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Michigan Supreme Court Finds Credibility Disputes Over Vehicle Signal Use Preclude Summary Judgment And Clarifies Spoliation Standard

Summary disposition was not warranted where there were factual disputes about whether a truck’s turn signals were operating at the time of the accident. Further, sanctions for spoliation of evidence must be supported by findings at the trial court that the evidence at issue was material and that the party had a duty to preserve the evidence before a lawsuit was filed.

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Michigan Supreme Court Says Sidewalk Metal Hazard Not Subject To Governmental Immunity

The city of Detroit was not entitled to summary disposition on the basis of governmental immunity after the Court determined that a metal stub protruding out of a paved sidewalk constituted a “sidewalk defect” and created “a dangerous condition”. . The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision and remanded to the trial court.

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Release Signed By Volunteer Ski Patroller Not ‘Ambiguous’

The Michigan Supreme Court has reversed a ruling that allowed a negligence suit to proceed against a ski resort because, contrary to the Michigan Court of Appeals decision in the case, the release signed by the injured party was not ambiguous.

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DHHS Did Not Investigate Relative Placement, Parental Rights Termination ‘Conditionally Reversed’

The trial court’s finding that the termination of the respondents’ parental rights was in the child’s best interests must be “conditionally reverse[d],” the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled, because the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) failed to comply with its statutory duty to investigate relative placements.

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