DILA IVEZAJ V AUTO CLUB INS ASSN
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
DILA IVEZAJ,
FOR PUBLICATION
April 24, 2007
9:15 a.m.
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 265293
Macomb Circuit Court
LC No. 2002-005871-NF
AUTO CLUB INSURANCE ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Appellant.
DILA IVEZAJ,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 266442
Macomb Circuit Court
LC No. 2002-005871-NF
AUTO CLUB INSURANCE ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Appellant.
DILA IVEZAJ,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 268137
Macomb Circuit Court
LC No. 2002-005871-NF
AUTO CLUB INSURANCE ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Appellant.
Official Reported Version
Before: Zahra, P.J., and Bandstra and Owens, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
-1-
Defendant Auto Club Insurance Association appeals as of right from the judgments of the
Macomb Circuit Court awarding plaintiff Dila Ivezaj attorney fees, denying case evaluation
sanctions against her, and awarding her taxable costs. We affirm the trial court's award of
attorney fees, and we reverse the trial court's orders denying defendant's request for case
evaluation sanctions and awarding taxable costs to plaintiff.
Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident in Pontiac, Michigan, on July 19, 2001.
She was insured through a Michigan automobile insurance policy issued by defendant and in
accordance with the provisions of the no-fault insurance act, MCL 500.3101 et seq. Defendant
does not dispute that it is responsible for furnishing plaintiff 's no-fault personal injury protection
(PIP) benefits arising from the accident.
Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that defendant failed to pay PIP benefits covered
under the no-fault act. After a hearing on November 10, 2003, a case evaluation panel concluded
that plaintiff 's claim against defendant was worth $150,000. Plaintiff rejected and defendant
accepted the award. The case proceeded to trial. After deliberation, a jury found that plaintiff
sustained accidental bodily injury in the July 19, 2001, accident and awarded plaintiff $108,000
in allowable expenses and $13,000 in interest reimbursement for overdue benefits. The trial
court subsequently entered judgment in this amount. The trial court also awarded plaintiff
$40,333.33 in attorney fees pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1). After adjusting plaintiff 's $121,000
verdict by adding the $40,333.33 award of attorney fees, as well as judgment interest and taxable
costs, the trial court determined that plaintiff had improved her position at trial by more than 10
percent and, therefore, defendant was not entitled to receive MCR 2.403(O) case evaluation
sanctions. The trial court also awarded plaintiff $8,996.10 in MCR 2.625 taxable costs.
I. Attorney Fees
Defendant argues that the trial court should not have awarded attorney fees to plaintiff
because its refusal to pay certain benefits claimed by plaintiff was reasonable. Specifically,
defendant argues that plaintiff recovered only a small portion of her claimed benefits at trial,
proving that its refusal to pay was reasonable. We disagree.
We will not disturb a trial court's findings concerning a plaintiff 's claim for attorney fees
pursuant to MCL 500.3148 unless the finding is clearly erroneous. Bloemsma v Auto Club Ins
Co, 174 Mich App 692, 697; 436 NW2d 442 (1989). "A decision is clearly erroneous where,
although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm
conviction that a mistake has been made." Kitchen v Kitchen, 465 Mich 654, 661-662; 641
NW2d 245 (2002).
The trial court did not clearly err when it awarded plaintiff no-fault attorney fees. MCL
500.3148(1) states:
An attorney is entitled to a reasonable fee for advising and representing a
claimant in an action for personal or property protection insurance benefits which
are overdue. The attorney's fee shall be a charge against the insurer in addition to
the benefits recovered, if the court finds that the insurer unreasonably refused to
pay the claim or unreasonably delayed in making proper payment.
-2-
When an insurer refuses to make or delays in making a no-fault payment, a rebuttable
presumption arises that this refusal to pay or delay in paying is unreasonable. Attard v Citizens
Ins Co of America, 237 Mich App 311, 317; 602 NW2d 633 (1999). The insurer has the burden
of rebutting this presumption of unreasonableness by justifying the refusal or delay. McKelvie v
Auto Club Ins Ass'n, 203 Mich App 331, 335; 512 NW2d 74 (1994). A delay in making
payments "is not unreasonable if it is based on a legitimate question of statutory construction,
constitutional law, or factual uncertainty." Attard, supra at 317.
