Opinion ID: 1691530
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Children's Hosp of Michigan v. ACIA

Text: In late 1992, Children's Hospital of Michigan and several other hospitals sued a group of insurers. The dispute concerned the amounts that were being billed for the care of persons who had been injured in motor vehicle accidents. M.C.L. § 500.3157; M.S.A. § 24.13157. The hospitals sought a declaratory judgment and money damages. Several orders of dismissal reduced the number of defendants. Among those who remained were Auto Club Insurance Association and Auto Club Group Insurance Company. They and the plaintiffs then filed cross-motions for summary disposition. Following a hearing on the motions, the circuit court issued this order: 1. A Summary Judgment is granted in favor of plaintiffs on all claims set forth on Exhibit A of the most recent Amended Complaint in which the defendants have asserted that the plaintiffs' charges are not reasonable or are not customary.
4. The Court will enter a judgment within 30 days in a specific dollar amount in plaintiffs' favor, reflecting all claims falling within paragraph 1 above. The parties are to meet to attempt to determine what this dollar amount is. The parties shall appear in court on November 17, 1994 at 9:00 a.m. prepared to address all other issues remaining in the case, including the amount of the final Judgment to be entered in plaintiffs' favor on all claims not falling within paragraph 1. The Auto Club defendants (ACIA) filed a claim of appeal, but the Clerk's Office at the Court of Appeals wrote defense counsel, observing that there appeared to be no final judgment in the case. Counsel responded that he had filed the early claim of appeal because failure to do so would have forfeited ACIA's appeal of right, according to a case called Boatman v. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co., 158 Mich.App. 431, 404 N.W.2d 261 (1987). Counsel offered the view that Boatman was wrongly decided, but said that he had filed the claim of appeal in order to protect the interests of his clients. Some weeks later, the clerk's office sent notice that the appeal had been docketed. However, a panel of the Court of Appeals subsequently dismissed the appeal: The Court, pursuant to MCR 7.216(A)(10), orders that the claim of appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the order appealed from is not a final order appealable by right. MCR 7.203. The order is not final because the question of the plaintiffs' damages is still pending. The appellants may claim an appeal when the final money judgment in favor of plaintiffs is entered. [Unpublished order, entered March 3, 1995 (Docket No. 179902).] ACIA then filed an application for leave to appeal to this Court.