An insurer was not entitled to a new trial based on unpreserved references to a third party’s drunkenness because the verdict was supported by the evidence and any prejudice was cured by jury instructions. The trial court also properly awarded no-fault attorney fees under MCL 500.3148(1), as the insurer’s prior acknowledgment of the injury made its denial unreasonable, and a later record review could not create factual uncertainty retroactively.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s findings of liability, fraudulent intent, and treble damages with regard to claims based on failure to disclose accurate mileage, but vacated its attorney fee award and remanded for reconsideration under the proper legal framework as articulated in Pirgu v United Serv Auto Ass’n, 499 Mich 269 (2016).

A trial court properly refused to award the plaintiff in this Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case attorney fees that were incurred after the defendant’s disclosure of the requested information but incurred as a result of seeking fees related to that disclosure – otherwise known as “fees for fees,” the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled

The Court of Appeals finds the framework for calculating reasonable attorney fees under the Supreme Court’s holdings in Smith/Pirgu applies to sanctions under MCR 1.109