[Download] "Mike Smolen and Peter Mikelonis V." by Court of Appeals of Michigan # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

eBook details

Title: Mike Smolen and Peter Mikelonis V.
Author : Court of Appeals of Michigan
Release Date : January 19, 1990
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 62 KB

Description

Plaintiffs appeal as of right the January 11, 1989, opinion and order awarding plaintiffs $2,000 in attorney fees under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA), MCL 445.901 et seq. ; MSA 19.418(1) et seq. On appeal, plaintiffs allege that the trial court erred in the amount of the award, the method of calculation and factors to be considered, the imposition of interest on the award, and the availability of discovery of defendants' attorneys' time records. We hold that the trial court erred in failing to consider plaintiffs' attorney's computer printouts of his time records and in failing to apply the factors contained in Crawley v Schick, 48 Mich App 728; 211 NW2d 217 (1973). Thus, we reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing. First, plaintiffs allege that the trial court erred in refusing to consider plaintiffs' counsel's computer records indicating the amount of time spent on the case. We agree. The trial court ruled that the computer entries did not consist of original contemporaneous time records. However, our review of the record indicates that most of the information contained on the computer printout was placed directly into the computer sometime following the work performed for plaintiff. While it is true that some of the information in the computer was transferred to the computer from temporary notes indicating the amount of time spent on individual projects, we hold that this does not destroy the admissibility of the computer entries. In an analogous situation, our Supreme Court in Green v Woods, 325 Mich 649; 39 NW2d 317 (1949), held that a book of accounts, whose entries were made from slips of paper furnished by others, was admissible even though the original slips were not preserved. The Green Court noted that since the records were kept in the ordinary course of business, they were admissible. See also 30 Am Jur 2d, Evidence, § 942, p 65. In the present case, the entries into the computer were made in the ordinary course of plaintiffs' counsel's business. Further, plaintiffs' attorney's failure to retain the various time record slips does not make the computer printout a mere compilation since the computer printout is the first permanent record of the time data. Thus, we hold that the trial court erred in refusing to consider the computer printout list as evidence of the amount of time plaintiffs' attorney spent on the present case.