The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a new trial in a case won by Attorney Carol Smith in the Western District of Michigan. The plaintiffs’ appeal cited several alleged errors made by the trial court leading up to and during the jury trial. The court of appeals sided with Ms. Smith and her clients, bringing finality to this years-long legal battle. The lawsuit was filed by a Chicago-based […]

Noting that no published authority had yet addressed the interplay of the 2019 No-Fault amendments with pre-amendment case law for the “one year back rule,” the Michigan Court of Appeals has concluded that the amendments return the state of law to that provided in the 1986 Michigan Supreme Court ruling in Lewis v. Detroit Auto Inter-Ins. Exch., 426 Mich 93, and its progeny.  Notably, this includes the requirements that for […]

Joseph M. Ramirez, an attorney in our Kansas City office, successfully negotiated coverage for a client that was involved in a car accident in California. A third-party claim for damages in excess of $75,000 was made against Mr. Ramirez’s client. Coverage questions arose leading to a dispute between insurer and insured, which could have resulted in his client being personally at risk. Mr. Ramirez used his experience and expertise with […]

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 […]

Update: Judge Janet Neff has entered a final judgment in the federal lawsuit tried this spring by Attorney Carol Smith and her paralegal, Suzanne Fuhrman.  The court agreed with Carol that the entire amount awarded by the Jury was either not applicable or subject to offsets.  Carol’s clients will pay nothing. The lawsuit was filed by a family physician from Chicago, who was visiting the Silver Lake State Park in […]

Judge Meinecke (44th District Court – Royal Oak) granted Motion to Dismiss a case filed by an MRI facility based on repeated discovery violations in a case handled by CMDA attorney Jonathan Brown. In granting the Motion, the Court dismissed the facility’s entire action, with prejudice, just weeks prior to the scheduled start of trial. The main dispute in this matter was allegedly unpaid medical expenses related to MRI scans […]

Judge Allen (Wayne County) granted motion for reconsideration after initially denying a Motion for summary disposition in a case for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits filed by a medical facility in a case handled by CMDA attorney Jonathan Brown. In granting the motion for reconsideration, Judge Allen reversed its prior denial of the Motion and dismissed the matter with prejudice. In this case, the underlying claim of the patient was […]

Judge Geddis (Livingston County) granted a motion for partial summary disposition on a large-exposure case handled by attorney Carol Smith.  The case arises from an accident that occurred when the driver of a motor coach transporting a 40+ middle-schoolers and chaperones took a highway exit ramp too fast and rolled the bus. Numerous individuals reported injuries, including several broken bones and concussions, as well as a chaperone who suffered burst-type […]

Carol Smith, an attorney in our Livonia office, and her paralegal, Suzanne Fuhrman, recently scored an impressive trial win in federal court. The plaintiff, a family physician from Chicago, was visiting the Silver Lake State Park in west Michigan when he rented a Jeep Wrangler from Carol’s corporate client to drive on the sand dunes. Following a one-hour guided tour by the client through the dunes, the plaintiff crested a […]

In dismissing a slip and fall case that occurred in a common area, the Michigan Court of Appeals delved into the differences between a housing cooperative and a condominium. Jeffrey-Moise v. Williamsburg Towne Houses Cooperative, Inc., No. 351813, 2021 WL 650475 (Mich. Court of Appeals, approved for publication on April 1, 2021). In this case, the Plaintiff, a member and resident of the Defendant housing cooperative, cleared snow from her […]