However, as this Court noted in McCarthy v Auto Club Ins Ass'n, 208 Mich App 97, 105;
527 NW2d 524 (1994), "the scope of inquiry under § 3148 is not whether the insurer ultimately
is held responsible for a given expense, but whether its initial refusal to pay the expense was
unreasonable." The McCarthy Court reversed the trial court's holding that the defendant insurer
unreasonably failed to properly investigate the plaintiff 's medical needs before refusing to pay
for corrective plastic surgery. Id. at 101. In particular, the verdict did not indicate whether the
defendant had a reasonable basis for refusing to pay for the plaintiff 's plastic surgery at the time
she initially requested the coverage. Id. at 105. The McCarthy Court noted that the trial court
could not rely on the jury's verdict that the defendant was responsible for the cost of the plastic
surgery to support its conclusion that the defendant unreasonably refused to pay for the surgery
at the time the claim was first submitted. Id. Instead, the McCarthy Court noted that the
defendant presented evidence indicating that it relied on the opinion of the plaintiff 's treating
physician that this surgery was unnecessary when it decided not to reimburse the plaintiff. Id.
This evidence supported the defendant's argument that it had a reasonable basis for refusing to
pay for the plastic surgery at the time the plaintiff requested this coverage, because it established
that, when the defendant initially refused the plaintiff 's request for the coverage, it recognized
that a bona fide question of fact existed regarding whether the surgery was necessary. Id.
In this case, defendant relies exclusively on the jury verdict to support its argument that
its initial decision not to pay for certain medical and replacement service expenses requested by
plaintiff was reasonable. Notably, defendant argues that its initial refusal to pay these expenses
was reasonable because the jury only held it liable for a small percentage of plaintiff 's claims.
Yet defendant did not know that a jury would only find it liable for a percentage of the disputed
medical and replacement service expenses when it refused to pay these expenses. Accordingly,
defendant cannot use the jury verdict as evidence to rebut the presumption that its initial refusal
to reimburse plaintiff for these expenses was unreasonable. See Attard, supra at 317; McCarthy,
supra at 105.
Again, defendant fails to identify any evidence indicating that it recognized that
plaintiff 's claims were unreasonable at the time it initially refused to make the payments.
Defendant fails to indicate that it was not required pursuant to statute or constitutional law to
reimburse plaintiff for the disputed claims, that it contacted doctors or other experts to determine
if plaintiff reasonably needed the requested medical services when it decided not to pay, or that it
had another reasonable basis for disputing the legitimacy of plaintiff 's claims for benefits.
Accordingly, defendant fails to provide any evidence or make any argument justifying its refusal
to make the requested payments or to otherwise rebut the presumption that its failure to pay these
disputed benefits when they were initially requested was unreasonable. See McKelvie, supra at
335. Because defendant failed to identify any evidence indicating that its initial refusal to
-3-
reimburse plaintiff was reasonable, the trial court did not clearly err when it concluded that
defendant failed to rebut the presumption of unreasonableness and awarded plaintiff attorney
fees pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1).
Defendant also argues that, even if it unreasonably failed to pay certain disputed benefits,
the trial court should have only awarded plaintiff attorney fees compensating her for the costs
incurred in bringing these claims, and not awarded her attorney fees generated in connection
with claims for benefits that lacked merit. However, the trial court did not award plaintiff
attorney fees for the claims she lost. The trial court adopted the contingency fee arrangement
between plaintiff and her attorneys to calculate attorney fees. Pursuant to this arrangement,
plaintiff 's attorneys received one-third of the amount she recovered at trial as their fee, but they
would not receive any fees for pursuing claims for which she did not recover. By adopting this
fee arrangement to determine the amount of plaintiff 's award of attorney fees, the trial court
adopted an arrangement under which plaintiff 's attorneys were "paid" only for pursuing those
claims that the jury found meritorious. Although defendant argues otherwise, plaintiff 's
attorneys were not awarded attorney fees for pursuing claims for which plaintiff did not recover.
