Offer of Judgment Rule

Although the Michigan Supreme Court rarely addresses the offer of judgment rule, MCR 2.405 (I could only find one previous case--Freeman v Consumers Power Co., 437 Mich 514, 473 NW2d 63 (1991)), the Court issued an opinion this week regarding the interplay of offers of judgment in equity actions in Knue v Smith.

In this quiet title action, a party made an offer of judgment of $3,000 in exchange for a quitclaim deed. The Court held, in a highly divided decision, that the offer was not an offer to stipulate to "the entry of a judgment in a sum certain" as required by MCR 2.405. The decision has important implications for attorneys in real property disputes, which typically involve equity issues.