Michigan

  • October 30, 2024

    Mich. Judges Reject Interest For Unclaimed Property Returns

    A Michigan appellate panel overturned a trial court Tuesday that admitted it was going against the grain by requiring the state to pay interest when it returns seemingly abandoned property, with appellate judges finding state statute was comprehensive enough to supersede the common law idea that "interest follows principal." 

  • October 30, 2024

    Siemens Makes $10.6B AI Push With Altair Engineering Buy

    German tech conglomerate Siemens AG has agreed to acquire software company Altair Engineering Inc. for approximately $10.6 billion, in a deal that seeks to bolster its artificial intelligence-powered design and simulation portfolio, the companies said Wednesday.

  • October 30, 2024

    Ohio PBM Case Will Wait For High Court Ruling

    The Sixth Circuit agreed to pause a case from Ohio state enforcers accusing Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics of driving up prescription drug prices while the U.S. Supreme Court decides another case dealing with federal versus state jurisdiction.

  • October 30, 2024

    Mich. Justices To Mull Reviving Diminished Capacity Defense

    Michigan's highest court announced Wednesday that it will hold arguments in a case that could reinstate the diminished mental capacity defense in the Great Lakes State.

  • October 30, 2024

    Holtec Wins $6.9M Over Gov't's Failure To Store Nuclear Fuel

    Nuclear plant operator Holtec Palisades LLC has been granted $6.9 million in damages after a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge found the federal government had breached an agreement to store spent nuclear fuel at the company's Michigan facility.

  • October 30, 2024

    Class Members Can't Change Opt-Out Rules In Chevy EV Deal

    A Michigan federal judge won't grant a bid by individual class members to change the opt-out procedure in a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with defective batteries, calling the motion an improper late objection to the settlement's preliminary approval.

  • October 29, 2024

    Justices Won't Let RFK Jr. Off Mich., Wis. Ballots

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s emergency requests to have his name removed from the presidential ballots in the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Airport Funding Made It Federal Agent

    A Sixth Circuit judge on Tuesday said he saw "problems" with a Michigan airport's argument that federal grants had enough requirements to make the airport effectively a federal officer, suggesting it cannot litigate a suit over its PFAS-containing firefighting foam in federal court.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Rejects Flint Comparison In Benton Harbor

    A Sixth Circuit judge asked during oral arguments Tuesday if Michigan's government could have done more to monitor the response to lead contamination in a city's water supply, as another judge seemed to doubt that the allegations against the state rose to the level of constitutional violations.

  • October 29, 2024

    Justice, Challenger Split On Backgrounds For The Bench

    Judge Patrick O'Grady, campaigning for the Michigan Supreme Court, says the current bench is sorely lacking the type of prior judicial experience he would bring. But sitting Justice Kyra Bolden argues the diversity of backgrounds among justices makes the court stronger.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mich. Top Court Won't Halt Ethics Claims Against Trump Allies

    Michigan's Supreme Court has refused to stop disciplinary proceedings against Sidney Powell and other lawyers who advanced former President Donald Trump's election fraud claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    Circuit Judge Rips Atty's 'Unearned Windfall' In Liability Case

    Although the Sixth Circuit has affirmed a decision awarding roughly $353,000 to a Texas attorney in a decadelong fee dispute over his representation of a client in a product liability case, one circuit judge expressed "extreme disapproval" over the lawyer's conduct in the matter.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Jones Day Litigator Joins Honigman In Detroit

    Honigman LLP has brought on a former Jones Day business and tort litigation associate as a business litigation practice group partner.

  • October 28, 2024

    Mich. Tribe Asks Court To Rethink DOI Contempt Order

    A Michigan tribe is asking a D.C. federal judge to reconsider a ruling that declined to hold Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in contempt over a deadline to finalize a new rule on repetitioning for federal recognition, saying the agency's actions don't suggest it plans to do so anytime soon.

  • October 28, 2024

    Flint Bellwether Delayed On Eve Of Trial, Again

    A Michigan federal judge delayed Monday a bellwether trial set to determine if a water engineering firm was professionally negligent for its role in the Flint water crisis one day before jury selection was scheduled to begin and without explanation. 

