Keti Mebuke (Associate-Chicago, IL) and Nicole Gettler (Of Counsel-Detroit, MI) prevailed on their motion for summary disposition in Leelanau County Circuit Court, Michigan, on behalf of the firm’s property owner clients. The plaintiff sought injunctive relief through: (1) a quiet title action alleging that the description of a 12-foot-wide shared common driveway located between the parties, as referenced in the clients’ deed, constituted a cloud on the plaintiffs’ title; and (2) an order restricting our clients from using the driveway altogether, based on the plaintiffs’ contention that the easement did not benefit the clients’ parcel and, alternatively, that their use would overburden the easement.

Keti and Nicole moved for summary disposition, arguing that the reference in the clients’ deed merely recognized the long-standing existence and use of the shared driveway and underlying easement, did not create a cloud on the plaintiffs’ title, and confirmed that the easement was appurtenant to the clients’ property, thereby permitting their use of the driveway without the restrictions sought by the plaintiffs. After the parties engaged in supplemental briefing and a two-hour oral argument, the court issued a 14-page written opinion granting summary disposition in favor of Wilson Elser’s clients with prejudice as to all counts.