II. Case Evaluation Sanctions
Defendant argues that the trial court erred when it adjusted the jury's verdict by adding
the award of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees. Accordingly, defendant argues, plaintiff failed to
improve her position by at least 10 percent at trial and was liable for case evaluation sanctions.
We agree.
We review de novo a trial court's decision regarding a motion for case evaluation
sanctions under MCR 2.403(O). Campbell v Sullins, 257 Mich App 179, 197; 667 NW2d 887
(2003). We also review de novo the interpretation and application of a court rule. Marketos v
American Employers Ins Co, 465 Mich 407, 412; 633 NW2d 371 (2001). We review the amount
of sanctions imposed by the trial court for an abuse of discretion. Campbell, supra at 197.
MCR 2.403(O) discusses the circumstances under which the party rejecting a case
evaluation award is liable for sanctions:
(1) If a party has rejected an evaluation and the action proceeds to verdict,
that party must pay the opposing party's actual costs unless the verdict is more
favorable to the rejecting party than the case evaluation. However, if the
opposing party has also rejected the evaluation, a party is entitled to costs only if
the verdict is more favorable to that party than the case evaluation.
(2) For the purpose of this rule "verdict" includes,
(a) a jury verdict,
(b) a judgment by the court after a nonjury trial,
(c) a judgment entered as a result of a ruling on a motion after rejection of
the case evaluation.
-4-
(3) For the purpose of subrule (O)(1), a verdict must be adjusted by adding
to it assessable costs and interest on the amount of the verdict from the filing of
the complaint to the date of the case evaluation, and, if applicable, by making the
adjustment of future damages as provided by MCL 600.6306. After this
adjustment, the verdict is considered more favorable to a defendant if it is more
than 10 percent below the evaluation, and is considered more favorable to the
plaintiff if it is more than 10 percent above the evaluation. If the evaluation was
zero, a verdict finding that a defendant is not liable to the plaintiff shall be
deemed more favorable to the defendant.
Defendant argues that plaintiff 's award of statutory attorney fees is not an "assessable
cost" by which the verdict may be adjusted before determining if the adjusted verdict is more
favorable to plaintiff than the case evaluation and, hence, whether plaintiff is required to pay
sanctions. The term "assessable cost" is not defined in MCR 2.403(O). However, both this
Court and our Supreme Court discussed whether a trial court's award of MCL 500.3148(1)
attorney fees constitutes an "assessable cost" in Beach v State Farm Mut Automobile Ins Co, 216
Mich App 612; 550 NW2d 580 (1996), Dessart v Burak¸ 252 Mich App 490; 652 NW2d 669
(2002), and Dessart v Burak, 470 Mich 37; 678 NW2d 615 (2004).1
In Beach, supra at 615, the plaintiff suffered severe head injuries in a one-car accident.
The defendant, his no-fault insurance provider, refused to pay for rehabilitation treatment
because its experts were unable to determine if the plaintiff 's learning difficulties were the result
of the accident in question or the effect of head injuries that the plaintiff had suffered years
earlier. Id. at 615-616. A mediation panel determined that the case was worth $17,573.75. Id.
at 626. The plaintiff rejected this award and the case went to trial.2 Id. at 616, 626. After
deliberation, the jury awarded the plaintiff $17,500. Id. at 616.
Although the plaintiff moved for attorney fees pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1), the trial
court did not award him these statutory fees.3 Id. at 628. Regardless, the trial court awarded the
plaintiff mediation sanctions. Beach, supra at 625. Apparently, it included attorney fees in the
"assessable costs" that it used to adjust the verdict. The defendant challenged "the trial court's
award of mediation sanctions and the amount of those sanctions on the basis that the jury verdict
1
The trial court proceedings in the following cases occurred before the mediation procedure
described in MCR 2.403 was renamed "case evaluation." Consistent with the terminology used
in these opinions, we refer to the case evaluation procedure as "mediation" when discussing
these cases.
