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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

RICHARD DUMAS, LYNN MCBRIDE, EUGENE PASKO, HAROLD COUNTS, JOHN MAUS, KENNETH KWASNIK, RICHARD BENNETT, PATRICK CHAPMAN, CHARLES DAPPRICH, JAMES DZIADZIOLA, Estate of GERALD FITZGERALD, Estate of VERNON MANUS, Estate of GEORGE MASSAB, LAWRWENCE MYLNAREK, Estate of ROBERT SINCLAIR, CHARLES OSTERDALE, ROBERT J. SONGER, ROBERT DECKERS, ELIZABETH ZINNER, RICHARD STIMPSON, DONALD DURECKI, and RONALD RIEUS, Plaintiffs, and WAYNE ALARIE, and RICHARD MARTIN, Plaintiffs-Appellants, and THEODORE S. ANDRIS, Appellant, v SHELDON L. MILLER, Appellee, and AUTO CLUB INSURANCE ASSOCIATION, Defendant.

UNPUBLISHED March 30, 2010

No. 279149 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 83-316603-CK

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GERALD NYLAND, ANITA NYLUND, JOHN HOUSE, MARY ELLEN HOUSE, DAVID REMER, DONNA MARGARET REMER, LEONARD RAKOWICZ, RITA RAKOWICZ, STANLEY ELZINGA, MARILYN ELZINGA, JAMES HALLER, JOAN HALLER, JOHN JACKSON, WILLIE JOHNSON, EDWARD BARTZ, BETTY BARTZ, FRANK DOLINSHEK, MARY DOLINSHEK, MICHAEL DUNGEY, WINIFRED DUNGEY, FRANCES STOCKER, ARTHUR SHEWCHUK, PATRICIA SHEWCHUK, DAVID ALBRECHT, LINDA ALBRECHT, WILLIAM T MEDLIN, and SHIRLEY MEDLIN, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v LOPATIN, MILLER, FREEDMAN, BLUESTONE, ERLICH, ROSEN & BARTNICK, P.C., and SHELDON MILLER, Defendants-Appellees. No. 286342 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 94-420311-CZ

WAYNE ALARIE and RICHARD MARTIN, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v LOPATIN, MILLER, FREEDMAN, BLUESTONE, ERLICH, ROSEN & BARTNICK, P.C., and SHELDON MILLER, Defendants-Appellees. No. 286343 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 92-215259-CZ

ROBERT DECKERS, ELIZABETH ZINNER, RICHARD STIMPSON, and DONALD DURECKI, Plaintiffs-Appellants, and -2-

HAROLD COUNTS, ROBERT IVAN, and RICHARD ZICKEL, Plaintiffs, v SHELDON MILLER, and LOPATIN, MILLER, FREEDMAN, BLUESTONE, ERLICH, ROSEN & BARTNICK, Defendants-Appellees, and DAVID RAVID, Defendant. No. 286344 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 93-321648-NM

JAMES K. DZIADZIOLA, MARGARET DZIADZIOLA, LAWRENCE R. MLYNAREK, JOSEPHINE MLYNAREK, MARTHA CHAPMAN, Personal Representative of the ESTATE of PATRICK CHAPMAN, LYNETTE MASSAB, Personal Representative of the ESTATE of GEORGE MASSAB, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v SHELDON MILLER, LOPATIN, MILLER, FREEDMAN, BLUESTONE, ERLICH, ROSEN & BARTNICK, and SHELDON L. MILLER & ACCOCIATES, P.C., Defendants-Appellants. No. 287143 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 04-418373-NM

Before: BECKERING, P.J., and MARKEY and Borrello, JJ. PER CURIAM. These consolidated appeals have a lengthy history. Plaintiffs were commission sales representatives (CSR's), of the Auto Club Insurance Association (AAA). Plaintiffs objected to -3-

changes AAA implemented on January 1, 1978, regarding how commissions paid on new and renewed business would be calculated and to AAA's implementing minimum production standards (quotas) in 1981. Attorney Sheldon Miller originally filed a complaint in Wayne Circuit Court for about 180 plaintiffs in 1983. That case is Docket No. 279149.1 The sole remaining issue in this case is a dispute over contingent attorney fees between Miller and attorney Theodore S. Andrus, who later substituted for Miller, for some of the original plaintiffs. We conclude with the respect to this dispute that the trial court did not clearly err in its findings of underlying facts and did not abuse its discretion in apportioning the contingent fee at issue between Miller and Andrus. We therefore affirm in Docket No. 279149. The remaining consolidated cases are all legal malpractice actions arising either out of Miller's representation regarding the 1983 litigation (Docket Nos. 286343, 286344, and 287143), or out of Miller's representation of a smaller group of the original plaintiffs, bringing an action alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress regarding AAA relocating the CSR's to two central offices in buildings that had once served as warehouses (Docket No. 286342). The trial court granted defendants' motion for summary disposition in Docket Nos. 286343, 286344, and 286342, which we affirm. The trial court denied defendants' motion for summary disposition in Docket No. 287143. For the reasons discussed below, we reverse. I. SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS We briefly provide some historical context for our analysis of the legal issues presented in these appeals. This summary is not intended to completely detail all the facts and proceedings leading to the lower court decisions at issue but only to provide historical background. The original Dumas plaintiffs, represented by Miller, filed a complaint in May 1983 (Docket No. 279149), alleging breach of contract, age discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of a criminal misdemeanor statute, fraud and misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment; wrongful discharge does not appear to be alleged in a separate count but that claim is asserted in the common allegations. The underlying bases for these claims is that in 1978 AAA changed its method of computing commissions for the CSR's from 7% or 7

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Michigan Law