Rivertown Development Group v. West Congress Street Partners, 330728

Lawrence R. Walker, PC (petitioner) represented West Congress Street Partners, LLC (defendant) in a landlord-tenant suit and later sought to withdraw; the court permitted withdrawal and recognized petitioner’s charging lien for $35,094.14.
After petitioner withdrew, the underlying dispute settled via case evaluation awarding defendant $125,000.
Petitioner moved to enforce his charging lien against the settlement proceeds for unpaid fees and costs; defendant contested and requested an evidentiary hearing.
At a two-day hearing the trial court admitted petitioner’s billing statement, heard testimony, and concluded petitioner reasonably expended 167 hours at the agreed $300/hour rate plus $2,833.62 in expenses.
The court found prior payments totaled $34,044.14, deducted that from fees and expenses, and awarded petitioner $18,889.62 on the charging lien.
Petitioner appealed, arguing (1) the court miscalculated prior payments (claimed actual payments were $30,155) and (2) the court abused discretion by reducing billable hours from 217 to 167.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred in treating $34,044.14 as prior payments	Petitioner: billing "account receivable" math shows only $30,155 was paid; $34,044.14 was amount due, not paid	Defendant: parties (including petitioner at hearing) treated $34,044.14 as payments; record supported that figure	Court: No error — petitioner agreed at hearing to $34,000 figure and cannot now claim error he contributed to; affirmed
Whether the trial court abused discretion by reducing compensable hours from 217 to 167	Petitioner: trial court relied improperly on client testimony and reduced hours without justification	Defendant: trial court considered billing, testimony, and its own knowledge; excluded excessive or unnecessary hours	Court: No abuse — trial court reasonably evaluated entries and excluded excessive/redundant time; 167 hours within range of principled outcomes

Reynolds v. Polen, 222 Mich. App. 20 (attorney discharged remains entitled to payment for services rendered)
George v. Sandor M. Gelman, P.C., 201 Mich. App. 474 (charging lien is equitable right to secure fees from recovery)
Souden v. Souden, 303 Mich. App. 406 (review of charging-lien fee awards is for abuse of discretion)
Pirgu v. United Servs. Auto Ass’n, 499 Mich. 269 (fee reasonableness: determine local reasonable hourly rate and multiply by reasonable hours)
Smith v. Khouri, 481 Mich. 519 (trial courts should exclude excessive, redundant, or unnecessary hours)