Venue is simply the location of the trial. Determining proper venue ensures the selection of a fair and convenient location where the merits of a dispute can be adjudicated. Gross v Gen Motors Corp, 448 Mich 147, 155 (1995). “[T]he primary goal is to minimize the costs of litigation . . . by reducing the burdens on the parties, [and] by considering the strains on the system as a whole.” Id. “Courts evaluate convenience primarily in terms of the interests of the parties and any relevant witnesses.” Id. “[P]laintiffs carry the burden of establishing the propriety of their venue choice, and the resolution of a venue dispute generally occurs before meaningful discovery has occurred.” Id. at 155-156.
“[V]enue is controlled by statute [(MCL 600.1621)] in Michigan.” Omne Fin, Inc v Shacks, Inc, 460 Mich 305, 309 (1999). Because “the Legislature declined to provide that parties may contractually agree to venue in advance, [the Michigan Supreme Court] decline[d] to read into the statute a provision requiring enforcement of such agreements.” Id. at 311-312. In most cases, venue is proper where the defendant (1) resides, (2) has a place of business or conducts business, or (3) if the defendant is a corporation, where the registered office is located. MCL 600.1621(a). If no defendant meets any of these criteria, venue may be proper where the plaintiff (1) resides, (2) has a place of business or conducts business, or (3) has a registered office, if the plaintiff is a corporation. MCL 600.1621(b). Actions against court-appointed fiduciaries should be brought in the county where the fiduciary was appointed. MCL 600.1621(c). Specific statutes govern proper venue in actions involving: replevin and real property; probate bonds; governmental units; and multiple causes of action involving a tort or involving another legal theory seeking damages for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death. See MCL 600.1605, MCL 600.1611, MCL 600.1615, MCL 600.1629, and MCL 600.1641 respectively.
Once a court enters an order granting a change of venue, it loses jurisdiction over any subsequent proceedings, including the jurisdiction to “entertain [a] motion for reconsideration or any other substantive issue other than the costs and expenses relative to the transfer.” Frankfurth v Detroit Med Ctr, 297 Mich App 654, 662 (2012). To avoid any “serious inconvenience” to the parties, a good practice “might be to make orders changing venue effective as of some reasonable time thereafter[.]” Id. at 662. Failure to do so results in an immediate loss of jurisdiction. Id. at 660 (“unless otherwise explicitly specified, orders are effective when signed by the judge”).
The court rules distinguish between motions for change of proper venue1, MCR 2.222, and improper venue2, MCR 2.223.
“[C]ontractual venue provisions are not binding on Michigan courts, . . . [and] such agreements do not constitute a waiver of a party’s right to challenge venue, nor do they constitute a consent to a change of venue.” Omne Fin, Inc v Shacks, Inc, 226 Mich App 397, 407 (1997).
“A motion for change of venue must be filed before or at the time the defendant files an answer.” MCR 2.221(A). See also Hills & Dales Gen Hosp v Pantig, 295 Mich App 14, 19 (2011) (filing the motion on the same day as answering the complaint satisfied the requirement in MCR 2.221(A)). However, the court cannot deny a late motion if it “is satisfied that the facts on which the motion is based were not and could not with reasonable diligence have been known to the moving party more than 14 days before the motion was filed.” MCR 2.221(B).
If the defendant fails to object to venue within the time limitations set forth in MCR 2.221, he or she waives the right to object. MCR 2.221(C). “The failure to timely raise a claim of improper venue in the lower court precludes consideration of the claim on appeal.” Saba v Gray, 111 Mich App 304, 307 (1981). Raising improper venue as an affirmative defense will not satisfy the requirement that a change of venue motion must be filed. Bursley v Fuksa, 164 Mich App 772, 779 (1987).
Venue of a civil action brought in a proper court may be changed to any other county on grounds permitted by court rule. MCL 600.1655. MCR 2.222(A) allows a change of proper venue “for the convenience of parties and witnesses or when an impartial trial cannot be had where the action is pending.” “[T]he moving party has the burden of making a persuasive showing of inconvenience justifying a change of venue.” Kohn v Ford Motor Co, 151 Mich App 300, 305 (1986) (using common sense and logical inferences, the judge properly found that “a far greater number of witnesses would be inconvenienced if trial were held in Wayne County than if the case were to be transferred to Tuscola County”). If venue is proper, the court may not change venue on its own initiative; a motion is required. MCR 2.222(B).
1.Order for Change of Venue, Case Records, and Required Fees
“The transferring court must enter all necessary orders pertaining to the certification and transfer of the action to the receiving court” and “order the party that moved for change of venue to pay the applicable statutory filing fee to the receiving court, unless fees have been waived in accordance with MCR 2.002.”3 MCR 2.222(D)(1). The order must be entered on a SCAO-approved form. MCR 2.226(A). If the order “is not prepared as required under [MCR 2.226(A)], and the order lacks the information necessary for the receiving court to determine under which rule the transfer was ordered, the clerk of the receiving court shall refuse to accept the transfer and shall prepare a notice of refusal on a form approved by the [SCAO] and return the case to the transferring court for a proper order within seven business days of receipt of the transfer order.” MCR 2.226(B). Upon receipt of a refusal to accept a transfered case under MCR 2.226(B), the transferring court must “prepare a proper order in accordance with [MCR 2.226(A)] and retransfer the case within seven business days.” MCR 2.226(C).
