” ‘The principle at the foundation of these decisions is that after a party has taken the chances of litigation and knows what is the actual result reached in the suit by the tribunal which is to pass upon it, he can not, by exercising his right of voluntary dismissal, deprive the opposite party of the victory thus gained.’ “ 4 Here, on May 4, 2007, the trial court communicated its decision to the parties to dismiss Wall’s action in its entirety and to award attorney fees. Because the trial court communicated its decision on the merits of Wall’s action before Wall filed his voluntary dismissal, the voluntary dismissal was ineffective.5
