Claims Under Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act Under the Court of Claims Act Are Subject to Six-Month Notice Provision Applicable Personal Injury Claims
A claim under the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA) constitutes a "claim for personal injuries" under MCL 600.6431(4) of the Court of Claims Act (COCA), triggering a six-month notice requirement rather than the one-year general notice requirement of MCL 600.6431(1).
MSC Holds Wrongful-Death Saving Provision Creates a Limitation Period Subject to Tolling
MCL 600.5852, the wrongful-death saving provision that gives a personal representative extra time to file suit after the general period of limitations has run, itself creates a limitations period and is therefore subject to the tolling mechanism of MCL 600.5856(c) during the 182-day medical-malpractice notice period.
Vodvarka Threshold Not Met: Trial Court Correctly Denied Father’s Request To Modify Custody Order
The trial court properly denied the plaintiff-father’s request for joint legal custody because his allegations did not meet the threshold requirement established by Vodvarka v Grasmeyer to allow further inquiry into whether the prior custody order should be modified.
MSC Holds Child Custody Order Not Dispositive of Child's Domicile for No-Fault Actions, Overruling Grange
A custody order does not determine a child’s domicile for purposes of the no-fault act. As the domicile rule set forth in Grange Ins Co of Mich v Lawrence, 494 Mich 475 (2013) requires courts to treat child custody orders as dispositive of the question of domicile, Grange is overruled.
MSC: Betts Applies Retroactively To Convicted Sex Offenders On Collateral Review
A unanimous Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in People v Shaver that its 2021 decision in People v Betts applies retroactively, thereby giving certain convicted sex offenders the opportunity to have their adjudications reviewed.
Michigan Court of Appeals Clarifies Trial Court Discretion to Empanel a Jury After Jury Trial Waiver
The trial court erred when making its decision upon a mistaken belief that, under the undisputed factual circumstances, it lacked discretion to empanel a jury. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded their decision for proceedings consistent with their opinion that a trial court retains discretion to empanel a jury even when parties fail to properly preserve their constitutional right to a jury trial.
Court of Appeals Holds Placement for Child With Power of Attorney Sufficient to Avoid Removal
The Trial Court clearly erred by finding the conditions for removal as to respondent-father were satisfied under MCL 712A.13a(9) and MCR 3.965(C)(2).
Justices Decline To Hear MSU Appeal Involving Law Professors’ Employment Contracts
The Michigan Supreme Court will not hear the case of two law professors who sued Michigan State University, claiming the school breached their employment contracts and fraudulently concealed a transfer agreement it had negotiated with the Detroit College of Law.
Court of Appeals Holds That Filing a Trust Dispute as a Civil Action Does Not Create a Jurisdictional Defect
This appeal arose from a probate dispute among siblings over administration of a family trust, filed as a civil action rather than as a probate proceeding initiated by petition. The COA held that this filing error was procedural, not jurisdictional, and did not deprive the probate court of subject-matter jurisdiction or deny the defendant-trustee due process.
Michigan Court of Appeals Holds Short-Term Rental Guests Are Considered Invitees in Condominium Common Areas
In this premises liability action arising from a slip-and-fall on ice in a condominium parking lot, the Court of Appeals held, as a matter of first impression, that a short-term rental (Airbnb) guest of a condominium unit owner is an invitee—not a licensee—of the condominium association while using common elements that the association maintains.
COA Dismisses Father’s Contempt Appeal, Affirms Custody & Parenting-Time Orders
In this case involving custody, parenting time and civil contempt, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that it did not have jurisdiction over the father’s appeal from his civil contempt proceedings, and also held the trial court properly denied the father’s motion to reinstate joint legal custody and modify parenting time.
Michigan Supreme Court Holds Exclusive Vehicle Control Creates Ownership Under the No-Fault Act
As the sole member of the limited-liability company that held title to the tractor, plaintiff had the exclusive, unsupervised right to use, maintain, and make all decisions regarding the vehicle for more than 30 days, which comported with ownership, regardless of the fact that title was held by his single-member LLC.
Court of Appeals Holds MCR 2.612 Applies in Adoption Proceedings
The Court of Appeals affirmed the Trial Court’s order, holding that MCR 2.612 applies in adoption proceedings. Further, the Trial Court properly vacated its order terminating respondent-father’s parental rights under MCR 2.612(C)(1)(a) because the court made a material mistake of fact when it entered the original termination order.
MSC Justice Explains How Trial Court “Clearly Did Not Comply” With Child Custody Act
The Michigan Supreme Court recently denied leave to appeal in a parenting-time case – with one justice issuing her own concurrence, explaining how the trial court “failed to comply” with the Child Custody Act.
U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Just Compensation In Tax Foreclosure Cases
The Supreme Court of the United States held that when a tax foreclosure auction is conducted fairly, the proper baseline for measuring just compensation after a tax sale is the auction sale price, not the property’s hypothetical fair market value. The Court vacated the lower court’s decision and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
Court of Appeals Sanctions Attorney for AI-Generated Fake Citations and Vexatious Appeal
An attorney who submits filings containing fabricated or unsupported legal authority—including hallucinated citations generated by artificial intelligence—violates the duty of reasonable inquiry under MCR 1.109(E)(5), and such conduct on appeal supports sanctions under MCR 7.216(C)(1).
Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies Governmental Immunity For MISS DIG Act Violations
A governmental agency cannot be held civilly liable in circuit court for money damages for violations of the MISS DIG Act. The MISS DIG Act exception to governmental immunity under MCL 691.1407(7) is defined by the MISS DIG Act itself, and that Act provides only one avenue of relief that avoids governmental immunity: a complaint filed with the Public Service Commission under MCL 460.732.
COA Special Panel: Insurer’s Right Of Reimbursement In No-Fault Act Applies Only To Claimant, Not To Tort Recovery As Subrogee
A special panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that § 3116 of the No-Fault Act (MCL 500.3116) applies only to a no-fault insurer’s right of reimbursement from a claimant and “does not apply to an insurer’s tort recovery, as a subrogee, against a nonmotorist tortfeasor.”