Michigan Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2006

Michigan Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2006

Michigan Supreme Court Orders: February 6, 2006.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Judgment Vacated In Part Village of Lincoln v. Viking Energy. SC: 127144; COA: 246319; Alcona CC: 00-010619-CE. On January 12, 2006, the Court heard oral argument on the application for leave to...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 6, 2006.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Sentencing - OV 9 When sentencing defendant for theft offenses arising from taking items from an unoccupied home, the trial court's assessment of 10 points under offense variable...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: February 6, 2006.(Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Award - Improperly Overturned Where the trial court dismissed plaintiff's complaint to enforce an arbitration award on his claims for wrongful discharge and violation of the...

Attorney General issues opinion on term of office for elected officials.(Home Rule City Act)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Municipal Law Elected Officials - Term Of Office A city charter provision that renders vacant an office held by an elected city officer who also becomes a candidate for another city office...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: February 6, 2006.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Class Certification - Reversed In this Title VII class action brought against the Ohio correctional institutions by some of its female employees, the district court abused its...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: February 6, 2006.(Michigan. No-Fault Act, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff No-Fault Room And Board - 'Griffith' A room and board claim cannot be brought on behalf of a no-fault accident victim against her insurer following the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: February 6, 2006.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Assault With Intent To Rob While Armed; Aiding And Abetting. Sufficient Evidence. "Defendant specifically argues that there was insufficient proof that his co-conspirators had...

District Court says room, board are not 'allowable expenses' under No-Fault Act.(State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Paul J. Martinek, Esq. Eastern District In one of the first rulings to address the scope of the Michigan Supreme Court's decision last summer in Griffith v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, the U.S. District Court for...

Breath-test challenges being used to block DUI prosecutions.(driving under influence)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Reni Gertner This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication. Successful challenges over the software that powers breath-testing machines in Florida have blocked more...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: February 6, 2006.(appointments)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Jeffrey C. Hicks has become a member of the Michigan Land Title Standards Committee of the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Additionally, Hicks was elected to the...

Verdicts & Settlements February 6, 2006: Auto negligence matter yields $25M verdict.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff On Feb. 17, 2003, the 35-year-old plaintiff's decedent died when a marked Dearborn Police car broadsided his Volkswagen Jetta as it turned from a parking lot onto Oakwood Boulevard. The plaintiff's...

Verdicts & Settlements February 6, 2006: 'No cause' for inverse condemnation case.(HRT Enterprises, Merkur Steel Supply)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff HRT Enterprises is one of three plaintiffs having common ownership interests in certain property that have sued defendant City of Detroit for an alleged inverse condemnation of their property,...

Verdicts & Settlements February 6, 2006: Insurance fraud claim gets 'no cause'.(State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff In 1974, James W. Warren was catastrophically injured in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver. It was claimed that his care providers, Cheryl and John Crump, were cheated out of millions of...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.(Deutsche Bank Trust Co. v. Spot Realty)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Governmental Immunity Gross Negligence - Proof Of Handcuff Injury Where plaintiff claimed a police officer used excessive force when arresting him by handcuffing him too tightly, plaintiff must...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.(Van Buren, et al. v. Panther Crankshafts, Michigan. Workers' Disability Compensation Act of 1969)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Law Student's Suspension - Factual Findings A student's suspension from school is upheld because the school district superintendent's determination that the student made a...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Armed Robbery; Felonious Assault; Felon In Possession Of A Firearm; Felony Firearm. Uncharged Offense. Even though the trial court erred by considering an uncharged offense,...

MI Attorney Discipline Board Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.(Michigan)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Notice Of Automatic Reinstatement Case No. 03-165-GA Notice Issued: January 25, 2006 Michael C. Hyde, P 42440, Merritt Island, Florida. Effective January 17, 2006 Respondent was...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.(Clark-Murphy v. Foreback, Clark v. Chrysler Corp., United States v. Williams)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Consumer Law Motor Home - Warranty Defendant-seller was not entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff-buyer's express warranty and failure of essential purpose claims arising from the purchase...

Michigan Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 13, 2006.(People v. Monaco)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Architectural Malpractice Limitations Period - Personal Injury Claim Where a worker claimed she was injured by environmental hazards created when an architect renovated her office, the six-year...

Michigan Supreme Court Orders: February 13, 2006.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Court Rule Amendments ADM File No. 2004-24 Amendment of Rule 7.211 of the Michigan Court Rules On order of the Court, notice of the proposed changes and an opportunity for comment in...

Commentary: 'All Appropriate Inquiries' - new ... and improved?
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Alan Bolin and Allan Clifford Lawton If you have been involved in buying or selling real estate over the last 15 years or so, you are certainly aware of environmental due diligence. You have seen this process develop, and...

