Michigan Lawyers Weekly articles from May 2007

Michigan Lawyers Weekly archives from May 2007

Judicial downsizing should start at the top.(Letter to the editor)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff To The Editor: With the equivalent of a papal bull, [Michigan Supreme Court Justice] Cliff Taylor wants to reduce the size of the judiciary. (See, "The 'D' word," April 30, 2007.) As a trial...

Keep perspective in judicial perks debate.(Letter to the editor)
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff To The Editor: Your "Judicial Perks" web poll asks the wrong question, or at least frames it incorrectly. First, the fact that judges earn more than "average" lawyers is irrelevant. That...

Giveth and taketh away: Michigan legislation to eliminate trial court judgeships.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Todd C. Berg, Esq. Michigan Judiciary The Legislature could've saved the judiciary $1 million. If it had, the courts' current budgetary crisis wouldn't be so bad. According to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice...

Michigan Court of Appeals: No-fault update.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck, Esq. You can't determine the future without figuring out the present. That's what the Michigan Court of Appeals said in an opinion stemming from Dinah Rose's no-fault claim against three separate insurance...

Michigan Court of Appeals: Setting you up to fall.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. Clean up on aisle seven! Don't bother, said the Michigan Court of Appeals in a recent unanimous per curiam opinion. In Kennedy v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Judges Kathleen Jansen, Janet...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Lauren M. London has been elected to the board of directors of 826michigan. London, an associate with Dykema Gossett PLLC, concentrates her practice on commercial disputes, class...

Michigan Attorney Discipline Board Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Fees Estate Administration - 90-Day Suspension Respondent's failure to mail necessary attorney fee agreements, his payment of attorney fees to himself from an estate and his...

Michigan Attorney General Opinion Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Law Executive Orders - Reduction Of Spending Authority The Governor, having gained the approval of both the House and Senate appropriations committees, may use her Const 1963,...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Superintending Control - Denied Plaintiff-county employee was properly denied the order of superintending control she sought to support her allegations that the Muskegon county...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder. Other Acts Evidence. "[T]he evidence indicated that the victim sustained several injuries on August 21, 2004, but...

Michigan Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure MCR 2.118 - Real Party In Interest Where a debtor filed for bankruptcy protection, the real party in interest for purposes of his no-fault suit against defendant was the...

Michigan Supreme Court Orders: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Discipline Matters English v. Attorney Grievance Comm'n. (Lawyers Weekly No. 06-62708) (1 pages). Complaint for superintending control denied. Schriber v. Attorney Grievance Comm'n....

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Chapter 7 Non-Dischargeable Debt - Collateral Estoppel Where the debtors sold property that was subject to a lien without satisfying the mortgages on the property, the title insurer can invoke...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust Robinson- Patman Act - Price Discrimination Claim Where a company that sold and serviced medium- and heavy-duty trucks (FOK) believed it was obtaining an exclusive dealership...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Appeals - Motion To Vacate Denied The arbitrator's award for defendant in this contract dispute case will not be vacated upon plaintiff's motion under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 because...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: 'No cause' verdict rendered in subrogation case.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff In December 2004, a fire completely destroyed a commercial building and its contents. Plaintiff Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company paid the owner, Lapeer Awning & Window, more than $419,000 for...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007:Wrongful death matter settles for $1.5M.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent was engaged in the process of conducting a hot oil operation for a crude oil tank battery facility. Some gas escaped from the tank battery storage tanks and ignited in a flash...

Verdicts & Settlements May 7, 2007: $600K settlement reached for sales rep claim.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiffs, who are manufacturer sales representatives, had a long relationship with the defendant manufacturer. For almost two decades, the plaintiffs were paid commissions at 5 percent of invoice...

Commentary: Internet 'opportunities'.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Stuart M. Israel I'll admit to having certain Luddite tendencies when it comes to computers. Still, I have to acknowledge that the Internet has opened new worlds to me, particularly when it comes to financial opportunities. ...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Hearsay Exception - Ownership Interest In Property Where the victim of an alleged real estate fraud sought to testify at defendant's preliminary examination that the owner of the...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Arbitrator's Authority - Not Exceeded In this action to enforce an arbitration award concerning the value of defendant's commercial real estate, the trial court properly rejected...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Armed Robbery. Effective Assistance. "[D]efendant has not demonstrated that an investigation of the criminal backgrounds of Tirpik, Green and Siecinski would have revealed any...

