Court Opinion

ID: 9707826
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:22:20.479632+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:38.580476
License: Public Domain

M. G. Harrison, J.
(concurring). I concur in the result only. The current line of cases is ample evidence of the problems emanating from the Court’s approach to this issue. Whether reviewing the merits of the case or the reasonableness of settlement efforts, the trial courts will be faced with minitrials the system can ill afford in light of other demands. Little guidance is provided to the bench and bar, and certainty is lacking. This will lead to a string of hearings and appeals of such matters. The courts will be put in a position of reevaluating the litigation posture of the parties, second-guessing judgment calls and attempting to reconstruct that which is often not of record, such as discussions that may pit the word of one attorney against that of another. MCR 2.405(D)(3) provides an exception for denying that which would otherwise be provided under the rule. An attorney fee may be denied "in the interest of justice.” I suggest the import of this limitation under the rule calls into play that which is beyond the ordinary; for example, where the law is unsettled and substantial damages are at issue, where a party is indigent and an issue merits decision by the trier of fact, or where the effect on third persons may be significant and should be limited to the unusual.