Ga. Unif. Super. Ct. R. 17.1

(A) An attorney shall not be deemed to have a conflict unless:

(1) the attorney is lead counsel and/or has been subpoenaed as a witness in two or more actions;

and

(2) the attorney certifies that the matters cannot be adequately handled and the client’s interest

adequately protected by other counsel for the party in the action or by other attorneys in lead

counsel’s firm; certifies that in spite of compliance with this rule, the attorney has been unable to

resolve these conflicts; and certifies in the notice a proposed resolution by list of such cases in

the order of priority specified by this rule.

(B) When an attorney is scheduled for a day certain by trial calendar, special setting, court order

(including a subpoena compelling his or her appearance to testify), scheduling order issued by

the Hearing Panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, or written invitation issued by the

Investigative Panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission to appear in two or more courts

(trial or appellate; state or federal) or any proceeding or meeting before either Panel of the

Judicial Qualifications Commission, the attorney shall give prompt written notice as specified in

(A) above of the conflict to opposing counsel, to the clerk of each court and to the judge before

whom each action is set for hearing (or, to an appropriate judge if there has been no designation

of a presiding judge). The written notice shall contain the attorney’s proposed resolution of the

appearance conflicts in accordance with the priorities established by this rule and shall set forth

the order of cases to be tried with a listing of the date and data required by (B)(1)-(4) as to each

case arranged in the order in which the cases should prevail under this rule. In the absence of

objection from opposing counsel or the courts affected, the proposed order of conflict resolution

shall stand as offered. Should a judge wish to change the order of cases to be tried, such notice

shall be given promptly after agreement is reached between the affected judges.

Attorneys confronted by such conflicts are expected to give written notice such that it will be

received at least seven days prior to the date of conflict.

Absent agreement, conflicts shall be promptly resolved by the judge or the clerk of each affected

court in accordance with the following order of priorities:

(1) Criminal (felony), all proceedings or meetings before either Panel of the Judicial

Qualifications Commission, and habeas actions shall prevail over civil actions. Criminal actions

in which a demand for speedy trial has been timely filed pursuant to OCGA §§ 17-7-170 and/or

17-7-171 shall automatically take precedence over all other actions unless otherwise directed by

the court in which the speedy trial demand is pending;

(2) Jury trials and all proceedings or meetings before either Panel of the Judicial Qualifications

Commission shall prevail over non-jury matters, including trials and administrative proceedings;

(3) Within the category of non-jury matters, the following order of priority shall apply: (a)

hearings with dependency case time limitations required by OCGA § 15-11-102 and termination

of parental rights hearings, (b) trials, and (c) all other non-jury matters, including appellate

arguments, hearings, and conferences.

(4) Within each of the above categories only, the action which was first filed shall take

precedence.

(C) Conflict resolution shall not require the continuance of the other matter or matters not having

priority. In the event any matter listed in the letter notice is disposed of prior to the scheduled

time set for any other matter listed or subsequent to the scheduled time set but prior to the end of

the calendar, the attorney shall immediately notify all affected parties, including the court

affected, of the disposal and shall, absent good cause shown to the court, proceed with the

remaining case or cases in which the conflict was resolved by the disposal in the order of

priorities set forth in this rule.