Jim Acho, a partner in our Livonia office, successfully represented the City of Detroit in a lawsuit filed by Detroit Police Commissioner Board Member Willie Burton. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit last month, and yesterday denied the petition for rehearing rendering the case over. Burton was removed from the July 11, 2019 Board of Police Commissioners meeting at the Durfee Information […]

Joseph M. Ramirez, an attorney in our Kansas City office, successfully defended a corporate client housing complex against a breach of warranty of habitability claim. Notwithstanding an overly aggressive and unreasonable demand by the tenant, Mr. Ramirez leverage his knowledge of landlord-tenant law against the facts in the case to obtain a highly favorable settlement on behalf of our client in an amount less than 10% of the total exposure. […]

Please join us in welcoming Michelle L. Richards to CMDA. An Of Counsel attorney in the Firm’s Livonia office, Ms. Richards has more than 15 years experience in civil litigation, with special emphasis on appellate practice on behalf of municipalities, insurance companies, and corporate entities. Further, she has significant transactional and corporate practice experience. Prior to joining CMDA, Ms. Richards worked for a national telecommunication company as the Director of […]

CMDA Attorneys Joel Ashton and Stanley Okoli recently had a third-party automobile negligence action dismissed on summary disposition in favor of the dealership that owned the automobile driven by the allegedly negligent driver. In this case, a car dealership customer was involved in an accident while driving a loaner vehicle owned and provided by the defendant dealership while it repaired the customer’s vehicle. The plaintiff, who also sued the customer […]

Joel Ashton and Stanley Okoli recently had dismissals upheld on two related Condominium Association cases in the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court. To say the least, these were contentious cases in which a co-owner experienced a sewer back-up in her basement in October 2016, with the alleged subsequent discovery of rod hole leaks in the foundation, for which she initially sued the Condominium Association, its insurer, the […]

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturns Roe v Wade. Even as Supreme Court opinions go, it is a giant in size as well as societal impact. The opinion has generated a flood of commentary from voices on all sides of the abortion policy debate. Seemingly, not everyone commenting on the opinion has actually read it. […]

The Federal Appeals panel affirmed an opinion by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan over the granting of Summary Judgment in a condominium case that has broad ramifications. The Plaintiff claimed her Defendant next door neighbor was aggravating her preexisting asthma condition due to the frequent smell of smoke emanating from their unit. This action turned into what is regarded as a landmark case. It relates […]

Please join us in welcoming Kevin J. Campbell to CMDA. An attorney in the Firm’s Livonia office, he is an experienced defense attorney with a diverse background that includes the litigation of complex commercial disputes, premises liability and no-fault cases, real estate disputes, constitutional controversies, cases involving alleged noncompliance with the Michigan Open Meetings Act, disputes pertaining to the Michigan law regarding personnel decision-making based on teacher evaluations (MCL 380.1248 […]

John Gwyn, an attorney in our Livonia office, recently attended the Community Associations Institute (CAI) 2022 Annual Law Seminar in California. While at the seminar, and unbeknownst to him, the national presenters chose to feature one of Mr. Gwyn’s cases as an example of the complicated interplay between tort, easement, and contract law. The case involves a Circuit Court Judge in Macomb County agreeing with CMDA that claims made in […]

Jim Acho, a partner in our Livonia office, was a guest on several sports radio shows this week–including on KMOX in St. Louis–to discuss the lawsuit filed against the NFL by coach Brian Flores. Longtime ESPN radio voice Kevin Wheeler now mans the drive time sports radio show for KMOX, a seat once held by legendary sportscasters Harry Caray, Jack Buck and Bob Costas; Jim has been a guest on […]