Constitutional Law- Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses guarantee equal...
Under an equal protection analysis, a plaintiff must prove disparate treatment under a statute, as compared to similarly situated individuals.
View ArticleCriminal Procedure- ‘Speculative possibility’ insufficient to show prejudice
Michigan applies a balancing test to determine whether a prearrest delay violates a defendant’s constitutional right to due process.
View ArticleCivil Procedure- Conclusions lacking factual support will not survive a MCR...
A trial court may grant summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) when a party has failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted; however, all well-pleaded factual allegations are accepted as...
View ArticleContract Law- Tender required — despite equity or full payment — if...
The “tender back rule” prohibits a party from bringing a cause of action based on previously released claims or from repudiating a release unless that party first repays all consideration received in...
View ArticleTax Law- Possession infers control — control over property entails right to...
“Ownership” for the purpose of personal residence exemption (PRE) under the General Property Tax Act (GPTA) entails the right to possession and control of the real property.
View ArticleCivil Procedure/Habeas Corpus- Writ of habeas corpus cannot empower court to...
The Legislature did not intend MCR 3.303 nor the statutes governing habeas corpus actions to be used by a habeas corpus plaintiff as a vehicle to gain discharge from confinement when a defendant fails...
View ArticleElection Law- Writ of mandamus requires that official had ‘a clear legal duty...
When a challenge to an affidavit of identity requires the Wayne County Clerk or Wayne County Election Commission to look outside the four corners of the affidavit itself, a writ of mandamus is not the...
View ArticleContract Law- Claims based on ‘speculative damages’ and ‘future breaches’...
To bring an action for breach of contract, a plaintiff must, after proving the existence of a contract, prove that it has been breached. A showing that the other party “will breach” the contract is...
View ArticleContract Law- Paragraphs containing definitions are not ‘terms and conditions’
Courts discern the parties’ intent from the contract’s language. However, some portions of a contract are intended strictly for guidance and do not create, by themselves, any rights or obligations on...
View ArticleCorporate – Shareholder action — Waiver
Where the preponderance of the evidence showed the plaintiff wrote and delivered a letter to his two brothers voluntarily relinquishing his right to an ownership interest in their corporation, the...
View ArticleZoning- Parties ‘aggrieved’ — Variance
Where a Circuit Court judge reversed a decision by the Chikaming Township Zoning Board of Appeals to grant an appellant’s application for a nonuse zoning variance, the judge’s decision must be vacated...
View ArticleNegligence- Wrongful death — Parental immunity
Where a 6-year-old was permitted to ride his bike unsupervised on a service road with intermittent motor vehicle traffic, a jury should have been allowed to consider his father as a nonparty at fault...
View ArticleMunicipal- Sidewalk repairs — Landowner liability
Where a building was constructed with an areaway that extends within the street right-of-way, (1) the landowner is responsible to pay for repairs to the areaway and the city is responsible to repair...
View ArticleFamily Law – Custody — Relocation to Nevada
Where a trial court granted a defendant primary physical custody of three children and granted joint legal custody to both the plaintiff mother and the defendant, the judgment should be affirmed.
View ArticleNegligence – Slip and fall — Open and obvious danger
Where a defendant store was granted summary disposition in a personal injury action brought by a plaintiff customer who fell in the store, the judgment must be affirmed because the cause of the fall —...
View ArticleInsurance – Uninsured motorist — Physical contact
Where a judge upheld a defendant insurance company’s denial of uninsured motorist benefits, that decision must be reversed, as the injury to the plaintiff policyholder was the result of actual physical...
View ArticleInsurance – Policy exclusions — Property damage
Where an insurance policy excludes coverage for damage due to a collapse where the structure remains standing, even if it sustained cracking, bulging and sagging, the exclusion operated to preclude...
View ArticleCriminal – Child abuse — Head trauma
Where a defendant was sentenced to 15 to 25 years for first-degree child abuse, the conviction should be upheld despite the trial court’s erroneous admission of expert evidence, but the defendant must...
View ArticleWills and trusts – Living trust — Standing
Where a probate court judge found that the daughter of the successor trustee of a living trust had standing to claim that the trustee took actions that were detrimental to the trust, that ruling should...
View ArticleProperty – Easement — Trespass
Where a person becomes the owner of both the dominant and servient properties, any preexisting express easement is extinguished; however, an easement by necessity is created where a divestiture leaves...
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