Judicial immunity; MCL 691.1407(5); Serven v Health Quest Chiropractic, Inc; Fraud on the court; Res judicata; Mecosta Cnty Med Ctr v Metro Group Prop & Cas Ins Co; Quiet title judgment; Vexatious appeal; MCR 7.216(C)

The court held that the trial court properly granted defendants summary disposition because judicial immunity and res judicata barred plaintiff’s fraud-on-the-court claims arising from a 1999 quiet-title judgment. Plaintiff sued the judge who entered the quiet-title judgment and the party who prevailed in that action, alleging they “engaged in an enterprise to convey property illegally.” The court first held that judicial immunity barred the claim against the former judge because MCL 691.1407(5) protects a judge acting “within the scope of his or her judicial . . . authority,” and absolute immunity protects judges from “‘vexatious actions prosecuted by disgruntled litigants.’” The court reasoned that plaintiff’s lawsuit was “exactly what judicial immunity prevents” because the judge acted within his judicial authority when he quieted title and extinguished plaintiff’s alleged property interest. The court next held that res judicata barred the claim against the quiet-title plaintiff because the prior action was decided on the merits, involved the same parties, and resolved or could have resolved plaintiff’s title theory. The court explained that plaintiff was “directly challeng[ing] the subject matter” of the earlier ruling and seeking “to relitigate the long-settled quiet title judgment under the guise of an alleged fraud on the court.” Finally, the court concluded on its own initiative that the appeal was vexatious because plaintiff’s arguments and brief “were ‘grossly lacking in the requirements of propriety, violated court rules, or grossly disregarded the’” fair presentation requirements, and it noted plaintiff had filed 12 other unsuccessful appeals since 2015. Affirmed.