2
Because the plaintiff in Beach rejected the mediation award, he would be responsible for
paying mediation sanctions unless the adjusted verdict was more than $19,331.12. Beach, supra
at 626.
3
The Beach Court upheld the trial court's denial of an award of attorney fees, ruling that,
pursuant to the jury's finding that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover no-fault penalty
interest, his benefits were not "overdue." Beach, supra at 630.
-5-
plus assessable costs and interest did not exceed the mediation evaluation by more than ten
percent." Id. Although the Beach Court vacated the mediation award because the trial court had
erred in calculating prejudgment interest and taxable costs, it indicated that attorney fees should
be included among the assessable costs used to adjust a verdict for purposes of determining if
case evaluation sanctions were warranted. Id. at 626. The Beach Court stated:
The mediation panel unanimously awarded $17,573.75 in plaintiff 's favor
on October 14, 1993. Assuming that plaintiff raised the same issues at mediation
and at trial, the court should add to the $17,500 jury verdict all assessable costs,
including costs taxable in a civil action and a reasonable attorney fee incurred
from the date of mediation, as well as any interest on the verdict amount from the
date the complaint was filed to the date of the mediation evaluation, in order to
determine whether plaintiff improved his position at trial by more than ten
percent, i.e., plaintiff received more than $19,331.12. MCR 2.403(O)(3), (6). If
so, plaintiff is entitled to his actual costs, including attorney fees, pursuant to
MCR 2.403(O). See also Haberkorn [v Chrysler Corp, 210 Mich App 354, 379
380; 533 NW2d 373 (1995).] [Id. (emphasis added).]
According to the Beach Court's recommendation, "a reasonable attorney fee incurred from the
date of mediation" is an "assessable cost" that should be added to a jury verdict to adjust it for
purposes of determining if mediation sanctions are warranted. Id.
Yet we do not find the Beach Court's reference to attorney fees binding in this case.
Although the Beach Court noted that, if the mediation and the trial covered the same issues, the
trial court should adjust the jury verdict in favor of plaintiff to include assessable costs
(including reasonable attorney fees incurred from the date of mediation) before determining
whether plaintiff was liable for mediation sanctions, the trial court did not award plaintiff
attorney fees pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1).4 Accordingly, the Beach Court was not referring to
these MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees when it recommended that the trial court add assessable
costs, including "a reasonable attorney fee incurred from the date of mediation," to adjust the
jury verdict for purposes of determining whether the plaintiff was entitled to mediation
sanctions. Id.
Regardless, in Dessart, this Court distinguished that case from Beach on the ground that
the attorney fees awarded by the Beach Court were MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees.5 In the
Dessart cases, the parties were involved in a car accident in which a plaintiff was injured.
Dessart, supra, 252 Mich App 491-492. Notably, this was not a no-fault case. The parties
4
Plaintiff challenged the trial court's refusal to award MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees on cross
appeal. Beach, supra at 628. The Beach Court concluded that the trial court's decision to deny
plaintiff's request for attorney fees was not clearly erroneous. Id.
5
Again, we note that the Beach attorney fees were not, in fact, MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees.
This was an erroneous distinction.
-6-
submitted the case for mediation, and the mediation panel evaluated the case at $120,000. Id. at
492. The plaintiffs accepted the award, but the defendants rejected it. Id. The case proceeded to
trial and, after deliberation, the jury awarded the plaintiffs $100,000 in past noneconomic
damages. Id. The parties agreed that the plaintiffs would be entitled to mediation sanctions
pursuant to MCR 2.403(O) if their adjusted verdict exceeded $108,000. Id. at 493.
After entry of the judgment, the plaintiffs filed for mediation sanctions pursuant to MCR
2.403(O), which the trial court denied. Dessart, supra, 470 Mich 39. In making this ruling, the
trial court determined that "assessable costs" pursuant to MCR 2.403(O)(3) did not include
attorney fees. Dessart, supra, 252 Mich App 494. The plaintiffs appealed this holding, arguing
that Beach, supra, supported their argument that the "assessable costs" used to adjust the verdict
for purposes of awarding mediation sanctions should include "reasonable attorney fees from the
date of mediation through verdict necessitated by defendants' rejection of the mediation award."