Michigan Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Service Of Process - No Jury Trial MCR 2.116(I)(3) did not require a trial court to conduct a jury trial in this medical malpractice case to determine whether service of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights FMLA - Hours Of Service Plaintiff did not meet the definition of "eligible employee" under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) because the additional bonus hours she received...

Litigation disasters: Making mistakes with expert witnesses.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Tracy Coenen There is little doubt that litigation can be stressful for clients and attorneys alike. With filings, briefs, and deadlines, the litigator has little time to worry about whether her or his expert witness is getting the...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: 'No cause' verdict rendered in FMLA claim.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff Robert Mitchell was a 12-year officer of the Wayne County Sheriff's Department. As such, he was a member of a union and his employment was subject to the collective bargaining agreement. ...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007:Sales commission dispute reaches $290K settlement.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff This was a sales commission dispute involving a premium marketing sales representative firm against a major retailer. The plaintiff conceived of a cross-promotional program to market the...

Verdicts & Settlements May 14, 2007: $1.17M verdict awarded in medical-malpractice case.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent, William Lobaina, underwent a revision of a gastric bypass operation by defendant Dr. Bruce Deckinga. Six days later, while at home, the plaintiff's decedent developed...

Michigan Court of Appeals: Car accident victim missed medical exams, missed out on benefits.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck, Esq. Michigan Court of Appeals -- No-Fault Update In what could be a significant victory for insurance carriers, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that no-fault benefits can be cut off for no-show...

Verdicts & Settlements Plus May 14, 2007: Small town jury returns big award for botched bypass.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck, Esq. Verdicts & Settlements Plus Like so many obese patients, William Lobaina underwent gastric bypass surgery to live a longer, healthier life. However, the very procedure that was to add years to his life...

Michigan Supreme Court clarifies trial judges' 'gatekeeper' role.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. Michigan Supreme Court -- Expert Witness Testimony With an order that didn't quite reverse the Michigan Court of Appeals' decision in Clerc v. Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital, the Michigan Supreme...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments LaRissa D. Hollingsworth, of Rhoades McKee in Grand Rapids, has been appointed to the board of trustees of the Grand Rapids Christian Schools for a three-year term. Additionally,...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Antitrust Pharmaceutical Pricing - Market Share The federal district court correctly dismissed the antitrust claims of plaintiff-appellants, a group of pharmaceutical product purchasers,...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Legitimate Expectations - Just Cause Where plaintiff-cashier was fired for selling three packages of Sudafed to two middle-aged customers (she had worked at Sam's Club and its...

Commentary: New internal IRS guidelines for business valuations.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Richard Wentzell In July 2006, the Internal Revenue Service issued new business valuation guidelines to provide direction to their specialists who work with issues involving business valuations. In developing these guidelines,...

Verdicts & Settlements May 21, 2007: 'No cause' verdict rendered in auto neg matter.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The 13-year-old plaintiff was riding her bicycle in downtown Romeo, and was stopped at a corner. She proceeded into the crosswalk when the signal for the crosswalk stated "Walk." The defendant, who...

Verdicts & Settlements May 21, 2007: Uninsured motorist claim nets $50K verdict.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff The 46-year-old plaintiff was a passenger in her Jeep Cherokee. A vehicle in the lane to her right swerved into the Jeep Cherokee, striking the passenger door hard enough to cause the door not to open....

Verdicts & Settlements May 21, 2007: $1.8M settlement reached in sales commission action.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff This was a sales commission dispute between a manufacturer's representative and an automotive supplier. The defendant initiated an arbitration proceeding pursuant to the arbitration provision of...

Facing budget crisis, Michigan Court of Appeals makes deep cuts.(Interview)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. In the past month, Michigan Court of Appeals Chief Judge William C. Whitbeck has found himself in a place he's not accustomed to -- the public spotlight. With the state's budgetary crisis affecting all...

Michigan Court of Appeals judge trumps jury, removes damages cap.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. Michigan Court of Appeals -- Products liability A trial judge recently saved the day for an injured worker who was about to receive only a modest award from the jury that heard her products liability...

No notice, no highway defect claim, rules Michigan Supreme Court.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck, Esq. The Michigan Supreme Court has once again overruled a decades-old precedent -- this time taking on the notice provision of the Governmental Tort Liability Act. The high court's action in Rowland v....

