Rule 2.602.Entry of Judgments and Orders

Apart from a couple of exceptions, every Michigan judgment and order has to be in writing, signed by the court, and dated with the date it's signed, which also becomes the date of entry; a judgment also has to say, right before the judge's signature, whether it resolves the last pending claim and closes the case. Getting that signature can happen four ways: the court can sign right when it grants the relief, it can sign a proposed form once every party has approved it, a party can serve a proposed judgment or order on the others with notice that it will go to the court for signing unless written objections come in within 7 days, or a party can prepare a proposed judgment or order and notice it for settlement before the court. That third path has its own built-in dispute process: specific, timely objections trigger a hearing the court has to schedule within 14 days of the first objection, while a lack of objections lets the judge sign the proposal outright if it matches the court's actual decision.

Rule 2.602 also lets parties settle a case through a conditional dismissal: a signed consent order spelling out the settlement terms and how the case gets reinstated and judgment entered if the deal falls through, backed by an affidavit-and-notice process for the non-defaulting party to invoke if the other side breaches. A conditionally dismissed case is treated, for statute-of-limitations purposes, as having started on the date the original complaint was filed. Once a judgment or order is signed, it goes in the case file, and whoever secured the signature has to serve a copy on everyone else within 7 days and file proof of that service with the clerk.