Commentary: The recent politics of air law.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Steven C. Kohl The history of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 USC 7401, is a history of litigation. Congress, in fashioning the statute and its amendments, through necessity, provided a broad canvas to be painted on by the...

MI Supreme Court rules father who owed $58K in child support can't be prosecuted.(People v. Monaco)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff A father who was almost $58,000 in arrears on child support could not be prosecuted for felony nonsupport where the charges were brought more than six years after his youngest child turned 18 years of...

Wave of litigation over Guidant heart devices on the rise.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher The first trial over Guidant Corp.'s allegedly flawed heart devices is slated to start this month in Texas. The trial, scheduled for Feb. 20 before Judge Jack Hunter in state court in Corpus Christi, is the...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: February 13, 2006.(Aaron L. Vorce joins Dykema Gossett PLLC)(Mark A. Shaffer joins Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.)(Brian P. Morley joins Fraser Trebilcock Davis & Dunlap)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments Bruce Shaw has been appointed by the Huntington Woods City Commission to serve on the city's ethics board for a one-year term. Shaw is a principal with Tanoury, Corbet, Shaw, Nauts...

Verdicts & Settlements February 13, 2006: Jury returns $250K PI verdict.(personal injury, Behymer v. Goryl)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff This lawsuit arose out of an automobile accident where the 44-year-old plaintiff alleged neck injuries following a low-speed accident that occurred in stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic. The...

Verdicts & Settlements February 13, 2006: Will contest matter settles for $1.6M.(Kallen, et al. v. Nemzin)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiffs, who were brother and sister, sued their sister for undue influence arising from their being disinherited from their mother's will. After the filing of the complaint, the case...

Verdicts & Settlements February 13, 2006: Premises liability case ends in 'no cause'.(Mercier v. Holmes)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff John Mercer is the father of defendant Tracy Holmes and father-in-law of defendant Freddie Holmes. On April 8, 2003, the plaintiff went to the defendants' house to pick up his wife, who had...

Verdicts & Settlements February 13, 2006: Auto negligence claim settles for $980K.(Ruel v. Radosavac)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant driver struck the plaintiff as she was driving through an intersection. The defendant driver crossed the centerline and struck the plaintiff's vehicle almost head-on, causing multiple...

Michigan Supreme Court Orders Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Orders ADM File No. 2005-02 Administrative Order No. 2006-2 Privacy Policy and Access to Court Records The Social Security Number Privacy Act, 2004 PA 454, requires all...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Felon In Possession Of A Firearm - Specified Felony Plaintiffs' guilty pleas to attempted breaking and entering an unoccupied dwelling in 1985 constitute "specified felonies"...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.(Michigan. Ski Area Safety Act)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Jurisdiction - Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine The trial court correctly declined, under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, to hear a suit filed by the Michigan Attorney...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm. Unavailable Witness. A witness, Islim, testified at defendant's preliminary examination. He returned to Lebanon to visit his family...

Circuit Court Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.(State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Titan Ins. Co.)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff No-Fault Reimbursement Claim - Existence Of Policy State Farm cannot seek reimbursement for no-fault insurance benefits paid to an injured passenger from Titan Insurance because there was no...

Commentary: Prior bankruptcy bites mortgagors in the assets.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Charles L. Hahn Judicial estoppel is a seldom-used doctrine, which prevents a party from changing its factual or legal position from one case to another. Unlike res judicata, where facts and issues have been decided in a prior case...

PIP claimant settles for $657K in future attendant care services.(personal protection insurance)(Miller v. Farm Bureau General Insurance Co. of Michigan)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Todd C. Berg, Esq. Verdicts & Settlements Plus Can a personal protection insurance benefits (PIP) claimant use a declaratory judgment to lock in a rate equivalent to $25 per hour for future 24-hour attendant care services, even...

Verdicts & Settlements February 20, 2006: $625K settlement for motor vehicle accident.(VanLiew v. Frankenmuth Financial Group)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The 34-year-old plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of a clear liability motor vehicle collision. He spent five days as an in-patient at Spectrum Health Center, but was able to...

Verdicts & Settlements February 20, 2006: Auto negligence matter nets $93K.(Schultz v. Gross)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The 14-year-old plaintiff, Joshua Schultz, was a passenger who was injured when the defendant turned into the path of the vehicle the plaintiff was in. The plaintiff suffered a fractured ankle as a...

Verdicts & Settlements February 20, 2006: $480K verdict for civil rights matter.(Freedom of Information Act, Allison, et al. v. City of East Lansing)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff A Michigan State University employee in Linton Hall experienced a burning sensation in her throat after opening an envelope that had been misaddressed. The non-emergency call to dispatch resulted in a...