Id. at 493.
This Court affirmed the trial court's denial of the plaintiffs' motion for mediation
sanctions. Id. at 499. Specifically, this Court held:
[I]n determining the propriety of sanctions pursuant to MCR 2.403(O)(3),
if a party has rejected a mediation award and the case proceeds to trial, the verdict
must be adjusted by adding to it "assessable costs," not "actual costs," incurred
from the filing of the action to the date of the mediation evaluation, as well as
interest for the same period. Only after this calculation is made and it is
determined that sanctions are appropriate under the ten percent calculation of
subrule (O)(3) is the payment of "actual costs," as defined in subrule (O)(6),
implicated. [Id.]
This Court explained its reasoning as follows:
MCR 2.403(O)(3) does not expressly or impliedly allow for the inclusion
of postmediation costs or any attorney fees, for reasons that are well founded.
The overall purpose of the mediation rule is to encourage settlement, deter
protracted litigation, and expedite and simplify the final settlement of cases. Neal
v Neal, 219 Mich App 490, 493; 557 NW2d 133 (1996); Detroit v Kallow Corp,
195 Mich App 227, 230; 489 NW2d 500 (1992). The sanction provision of the
rule places the burden of litigation costs on the party who demands a trial by
rejecting a proposed mediation award. Id. However, as noted above, the purpose
of the mediation sanction provisions is not to act as a punitive measure but rather
is intended to foster settlement. In order to do so, a trial court must review the
mediation evaluation in light of the circumstances that existed at the time of the
mediation itself. If, as plaintiffs propose, postmediation litigation costs and
attorney fees are included in the amount of the adjusted verdict, the risk of going
to trial would be minimized, thereby undermining the court rule's purpose of
discouraging litigation. [Id. at 498.]
Notably, however, this Court chose not to apply the Beach Court's broad construction of
"assessable costs" to include both postmediation costs and attorney fees. Dessart, supra, 252
-7-
Mich App 495-496. Initially, this Court noted that the Beach Court's statements regarding the
construction of the term "assessable costs" were dicta and not essential to the disposition of the
case. Id. at 496. However, this Court also made the following distinction between the
circumstances surrounding the Beach Court's holding and its holding in Dessart:
Further, Beach can be distinguished from the present action because it
entailed a first-party no-fault insurance claim in which attorney fees can, under
certain circumstances, be an element of a plaintiff 's damages. See Beach, supra
at 628; MCL 500.3148(1). Thus, the propriety of attorney fees in the context of a
verdict adjustment is unique to Beach; in assessing the mediation evaluation, a
court in such circumstances could examine whether an attorney fee was an
intrinsic part of the proposed worth of the case. [Id. at 496.]
Our Supreme Court agreed with this Court's holding in Dessart "that attorney fees,
whether incurred before or after the mediation evaluation, are not an element of 'assessable costs'
under MCR 2.403(O)(3)." Dessart, supra, 470 Mich 42. Our Supreme Court reasoned:
The general "American rule" is that "attorney fees are not ordinarily
recoverable unless a statute, court rule, or common-law exception provides the
contrary." Nemeth v Abonmarche Dev, Inc, 457 Mich 16, 37-38; 576 NW2d 641
(1998). As such, the term "costs" ordinarily does not encompass attorney fees
unless the statute or court rule specifically defines "costs" as including attorney
fees. For example, MCR 2.403(O)(6) provides that "actual costs" include "(a)
those costs taxable in any civil action, and (b) a reasonable attorney fee. . . ."
MCR 2.403(O)(6), however, does not define "assessable costs" as including
attorney fees. We conclude, therefore, that attorney fees are not included in
"assessable costs" under MCR 2.403(O)(3). [Id.]
It also explained that this Court found that Dessart was distinguishable from Beach "because it
involved a statute that allows attorney fees as an element of damages under certain
circumstances." Id. at 41.