Michigan Lawyers in the News: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Appointments Howard Hertz, co-founder of Hertz, Schram and Saretsky, P.C., in Bloomfield Hills, has been named to the Wayne State University's College of Fine, Performing and Communications Arts...

Michigan Attorney Discipline Board Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Discipline Complainant's Petition For Review - Reprimand Upheld Where the complainant has objected to the Grievance Administrator's decision to reprimand respondent-attorney because...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Law Conditional Habeas Writ - State- Court Jurisdiction The state of Michigan did not lose jurisdiction to retry defendant when it failed to retry defendant within the time period...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Business Law Partnership - Transfer A partnership agreement, which provided that partners' interests could not be transferred and that if a transfer occurred the remaining partners could buy...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: May 14, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Accosting A Minor. Constitutional Challenge. MCL 750.145a, is not unconstitutionally vague and provides fair notice of the proscribed conduct. "[T]he language used provides, in...

Michigan Supreme Court Orders: May 21, 2007.(List)
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Leave Denied People v. Stellner. (Lawyers Weekly No. 06-62813) (2 pages). Dissent by Justice Kelly. People v. Babcock. (Lawyers Weekly No. 06-62817) (2 pages). Concurrence by Justice Markman....

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Chapter 7 Mortgage Interest - No Preferential Transfer Where the trustee seeks to avoid the security interest of New Century Mortgage in the debtors' property as a preferential transfer, the...

Paternity bill fraught with flaws.(Letter to the editor)
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff To The Editor: Michigan Lawyers Weekly recently published an article about House Bill 4147. (See, "Family Value," April 2, 2007.) If adopted, this legislation would allow fathers to file...

Plaintiff's attorney in 'Roberts v. State Farm' weighs in.(Letter to the editor)
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff To The Editor: Recently, you ran an article that discussed a recent Court of Appeals ruling, which allows no-fault insurance carriers to cut off "uncooperative" insureds (Roberts v. Farmers...

Proposed Michigan legislation would cap attorney fees, limit right to contract.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. Legislative Preview With the state's budget crisis looming large, it seems like saving money has been on everyone's mind. But, while other representatives and senators debated tax hikes and...

Unnecessary mastectomy yields multimillion-dollar verdict from Washtenaw County jury.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Molly F. Dilbeck, Esq. Verdicts & Settlements Plus Undergoing a mastectomy is traumatic, even when it's life-saving. Enduring a needless one, however, is nothing short of tragic, according to a Washtenaw County jury. ...

Michigan Supreme Court fine-tunes drug vehicle statute.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Melissa P. Stewart, Esq. Taking an increasingly familiar page from its own decision-making book, the Michigan Supreme Court once again relied upon the dictionary to give meaning to the undefined terms of a statute. This time,...

Michigan Lawyers in the News: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections LaRissa D. Hollingsworth, an associate with Rhoades McKee, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Holli Targan, a partner with Jaffe Raitt...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Condition Precedent - Building Demolition A contract requirement that a demolition company must obtain a city's written permission to demolish buildings is a condition precedent, and,...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Civil Case Summaries: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Estoppel - Law Of The Case Where defendant-Auto Owners Insurance Company appeals as of right from a judgment in favor of plaintiffs in this breach of contract action, the law...

Michigan Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Case Summaries: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Affirmed Convictions Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder; Assault And Battery; Habitual Offender, Fourth Offense. MRE 404(b) (1). "[T]he admission of evidence that...

Michigan Supreme Court Case Summaries: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Offer Of Judgment - Applicability Where, during the pendency of an adverse possession case, plaintiff offered to pay defendants $3,000 in exchange for a quitclaim deed to the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Michigan Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Punitive Damages - Remittitur Where we previously remanded this Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case for either remittitur or a new trial on punitive damages after concluding...

Commentary: Examine ways to end explosion of 'state-created orphans'.(Essay)
May 28, 2007... Byline: Justice Maura D. Corrigan In their recent draft article, University of Michigan Professors Frank Vandervort and Vivek Sankaran objected to our suggested legislative changes to Michigan's child protection laws, as described in the...

Commentary: Application of Heidi's Law violates Constitution.(Essay)
May 28, 2007... Byline: Robert Larin Many attorneys have approached me with distressing stories of people being prosecuted under "Heidi's Law" who are facing felony bonds, with weekends in jail, loss of jobs, etc. Certain prosecutor's offices are...