Article in Family Law Journal Questions Point of Appeal Over $500

The January 2013 issue of the Michigan Family Law Journal includes an article by attorneys Scott Bassett and Carmen Moyer in their column "Unpublished decision of the month." The column addressed the family law decision in Rosema v Rosema, issued October 18, 2012 (Docket 306424). The appellant (former husband) appealed because the trial court had imposed a $500 sanction on him for the filing of a frivolous motion. The only issue on appeal was the attorneys fee award, and not the trial court underlying decision. Bassett and Moeyer commented about the decision to file an appeal over $500 - and rightly so - as "utter foolishness." Bassett advised that in divorce cases with property issues, he tells potential clients that they should not appeal unless a win could improve their position by at least $100,000. And for custody issues, he advises that the parent should not appeal if it will cost the equivalent of the child's college tuition.

While obviously many appeals are filed for far less money at stake, the fact that the appellant would be willing to pay the $375 filing fee, $25 trial court fee, plus transcripts just to potentially win a $500 issue is, indeed, mind boggling to this reader. The column concludes by stating, "Let us hope it was the client's idea to push this meritless cause to the extreme it reached here. We would hate to think that a member of the Bar would fail to see the error in pushing this issue as far as it went."