“The transferring court must serve the order [of transfer] on the parties and send a copy to the receiving court. The clerk of the transferring court must prepare the case records for transfer in accordance with the orders entered under [MCR 2.222(D)(1)] and the Michigan Trial Court Records Management Standards and send them to the receiving court by a secure method.” MCR 2.222(D)(2). “The receiving court must temporarily suspend payment of the filing fee and open a case pending payment of the filing fee as ordered by the transferring court. The receiving court must notify the party that moved for change of venue of the new case number in the receiving court, the amount due, and the due date.” MCR 2.222(D)(3).
“If a jury fee has been paid, the clerk of the transferring court must forward it to the clerk of the receiving court as soon as possible after the case records have been transferred.” MCR 2.222(E)(2).
2.Proceedings After Transfer
If the court grants the motion to change venue, the moving party must pay the applicable filing fee within 28 days of the date of the transfer order. MCR 2.222(E)(1). “No further action may be had in the case until payment is made,” and the receiving court must order the case transferred back to the transferring court if the fee is not paid within 28 days of the date of the original transfer order. Id.
To determine whether venue is improper, the court should consult MCL 600.1621.
If venue is improper, the court:
“(1) shall order a change of venue on timely motion of a defendant, or
(2) may order a change of venue on its own initiative with notice to the parties and opportunity for them to be heard on the venue question.” MCR 2.223(A).
A plaintiff cannot seek a change of venue under MCR 2.223(A) because the rule permits a venue change only “on timely motion of a defendant” or on the court’s “own initiative.” Dawley v Hall, 501 Mich 166, 169-170 (2018) (holding that “by expressly recognizing that the defendant and the court can effect a change in venue, but including no similar provision for the plaintiff, the rule . . . must be read to exclude the plaintiff”). Similarly, MCL 600.1651 allows only the defendant to move for a change of venue and must be read to exclude the plaintiff. Dawley, 501 Mich at 170-171 (contrasting MCR 2.222, which permits a court in a proper venue to transfer a case “on motion of a party”). A plaintiff can challenge an order transferring venue by filing “a motion for rehearing or reconsideration within 21 days pursuant to MCR 2.119(F)(1),[4] or by filing an application for leave to appeal, MCR 7.205.” Dawley, 501 Mich at 172.
It is the plaintiff’s burden to establish that the county chosen is the proper venue. Karpinski v St John Hosp - Macomb Ctr Corp, 238 Mich App 539, 547 (1999). Upon the defendant’s timely motion to change venue and a finding that venue is improper, the trial court must transfer the case to a county with proper venue. MCL 600.1651; MCR 2.223(A); Miller v Allied Signal, Inc, 235 Mich App 710, 716-717 (1999).
1.Order for Change of Venue, Case Records, and Required Fees
“The transferring court must enter all necessary orders pertaining to the certification and transfer of the action to the receiving court” and “order the plaintiff to pay the applicable statutory filing fee directly to the receiving court, unless fees have been waived in accordance with MCR 2.002.”5 MCR 2.223(B)(1). The order must be entered on a SCAO-approved form. MCR 2.226(A). If the order “is not prepared as required under [MCR 2.226(A)], and the order lacks the information necessary for the receiving court to determine under which rule the transfer was ordered, the clerk of the receiving court shall refuse to accept the transfer and shall prepare a notice of refusal on a form approved by the [SCAO] and return the case to the transferring court for a proper order within seven business days of receipt of the transfer order.” MCR 2.226(B). Upon receipt of a refusal to accept a transfered case under MCR 2.226(B), the transferring court must “prepare a proper order in accordance with [MCR 2.226(A)] and retransfer the case within seven business days.” MCR 2.226(C). “The court may also order the plaintiff to pay reasonable compensation and attorney fees to the defendant if the case was filed in the wrong court.” MCR 2.223(B)(1).
“The transferring court must serve the order [of transfer] on the parties and send a copy to the receiving court. The clerk of the transferring court must prepare the case records for transfer in accordance with the orders entered under [MCR 2.223(B)(1)] and the Michigan Trial Court Records Management Standards and send them to the receiving court by a secure method.” MCR 2.223(B)(2). “The receiving court must temporarily suspend payment of the filing fee and open a case pending payment of the filing fee and costs as ordered by the transferring court. The receiving court must notify the plaintiff of the new case number in the receiving court, the amount due, and the due date.” MCR 2.223(B)(3).
“If a jury fee has been paid, the clerk of the transferring court must forward it to the clerk of the receiving court as soon as possible after the case records have been transferred.” MCR 2.223(C)(2).
2.Proceedings After Transfer
The receiving court must dismiss the action if the plaintiff does not pay the applicable filing fee, costs, and expenses as ordered by the transferring court within 28 days of the date of the transfer order. MCR 2.223(C)(1). “No further proceedings may be had in the action until payment has been made.” Id.
Whether to grant a motion for change of proper venue is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Kohn v Ford Motor Co, 151 Mich App 300, 305 (1986).
A ruling on a motion for change of improper venue is reviewed for clear error. Massey v Mandell, 462 Mich 375, 379 (2000).
1 See Section 2.14(C).
2 See Section 2.14(D).
3 “Notwithstanding any other provision of [MCR 2.002], courts must enable a litigant who seeks a fee waiver to do so by an entirely electronic process.” MCR 2.002(L). See Section 1.11 for more information on waiver of fees.
4 See Section 4.3.
5 “Notwithstanding any other provision of [MCR 2.002], courts must enable a litigant who seeks a fee waiver to do so by an entirely electronic process.” MCR 2.002(L). See Section 1.11 for more information on waiver of fees.