We have all heard the probate horror stories. A Will took five years to be probated, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees. All of the assets from someone else’s estate were stolen by the personal representative (executor), leaving the family with nothing. The probate judge was unfair. Such stories instill fear about probate administration, which can lead to estate planning decisions with unintended consequences. The following is a listof the top ten […]

Community college employees may be entitled to immunity from liability in the event their actions result in injury to an employee or student. However, immunity does not apply in all circumstances. Community college employees, as public employees, may be held individually liable in some circumstances where private sector employees are not. Accordingly, it is important that employees take steps to avoid being held individually liable. A community college employee’s first step in avoiding […]

Tim Young, a partner in our Livonia office, won another outstanding victory for his client last month. A 13-year-old boy sustained horrific injuries, losing all of the fingers and the functional use of his dominant hand. Mr. Young received a judgment in favor of his client that a different party was responsible for the injury, saving his client in excess of $2,000,000. In addition, the Court awarded all costs and […]

Jim Acho, a senior attorney in our Livonia office and adjunct professor at MadonnaUniversity, has been added to the University’s faculty committee for their Sports Management program. He teaches Sports Law at the University. Additionally, Mr. Acho has been added to the University Lecture Series where he will speak at colleges throughout theMidwest on the subject of Sports Law.

Tim Ferrand, a partner in our Clinton Township office, was successful in representing our client, a Michigan municipality. This case arose after the plaintiff was terminated for physically assaulting a fellow employee, in violation of the Defendant municipality’s workplace violence policy. The plaintiff was a refuse collector in the sanitation department. The plaintiff held the position for 140 days until the time he was terminated for assaulting a fellow refuse collector. […]

Greg Grant, an attorney in our Traverse City office, recently obtained dismissal of a case on behalf of a NorthernMichigan County and its sheriff’s department. The plaintiff alleged that deputies unlawfully seized his excavator and had it towed to a local garage in violation of his fourth amendment rights. The plaintiff also brought a negligence claim against the county alleging that when he went to the garage to retrieve the […]

Haider Kazim of our Traverse City office and Allan Vander Laan of our Grand Rapids office were named partners of our Firm. T. Joseph Seward, managing partner of the Firm, explains “Both Haider and Al are very hard workers… Each has been recognized for the work they have done for our clients and the contributions they have made in our community.  They are both leaders that we can all look up […]

If a judgment becomes final, several considerations come into play in deciding how vigorously to pursue collection efforts. First and foremost is the collectibility of the judgment debtor. If the judgment debtor appears to be collectible, one must consider the difficulty of reaching the debtor’s assets. For example, an individual judgment debtor may live in fine style, giving the appearance of collectibility, but his Lincoln may be leased and his […]

Each year Traverse City’s newspaper, The Record-Eagle, invites their readers to vote for their favorite businesses, services and places in the Grand Traverse area. Our very own Haider Kazim was selected by the readers as the Top Lawyer in the Grand Traverse Area. Congratulations Haider!

Jeffrey Clark, a Partner in our Livonia office, recently spoke to a group of over 200 public service directors, water and sewer department supervisors and support personnel throughout Michigan at a seminar sponsored by the Michigan Water Environment Association in East Lansing. The presentation focused on Act 222 and problems associated with sewer back-up claims. Please let us know if your municipality or group would be interested in similar presentation. […]