TOM SWIFT AND HIS ULTRA-LATE CASE EVALUATION SUMMARIES*

I have been a case evaluator in Wayne County for a lot of years.  Until July of 2015, I was a plaintiff evaluator.  After I changed firms and started doing defense work primarily, I felt I should turn down plaintiff appointments.  Finally, about 3 years ago my application to act as a neutral was approved.  I get appointed more frequently now, which is good, as I really like being an evaluator.  As a neutral, I get appointed more often as well

During my 15 month "hiatus", the Mediation Tribunal went to its current computerized system.  On evaluation day, it is generally expected that the neutral will enter the awards into the computer system, unless the neutral is a retired judge who can tell someone else to do that.  I mastered the data entry process, and upgraded my personal hardware for the task (computer hardware, that is; my other personal hardware needs an upgrade from its Commodore 64 vintage).

There certainly are benefits to the new system.  No more trips down to the Tribunal just to pick up summaries.  It was a trifle ironic that late fees were assessed if the summaries weren't filed 14 days in advance, but the Tribunal didn't want evaluators to pick up summaries until just before the hearing date.  For instance, if you were sitting on a Monday, don't pick up summaries until late Friday morning.

And, I no longer need to strew summaries on my basement floor and try to match up summaries and put them the order they are scheduled.  Sort of like the old game, Concentration. That was a long process that did not make you at all familiar with your cases.  I set up a Dropbox file now.  A lot less time, effort and aggravation.

On the other hand, the digital filing system allows summaries to be uploaded 24/7, which has resulted in a new problem, that being the "ultra-late" summary.  

I define as "ultra-late" any summary filed less than 48 hours before the hearing.  My all time favorite was the plaintiff summary efiled at 12:50am for hearing at 9am the same day.  When I showed up at the Tribunal that morning, the defense lawyer was already there, blissfully unaware that his opponent had filed a summary at all.  The plaintiff's lawyer showed up an hour late (to be fair, he had been up late the night before) and with a straight face asked for a quarter million dollars on a premises liability case (and we all know how easy those cases have been for the last 20 years).

When the system allows for 24/7 efiling, the parties expect, if not demand, that the evaluators will read any summary filed before the moment the hearing is scheduled.  And, as the average No-Fault Case Evaluation summary is hundreds of pages in length, ultra-late summaries have become a challenge for evaluators.

I sat as an evaluator on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.  As of 11:30am, on Tuesday, June 11, I had read every summary that had been filed, including 6 that had been filed on Monday the 10th.  

Fool that I was, I scheduled a lunch the the legendary, now retired, Frank McCarroll at a restaurant in one of the Pointes (I am a west sider) for noon on Tuesday the 11th.  More about that at a later time.  Frank and I had a great time.  I had a stop to make on the way back to my office in Farmington Hills, so I didn't have a chance to sit down an look at my emails for about 4 hours.  

I found that summaries had been filed on 5 cases during that time.  One summary was so long it had to be filed in 3 parts, and another in 2 parts.  Total page tally-1373 pages.  The attorney who filed the 2 part summary with the Tribunal at 4pm also sent the summary to me by separate email to my work address, with the message closing:  "Warmest Regards".  

Right away I sent an email to the Executive Director of the Tribunal, with the subject line, "I know you have heard this before".  In sharp contrast to my later experience, I got a quick reply, essentially saying that she understood and that I should contact the Chairperson of the Tribunal Board and the Chief Judge of the Civil Division of Wayne County Circuit Court.

I gave the problem some thought, and came up with a method to address the problem by enacting a local court rule dealing with the penalties for filing "ultra-late" summaries.  I thought the plan was a good one and one which the circuit had the authority to implement.  On June 17, 2019, I wrote to both the chairperson of the Tribunal Board, and the Chief Judge of the Civil Division, describing the problem,my experience, and my suggested solution (with the supporting authority).  I also indicated my willingness to help with the problem.  In fact, my proposed solution would bring some extra money to the Tribunal, which keeps all of the late fees assessed as well as the $10 "convenience fee" for efiling each summary.

I have a general rule, that if you don't get a response to an email in 2 weeks, you are unlikely to get one--ever.  As 8 weeks is more than 2, I will get no acknowledgement or response to my email.  So, 4 weeks after June 17, I wrote again to the Executive Director of the Tribunal, asking how someone might apply to get on the Mediation Tribunal Board.  It has been 3 1/2 weeks since that email.  So it goes.

 I am next scheduled to be an evaluator again on Wednesday, August 14.  I have learned my lesson.  In order to be prepared for the ultra-late summary onslaught, my wife and I have cancelled my mother-in-law's 102nd birthday party, which was to have been celebrated the afternoon her August 13th birthday, at her assisted living facility.  Not to worry, though, I am sure she will have plenty more.

*Tom Swift is a young inventor and the lead character is a series of 25 adventure books, written beginning in 1905.  And no, I did not go to high school with the author.