BLACKWELL, Justice.
In July 2011, Jing Liu sued Hao Wang in Fulton County, alleging that Wang holds stock in a Chinese company, that Wang holds this stock on behalf of Liu, that Wang has misappropriated the stock to his own use, and that Wang has wrongfully withheld distributions and other funds derived from his holding of the stock, to all of which Liu is entitled.
1. We turn first to the denial of the motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. When a trial court considers such a motion, it must apply the
OCGA § 9-10-31.1(a). The application of the statutory standard to the peculiar circumstances of a particular case is a matter committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. See Hawthorn Suites Golf Resorts v. Feneck, 282 Ga. 554, 556(3), 651 S.E.2d 664 (2007). That said, the discretion of the trial court is not without some limits,
By its express terms, OCGA § 9-10-31.1 requires the trial court to consider each of the statutory factors enumerated in OCGA § 9-10-31.1(a), but it does not expressly require specific findings of fact on each factor. Nevertheless, our Court of Appeals has held on several occasions that a trial court must make specific findings on each of the enumerated factors, whether in a written order or otherwise on the record. See, e.g., Park Ave. Bank v. Steamboat City Dev. Co., 317 Ga.App. 289, 292, 728 S.E.2d 925 (2012); GrayRobinson, P.A. v. Smith, 302 Ga.App. 375, 377(1), 690 S.E.2d 656 (2010); Georgia Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Valley Wood, Inc., 290 Ga.App. 177, 178(1), 659 S.E.2d 410 (2008); Kennestone Hosp. v. Lamb, 288 Ga.App. 289, 289-290, 653 S.E.2d 858 (2007); Federal Ins. Co. v. Chicago Ins. Co., 281 Ga.App. 152, 153, 635 S.E.2d 411 (2006); Hewett v. Raytheon Aircraft Co., 273 Ga.App. 242, 248-249(2), 614 S.E.2d 875 (2005). Although this Court never has said that such specific findings are required absolutely, we previously have noted the existence of such findings in the record of an appeal from the grant of a motion to dismiss under OCGA § 9-10-31.1, thereby signaling that such findings are an important aid to meaningful appellate review. See Hawthorn Suites, 282 Ga. at 556-557(3), 651 S.E.2d 664 (noting that "the trial court set forth in its order a detailed analysis of all seven factors to be considered under the statute" and reciting the findings of the trial court on each factor). Today, we acknowledge explicitly that specific findings on each of the enumerated statutory factors are a better practice, but we cannot conclude that
What is required to permit meaningful appellate review is that the trial court set out upon the record the essential reasoning that forms the basis for its exercise of discretion to grant or deny a motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Without such a statement of the essential reasoning of the trial court, we frequently cannot ascertain whether the decision of the trial court was a reasoned and reasonable one in the light of the standard set out, and factors enumerated, in OCGA § 9-10-31.1(a). See GrayRobinson, 302 Ga.App. at 378(1), 690 S.E.2d 656 (because the record did not adequately explain the decision of the trial court, appellate court "cannot determine whether the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss ... was or was not an abuse of discretion."). That said, the detail required to adequately explain the essential reasoning of the trial court will depend upon the peculiar circumstances of the case, the closeness of the questions involved, and the ground upon which the court decides the motion. We suppose that some case might require a finding on each factor to adequately explain the decision, but we cannot say that such findings always (or even usually) are required. To the extent that the Court of Appeals held otherwise in Park Ave. Bank, 317 Ga.App. at 292, 728 S.E.2d 925, GrayRobinson, 302 Ga.App. at 377(1), 690 S.E.2d 656, Georgia Cas. & Sur. Co., 290 Ga.App. at 178(1), 659 S.E.2d 410, Kennestone Hosp., 288 Ga.App. at 289-290, 653 S.E.2d 858, Federal Ins. Co., 281 Ga.App. at 153, 635 S.E.2d 411, and Hewett, 273 Ga.App. at 248-249(2), 614 S.E.2d 875, we overrule those decisions.
In this case, the record reveals almost nothing about the thinking that led the trial court to deny the motion to dismiss. At the outset of the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the trial judge commented that he was inclined to deny the motion, noting his preliminary impression that "there is something fishy about [the circumstances of the case],"
That does not mean, however, that we must send this case back to the trial court to make a more explicit statement of its thinking. It appears from the record, and Wang does not dispute, that counsel for Liu prepared the written order denying the motion to dismiss — an order that, as we have noted, fails to reflect the thinking of the trial court about the motion to dismiss — and counsel for Wang approved the form of that order before it was submitted to, and entered by, the trial court. Wang had an opportunity, therefore, to insist that the trial court explain the reasons for its decision, but Wang did not do so.
Because his counsel approved the form of the order on the motion to dismiss, Wang cannot be heard to complain that the record has no explanation of the decision of the trial court so as to permit meaningful appellate review. And because the record has no explanation of that decision, Wang, as the appellant, cannot carry his burden to show that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to dismiss. See R.J. Taylor Memorial Hosp. v. Beck, 280 Ga. 660, 662(3), 631 S.E.2d 684 (2006) ("[T]he burden on appeal is to demonstrate an abuse of the trial court's discretion in refusing to transfer the case.") (citations omitted). This is not a case in which the evidence and arguments are so one-sided that, even without a statement of the reasoning of the trial court, we might find an abuse of discretion. As noted, counsel for both parties made competing colorable arguments about the proper application in this case of the standard in OCGA § 9-10-31.1(a). Accordingly, we must affirm the denial of the motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. See id.
2. We turn next to the order making permanent the interlocutory injunction. Before a court enters a permanent injunction, it must give notice of a hearing at which permanent injunctive relief will be considered, unless the parties agree otherwise. See Smith v. Guest Pond Club, 277 Ga. 143, 145(1), 586 S.E.2d 623 (2003). Here, the trial court failed to give such notice before the hearing in which it announced that the interlocutory injunction would be made permanent, and nothing in the record indicates that Wang consented to the entry of a permanent injunction.
Judgment affirmed in part and vacated in part.
All the Justices concur.