IN RE BLACK

Court of Appeals, State of Michigan
ORDER
IN RE BLACK
Docket No. 376289
Michelle M. Rick
Presiding Judge
Sima G. Patel
Philip P. Mariani
Judges
The “Motion to Stay Sanctions Pending Application for Leave to Appeal in the Michigan
Supreme Court” is DENIED.
Defendants having moved for sanctions in this Court and plaintiff having responded to that
motion, this Court determined that plaintiff filed the complaint in violation of MCR 1.109(E)(5)(b) and
(c) and ordered plaintiff to pay defendants’ reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred defending this
complaint as a sanction. See MCR 1.109(E)(6). This Court provided defendants with the opportunity to
brief and submit evidence to establish the amount of their reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred
defending the complaint and this Court provided plaintiff with the opportunity to contest the requested
amount and the evidence in support. See Vittiglio v Vittiglio, 297 Mich App 391, 405-406; 824 NW2d
591 (2012) (noting the requirements of due process before imposing a sanction). In her brief in opposition
to the requested fees, plaintiff did not contest the reasonableness of the hourly rate charged by defense
counsel or the hours spent defending the matter. Because defendants’ documentation is uncontested and
adequate for this Court’s review, it is unnecessary to hold an evidentiary hearing on the reasonableness of
the requested fees. See Sabbagh v Hamilton Psychological Servs, PLC, 329 Mich App 324, 359; 941
NW2d 685 (2019). Accordingly, on the undisputed record evidence, we find that defendants incurred
$4,372.50 in reasonable attorney fees and $309 in costs defending this action and we ORDER plaintiff to
pay defendants the total of $4,681.50 as a sanction for filing the complaint in violation of
MCR 1.109(E)(5)(b) and (c). See MCR 1.109(E)(6).
Presiding Judge

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