We note that this Court distinguished Dessart from Beach on a faulty premise, namely,
that the Beach Court had included attorney fees among the assessable costs by which it adjusted
the verdict because MCL 500.3148(1) permitted an award of attorney fees as an element of
damages. Dessart, supra, 470 Mich 41; Dessart, supra, 252 Mich App 496. However, in Beach,
the plaintiff was not awarded MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees. Therefore, the "attorney fees"
that the Beach Court recommended including with assessable costs when adjusting the verdict
were not fees awarded pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1). Beach, supra at 628.
Further, this Court's statement in Dessart regarding whether MCL 500.3148(1) attorney
fees should be included among the assessable costs by which to adjust a verdict is dictum.
Dictum is a "'judicial comment made during the course of delivering a judicial opinion, but one
that is unnecessary to the decision in the case and therefore not precedential (thought it may be
considered persuasive).'" People v Higuera, 244 Mich App 429, 437; 625 NW2d 444 (2001),
quoting Black's Law Dictionary (7th ed). Again, the Dessart cases did not concern an insurer's
no-fault liability and the parties were not debating whether MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees
-8-
should have been awarded. These attorney fees were only mentioned in the context of
distinguishing Beach and discussing its inapplicability to the Dessart cases and were not a
necessary part of this Court's analysis that the trial court correctly held that "assessable costs"
pursuant to MCR 2.403(O)(3) did not include attorney fees.
Regardless, the respective opinions of this Court and our Supreme Court in Dessart
support our conclusion that the trial court erred when it included the value of the MCL
500.3148(1) attorney fees when adjusting plaintiff 's verdict and determined that plaintiff was not
liable for case evaluation sanctions. As our Supreme Court noted, the term "costs" does not
encompass attorney fees unless a statute or court rule defines this term as such, and MCR
2.403(O) does not define "assessable costs." See Dessart, supra, 470 Mich 42. In the absence of
authority to the contrary, we conclude that the "assessable costs" by which a verdict may be
adjusted do not include MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees. Id. Again, because the "attorney fees"
that the Beach Court recommended including with assessable costs when adjusting the verdict
were not fees awarded pursuant to MCL 500.3148(1), Beach, supra at 628, the Beach Court's
holding is not applicable to the circumstances of this case and, therefore, does not affect our
conclusion that the trial court erred when it included MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees among the
assessable costs by which it adjusted the verdict.
Further, we believe that our holding reflects the purpose of awarding MCR 2.403(O)
sanctions, which is to "encourage settlement, deter protracted litigation, and expedite and
simplify the final settlement of cases" by potentially placing the burden of litigation costs on the
party rejecting a case evaluation award. Dessart, supra, 252 Mich App 498. Admittedly,
because the attorney fees awarded in this case are statutory and because plaintiff noted that she
was entitled to these fees in her first amended complaint, we assume that plaintiff was aware at
the time of case evaluation of the possibility that she would receive an award of MCL
500.3148(1) attorney fees if the case proceeded and, presumably, considered this information
when determining whether to reject or accept the case evaluation award.6
However, including a statutory award of attorney fees in an adjusted verdict for purposes
of determining if a party is liable for case evaluation sanctions would give that party an incentive
to incur a large amount of attorney fees as a way to raise its adjusted verdict above the threshold
at which it would no longer be liable for sanctions. Admittedly, this risk was minimized in the
present case because the trial court adopted the contingency fee arrangement between plaintiff
and her attorney to calculate the value of the MCL 500.3148(1) fees to which she was entitled,
making the value of the fees awarded to plaintiff dependent on the amount of the jury verdict.
Further, MCL 500.3148(1) specifies that the fees awarded pursuant to the statute must be
"reasonable." Regardless, this statute presumably permits the recovery of fees incurred both
before and after the rejection of a case evaluation award. Accordingly, the promise of the
recovery of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees and the ability to incur these fees after rejecting a
6
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we assume that the case evaluation panel did not
include the value of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees in its proposed valuation of this case.
