Solomon Katz v. Ronald J Spaulding

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: March 22, 2006
• Docket: 129758
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order Michigan Supreme Court Lansing, Michigan

March 22, 2006 Clifford W. Taylor, Chief Justice

129758 Michael F. Cavanagh Elizabeth A. Weaver Marilyn Kelly Maura D. Corrigan SOLOMON KATZ, Robert P. Young, Jr. Plaintiff/Counterdefendant- Stephen J. Markman, Justices Appellant, v SC: 129758

COA: 253204

Wayne CC: 99-927176-CH

RONALD J. SPAULDING and ANTOINETTE E. SPAULDING,

Defendants/Counterplaintiffs-

Appellees.

_________________________________________/

On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the August 2, 2005 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals and that portion of the Wayne Circuit Court’s September 8, 2003 order that requires plaintiff to reimburse defendants’ attorney fees of $53,000. There is no basis in the record for a determination that plaintiff’s primary purpose in initiating his prescriptive easement lawsuit was to harass, embarrass, or injure defendants, as MCL 600.2591 requires. There is also no basis in the record for a determination that plaintiff or his attorneys filed any document or documents for the improper purpose of needlessly increasing defendants’ litigation costs, as MCR 2.114 requires. We REMAND this case to the Wayne Circuit Court for entry of an order denying defendants’ motion for attorney fees.

I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court. March 22, 2006 _________________________________________ s0315 Clerk