Passenger denied no-fault benefits because driver wrote bad check.(Katinsky v. Auto Club Ins. Ass'n., State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Titan Ins)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Circuit Court Report A passenger who was injured in an automobile accident was not entitled to no-fault benefits under the driver's purported policy where the driver's initial premium deposit check...

Bill seeks to compensate wrongly convicted individuals in Michigan.(House Bill 5509)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Denise G. Callahan No one can give back time to wrongfully convicted inmates, but the Legislature is contemplating a compensation package that would allow some measure of future stability. Rep. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, recently...

Verdicts & Settlements February 20, 2006: Auto neg action settles for $110K.(Zechmeister v. McLarty, et al.)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a passenger in a car being driven by co-defendant Mary Culliton, while they were returning from Christmas shopping at Great Lakes Crossing Mall. As Culliton was driving on Joslyn...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Excessive Force Claim - Material Disputes Where plaintiff's decedent was shot and killed while trying to evade arrest for a suspected drug offense, material disputes whether the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: February 20, 2006.(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Eastern District of Michigan Court Rule Amendments And Orders No. 06-07 In Re: Administrative Order Amending ECF Administrative Procedures ECF Administrative Procedure 8 is amended to...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(Michigan. Land Division Act)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Prevailing Party - Costs And Attorney Fees A condominium association that prevailed on its claim against defendant concerning a bylaw infraction was entitled to costs and...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(Michigan. Consumer Protection Act, Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Business Law Shareholder Derivative Suit - Standing The trial court correctly concluded that plaintiff had standing to bring a shareholder derivative suit even though the corporation had been...

MI Attorney General Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Municipal Law Counties - Billboard Regulation The Highway Advertising Act preempts counties from regulating the size, lighting, and spacing of signs and sign structures that are located within...

MI Attorney Discipline Board Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(Michigan)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Notice Of Increased Suspension Case No. 05-109-MZ (Ref: 04-51-GA) Notice Issued: February 9, 2006 William F. Carson, P 30900, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by the Attorney Discipline Board...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(United States Constitution. 6th Amendment)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Section 1983 - No Substantive Due Process Violation Where the decedent was beaten to death inside a residence, county defendants are not liable for violating the decedent's...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Service Of Process - Amended State Summons Although the state court lacked authority to issue plaintiffs an amended summons, with which defendant was served, defendant's motion...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Chapter 13 Unrecorded Mortgage - Avoided Where the debtor has filed this adversary proceeding seeking to avoid defendant's unrecorded mortgage and assignment under Sect. 544 of the Bankruptcy...

Michigan Court Of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: February 27, 2006.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Armed Robbery; Criminal Sexual Conduct, First And Second Degree; Using Financial Transaction Device Without Consent. Assistance Of Counsel. "Defendant lists numerous instances...

Commentary: E-mail your client at work and kiss privilege goodbye.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Brian L. Levine We all remember horror stories of that proverbial attorney who inadvertently waived attorney-client privilege by discussing a client matter on an elevator, plane, train or bus. Now, thanks to the explosion of...

Is it time for MI Supreme Court to reform how it handles recusal motions?
February 27, 2006... Byline: Todd C. Berg, Esq. The Michigan Supreme Court may have made history on Jan. 31, 2006. Not only did Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor and Justice Stephen J. Markman break with "historic practice" by publishing their reasons for...

HIPAA rules for ex parte meetings with doctors coming into focus.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff HIPAA Law Analysis Practitioners tell Michigan Lawyers Weekly the ground rules for ex parte meetings between defense counsel and a plaintiff's treating physicians have been further clarified by a...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: February 27, 2006.(Christopher M. Taylor appointed to State Bar of Michigan, Michael G. Campbell appointed to Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, John J. Hern Jr. appointed to Clark Hill PLC)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments Christopher M. Taylor has been appointed to the District G Character and Fitness Committee of the State Bar of Michigan. Taylor, a shareholder with Butzel Long's Ann Arbor office,...

Verdicts & Settlements February 27, 2006: Negligence suit results in $688K settlement.(Reyes v. Christian Hills Group Home, et al.)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, a developmentally disabled person with an IQ of less than 24 months and with no ability to speak, was residing in an adult foster care group home when she was raped and impregnated. As a...

Verdicts & Settlements February 27, 2006: Wrongful death suit settles for $5.96M.(Gunther v. Bay City Public Schools)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff This wrongful death action arose out of an auto accident, where the plaintiff's decedent was run into, knocked down, caught in the rear wheels and dragged before being run over and crushed to death by...