-9-
case evaluation award (as long as the fees are "reasonable"), along with the right to adjust a
verdict upward by the amount of these fees in an attempt to avoid case evaluation sanctions,
could discourage a party from accepting a case evaluation award because the risks of rejecting
the award are lower. This defeats the stated purpose of case evaluation, which is to foster
settlement instead of litigation, and lends support to our holding that MCR 2.403(O) does not
permit adjusting a verdict by the value of an award of statutory attorney fees.
The parties also debate whether the statutory award of attorney fees is part of the
"verdict" as defined in MCR 2.403(O)(2). In particular, plaintiff argues that these fees are "an
intrinsic part of the verdict" and were properly included as part of the verdict when determining
whether she was liable for case evaluation sanctions. We disagree. To determine if case
evaluation sanctions are appropriate, the evaluated value of the case must be compared to the
amount recovered at trial, whether this recovery comes in the form of a jury verdict, a judgment
by the trial court after a nonjury trial, or a judgment entered as the result of a ruling on a motion.
MCR 2.403(O). However, MCL 500.3148(1) indicates that this award of attorney fees is not
part of the no-fault benefits recovered in the underlying action, but is "a charge against the
insurer in addition to the benefits recovered . . . ." An award of attorney fees under
MCL 500.3148(1) is not designed to be part of the verdict or judgment of the court regarding the
award of no-fault benefits. Again, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we assume that the
case evaluators did not include the value of these attorney fees in their valuation of the case.
Therefore, the award of attorney fees should not be included as part of the "verdict" when
determining if a party is liable for case evaluation sanctions.7 Plaintiff discusses several cases
that she claims indicate that her award of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees should be considered
part of the verdict pursuant to MCR 2.403(O). Those cases are distinguishable from the present
case and do not support her argument.
Plaintiff 's readjusted verdict, minus the award of attorney fees, does not surpass the
$165,000 threshold at which plaintiff would no longer be liable for case evaluation sanctions.
Accordingly, defendant is entitled to recover sanctions from plaintiff. Remand is necessary to
permit the trial court to determine an award of actual costs.
III. Taxable Costs
Finally, defendant argues that the trial court erred when it awarded plaintiff MCR 2.625
taxable costs. We agree. We review a trial court's ruling on a motion for costs under MCR
2.625 for an abuse of discretion. Klinke v Mitsubishi Motors Corp, 219 Mich App 500, 518; 556
NW2d 528 (1996), aff 'd 458 Mich 582 (1998). We review the interpretation and application of a
court rule de novo. Marketos, supra at 412.
7
Notably, if the case evaluators incorporated the value of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees when
determining the value of the case, the statutory award of attorney fees should be considered part
of the verdict for purposes of comparison. Again, the parties do not claim, and the trial court
record does not indicate, that this occurred in this case.
-10-
MCR 2.403(O)(6) states in part, "For the purpose of determining taxable costs under this
subrule and under MCR 2.625, the party entitled to recover actual costs under this rule shall be
considered the prevailing party." As we discussed earlier, the trial court erred when it included
the award of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees in the adjusted verdict. The readjusted verdict,
minus this award of attorney fees, does not surpass the $165,000 threshold at which plaintiff
would no longer be liable for case evaluation sanctions. Because plaintiff is liable for case
evaluation sanctions, defendant is entitled to recover actual costs pursuant to MCR 2.403(O)(6)
and, therefore, is considered the prevailing party under MCR 2.625. Pursuant to MCR
2.625(A)(1), only the prevailing party is entitled to recover costs. Because plaintiff is no longer
the prevailing party, she is not entitled to recover costs pursuant to MCR 2.625. Accordingly,
the trial court's award of MCR 2.625 taxable costs is in error.
The trial court's award of MCL 500.3148(1) attorney fees is affirmed. The trial court's
orders denying defendant's motion for case evaluation sanctions and the trial court's award of
MCR 2.625 taxable costs to plaintiff are reversed. Remanded for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
/s/ Brian K. Zahra
/s/ Richard A. Bandstra
/s/ Donald S. Owens
-11-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.