CMDA Attorneys Matthew Cross and Neal Wilds recently obtained a dismissal for their clients in U.S. District Court. The case involved a pre-trial detainee who alleged violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights during his detention within a county jail. The detainee claimed he was retaliated against by jail officials for requesting notary services and claimed he was threatened and received inadequate treatment within the jail, in violation of […]

Matt Cross and Greg Grant, partners in our Traverse City office, recently obtained a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan dismissing all federal claims in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from a tragic death, following a decisive motion for summary judgment. The case centered on allegations that law enforcement failed to adequately respond during a wellness check, which preceded the discovery of the decedent […]

Haider Kazim and Matt Cross, partners in our Traverse City office, recently obtained a decisive ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of several law enforcement officers and a county government, ending a civil rights lawsuit stemming from a 2021 arrest during a high-risk response to a shots-fired call. The case arose from an incident in a rural […]

Attorneys Haider Kazim and Matt Cross represented an upper peninsula township and two of its officers in a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Michigan involving a claimed Fourth Amendment violation. The plaintiff alleged that the township’s officers’ conduct amounted to a false arrest and malicious prosecution. When the time was right, Attorney Kazim and Attorney Cross moved for dismissal on qualified immunity grounds, which the court granted. The […]

Attorneys Gregory Grant and Kristen Rewa recently obtained summary judgment in favor of a small, rural city, its police chief, and a police lieutenant in a hotly contested employment discrimination case alleging violations of the due process clause, equal protection clause, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a federal statute which protects the rights of active military members and veterans from discrimination in civilian employment. The […]

Last week, a federal jury in Detroit returned a no cause verdict in favor of Jim Acho’s client after a 5-day trial. The case is Jacob Branham v. City of Allen Park PD, et al. The City, PD, police officer and Wayne County prosecutor were all dismissed on motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity. However, the individual private citizen defendant was forced to trial without the availability of that immunity. Trial […]

Kristen Rewa, a partner in our Grand Rapids office, recently obtained dismissal of an employment discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a county and sheriff. The plaintiff, a former deputy, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging sex discrimination and retaliation against her former employer. She alleged that she experienced a culture of sexism and hostility, incidents of inappropriate behavior from a supervisor, difficulties in receiving backup on calls, reassignment of […]

We are pleased to announce that a familiar face is back in the Firm’s Traverse City office. Please join us in welcoming Matthew W. Cross back to CMDA. Matt Cross is a partner in our Traverse City office where he focuses his practice in the areas of insurance defense litigation, law enforcement defense and litigation, and municipal law. Matt has experience handling employment law, personal injury defense, marijuana licensing litigation, […]

Greg Grant of the Traverse City Office defended an Upper Peninsula sheriff’s deputy in a case that lasted 5½ years with multiple Sixth Circuit appeals. The plaintiff was visiting her husband, an inmate in a Michigan prison, when she claimed she was falsely accused of passing contraband during a kiss. As a consequence, the plaintiff’s vehicle was searched and marijuana was discovered. Later, more marijuana was found in her hotel […]

Greg Grant and Kristen Rewa recently obtained a dismissal in a U.P. circuit court on summary disposition. In the case, the plaintiff sued a county sheriff’s office detective after he was arrested on charges of felony intimidation of a witness and assault and battery based on the detective’s investigation. The plaintiff was bound over to circuit court after a preliminary examination in district court. However, the circuit court quashed the […]