  • October 28, 2024

    Judge Tosses Hearing-Loss MDL Bellwether With Voided Law

    Horizon Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Monday was able to remove one of the 12 cases selected as bellwethers in multidistrict litigation over claims that its thyroid eye disease treatment causes hearing loss, relying on a repealed Michigan law to create a dismissal-worthy conflict.

  • October 28, 2024

    Stellantis Must Face Door-Defect Claims In Mich. For Now

    Car manufacturer Stellantis NV cannot escape a putative class action over allegedly weak interior panels in certain Dodge and Chrysler vehicles just yet, a Michigan federal judge determined on Monday, explaining he would defer judgment until the record is more fully developed.

  • October 28, 2024

    Mich. Firm Can't Get More Fees From Nassar Suits, Jury Finds

    A Michigan federal jury said Monday a personal injury firm already got what it was owed as local counsel for survivors of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse, rejecting the firm's claims against a Colorado firm for another $500,000.

  • October 25, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Campaigning On Housing, '25 Deal Volume

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the presidential candidates' stances on housing and Wall Street landlords, and one BigLaw real estate leader's predictions for deal volume in 2025.

  • October 25, 2024

    NLRB Wins Injunction, Defeats Constitutional Claims In Mich.

    A Michigan federal judge handed the National Labor Relations Board two victories Friday in the agency's dispute with a hospital, ordering the hospital to resume recognizing the Service Employees International Union affiliate it ousted last year and rejecting the hospital's argument that the agency's structure is unconstitutional.

  • October 25, 2024

    Shoplifter's Probation Pot Ban Upheld By Mich. Appeals Court

    A Michigan appeals court on Thursday ruled that, notwithstanding the state's legalization of recreational cannabis, a woman who pled guilty to shoplifting violated the terms of her probation by smoking marijuana while it remains federally illegal.

  • October 25, 2024

    Split Mich. Panel Won't Revive Janitor's Burn Injury Suit

    A divided Michigan appellate panel has declined to revive a former manufacturing plant janitor's lawsuit over a workplace explosion that left him severely injured, with the majority saying the case is time-barred by a statute of limitations clause in his employment agreement.

  • October 25, 2024

    State AGs Back Mich.'s Immunity From Enbridge Pipeline Suit

    Nine states and the District of Columbia have told the Sixth Circuit they back Michigan state officials' arguments of sovereign immunity from a lawsuit Enbridge Energy LP filed over the state's revocation of an easement for a segment of the company's Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.

  • October 25, 2024

    Biden Admin Puts Up $4B For Clean Energy, Grid Projects

    The Biden administration on Friday said it's handing out approximately $4 billion in combined grants and loans for clean energy purchases and grid upgrades for a slew of states, tribes and electricity co-operatives.

  • October 25, 2024

    Election Records Law Needs Update, Mich. Justice Says

    The Michigan Supreme Court declined on Friday to revive criminal charges against an election worker who downloaded a copy of a voter list onto a personal thumb drive, prompting one justice to argue the law he was cleared of violating is out of touch in the digital age.  

Expert Analysis

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • An Update On Legal Issues In The Drone Market

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    Marialuisa Gallozzi and Alex Slawson at Covington examine recent developments in the legal issues surrounding the growing drone market, including possible First Amendment protections, Fourth Amendment surveillance, and litigation involving criminal and civil penalties, evidentiary pursuits, and insurance.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • What To Expect As Worker Bias Suit Heads To High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which concerns how courts treat discrimination claims brought by majority group plaintiffs, and its decision could eliminate the background circumstances test, but is unlikely to significantly affect employers' diversity programs, say Victoria Slade and Alysa Mo at Davis Wright.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • 6th Circ. Preemption Ruling Adds Uncertainty For Car Cos.

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    Automakers and their suppliers need uniformity under the law to create sufficient scale and viable markets — but the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Fenner v. General Motors creates more uncertainty around the question of when state law consumer claims related to violations of federal vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards are preempted, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

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