Rapper Cardi B recently defeated a tort and intellectual property lawsuit for misappropriation of likeness and invasion of privacy for using a picture of a heavily tattooed man, without his permission, as the subject of her album cover picture. The creator of the album cover skewed and altered an innocent picture of Plaintiff Kevin Brophy, where he is simply showing off his tattoo, to create an entirely different scenario. Critically, […]

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. […]

Norman “Gene” Richards, a partner in our Livonia office, recently obtained substantial mitigation of a penalty assessed against a client by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Plaintiff was issued a penalty of over $280,000 for an alleged wood packaging material violation. CBP states that all wood packaging material imported into the United States must have been treated at the place of origin and […]

CMDA is proud to announce that Christopher G. Schultz has been recognized as a “Go To Lawyer” for Business Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. The “Go To Lawyers” program identifies and recognizes the top 22 lawyers across the state in a given practice area. Christopher G. Schultz has broad and extensive experience of nearly 40 years in matters involving small and large businesses and related litigation. He has significantly grown […]

The Coronavirus Pandemic has unfavorably affected many Michigan businesses over the past several months. The loss of revenue associated with shuttering a business during this ongoing global epidemic is placing a strain on some commercial tenants’ ability to meet payment obligations under the terms of existing commercial leases. As a result, force majeure clauses contained in commercial lease contracts have increasingly come into play these days. The term “force majeure” […]

A common query posed to collection attorneys by their small business clients is whether, upon the default of a standard contract agreement, the client will receive the “benefit of the bargain” and be made whole as part of the collection process. Many business agreements have not been drafted in a comprehensive manner, nor with the aid of competent legal counsel. As a result, an often-raised question is whether accrued interest […]

One of the most common requests from clients to probate practitioners is when an individual, upon their passing, wishes to transfer ownership in real property outside of probate proceedings while preserving present control and use of the land.  The utilization of certain deeds as an estate-planning tool to accomplish that goal – affectionately known as “Lady Bird” deeds – is available only in a few states, including Michigan.  This type […]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently unveiled a web-based intellectual property (IP) marketplace platform to provide the public with a searchable source of patents and published patent applications related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are available for licensing. The new platform, Patents 4 Partnerships, will help facilitate the licensing and commercialization of innovations in key areas of technologies and disseminate valuable patent information. The platform could assist […]

As business owners get closer to reopening their doors, it is time to start planning for and anticipating the problems that may arise with our workforce. The following are issues that may arise, along with some helpful tips. Workplace Conditions Governor Whitmer will advise of the required conditions of the workplace such as the wearing of masks, use of partitions, cleaning of areas, use of social distancing, etc. If your […]

Governor Whitmer’s latest Executive Order in effect through May 6, 2020 allows any notarial act required under Michigan Law to be done using two-way video technology.  As a result, a financial institution, title insurer, or a register of deeds is prohibited from denying a copy of an electronic record if a notary certifies it under the terms of the Order. (The only exception will be if state law specifically requires […]