Negligence claim goes to the dog owners …
A plaintiff cannot sue dog owners for negligence after their dog jumped on her, causing her to fall backward, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
View ArticlePremises Liability – Snowy parking lot was open and obvious condition
The snow-covered curb on which plaintiff lost her footing and was injured was an open and obvious condition. The trial court correctly dismissed plaintiff’s personal-injury claim against defendant on...
View ArticlePremises Liability – Injury claim fails because defendant lacked notice of...
The trial court correctly dismissed plaintiff’s slip-and-fall claim because the shopping center she sued lacked of notice that there was black ice on the sidewalk where plaintiff was injured.
View ArticleReal Property – Plaintiff lacked standing to challenge foreclosure...
Plaintiff’s failure to redeem her property within the six-month statutory period following the sheriff’s sale of her home prevented her from challenging alleged irregularities in the assignment of the...
View ArticleCivil Procedure – Plaintiff’s juror challenges properly denied in med-mal case
The jury’s verdict of no cause of action was not flawed by the trial court’s refusal to grant plaintiff’s for-cause juror challenges.
View ArticleTaxation – Tax exemption for seminary dormitory properly denied
The Michigan Tax Tribunal correctly determined that a residence used as a dormitory for seminary students is not entitled to a tax exemption on either charitable or religious grounds.
View ArticleTaxation – Tax tribunal must decide if petitioners had actual notice of hearing
The Michigan Tax Tribunal correctly dismissed petitioner-appellants’ property-tax challenge because they failed to appear for a hearing.
View ArticleWayne exec candidate’s residency suit tossed
The ruling comes four days after a judge asked the candidate's attorney, “Why shouldn’t I sanction you for filing a frivolous lawsuit?”
View ArticleProbate – Claimed biological children cannot inherit from decedent
The trial court correctly determined that the interested parties, who claim they are the decedent’s biological children as a result of his affair with their mother, are neither interested persons nor...
View ArticleFamily Law – Custody change without custodial environment decision reversed
The trial court erred by changing custody of the parties’ children because for one child, the court did not determine whether there was an established custodial environment before applying the best...
View ArticleEmployment – Teacher’s contract incorrectly reinstated after certificate...
The trial court erred by ordering plaintiff’s teaching contract with defendant school district reinstated after plaintiff was discharged because she did not timely renew her teaching certificate.
View ArticleAttorneys don’t have to pay receiver’s expenses, rules court
Lawyers are not “parties” to the case under the receivership court rule, says the Michigan Court of Appeals.
View ArticleCivil Procedure – Attorneys not liable for receiver’s fees in collection case
Plaintiff’s attorneys are not liable for unpaid receiver’s fees in this judgment-collection case. The applicable court rule assigns fee responsibility to the party who sought the receiver’s...
View ArticleEnvironmental Law – Attorney’s fee award reversed in underground tank leak case
The trial court erred by awarding the Department of Natural Resources and Environment attorney’s fees because the DNRE’s billing summaries “provided no realistic opportunity for defendants to challenge...
View ArticleEstate rebuffs claims of alleged biological children
A Michigan Court of Appeals panel has ruled that the only person who can challenge the presumption of natural parenthood is the presumptive natural parent.
View ArticleCivil Procedure – Real party in interest can’t be added after limitations...
The trial court erred by allowing plaintiff to add her bankruptcy trustee as the real party in interest after the statute of limitations in this automobile negligence case expired.
View ArticleCivil Procedure – $30K jury verdict for emotional damages for property loss...
A jury’s $30,000 award to plaintiff for noneconomic damages arising from her property loss in a house fire is reversed. The Court of Appeals case that allowed noneconomic damages for real property loss...
View ArticleEx-employee can’t be sued under noncompete
Even though both companies were in the material handling business, the plaintiff and the new employer were not competitors, says the Michigan Court of Appeals.
View ArticleFamily Law – Home inherited from ex-husband became marital property
Where plaintiff inherited a home from her ex-husband and later remarried, the trial court incorrectly ruled that the home remained plaintiff’s separate property given defendant’s mortgage and home...
View ArticleTaxation – One spouse living in Michigan can get principal residence exemption
Both spouses need not be Michigan residents for one spouse to claim the principal residence exemption on their property. The Michigan Tax Tribunal erred by concluding otherwise.
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