I am the son of a firefighter from Boston, Massachusetts. I spent many childhood and adolescent days at the firehouse, responding to calls with my father and, at times, watching him run into buildings engulfed in flames. Read More …
In light of Mayor Young’s quote, although Detroit’s population is plummeting, hope is not lost even in the face of staggering statistics. According to the latest census data, Detroit lost twenty-five percent of its residents in ten years. Former residents left behind approximately 80,000 vacant single-family homes. Although there is no study of how many of these homes are salvageable, Detroit’s well-built, brick historic homes were built to last in contrast to inexpensive post-World War II housing and offer a much-needed opportunity for reinvestment and growth in Detroit. Read More …
A case study of Oakland County, Michigan murder trials from 1986 to 1988 revealed that courts were not only unsympathetic to women who suffered domestic abuse and acted in self-defense but tended to sentence them more harshly. According to the study, domestic abuse victims were convicted more often and received longer sentences than all others who faced homicide charges, including defendants who already had violent criminal records. Read More …
Coastal sand dunes are one of Michigan’s most treasured and unique resources. The dune sand itself is useful in foundries and manufacturing, and property within a coastal dune area is valuable for development and recreation. The dunes are also an ecosystem housing many species of plants, birds, and other wildlife. In 1994, Michigan enacted legislation to protect its extensive coastal dunes through a comprehensive statute centered on a land use permitting system. The statute also included provisions for regular environmental studies monitoring the condition of the sand dune ecosystem. Further, it established a model zoning plan, although local units of government were able to enact ordinances providing at least the same degree of protection to the critical dunes as the model zoning plan. The amended statute still allows local units of government to enact zoning ordinances, but only those providing “substantially equivalent” protection to the critical dunes as the model zoning plan will be approved. Thus, the state effectively determines both the floor and ceiling for regulation. Read More …
An earlier version of the perpetuities flowchart in Part V of this Article was published in 2010 as an appendix to an article about exercises of special powers of appointment over tax advantaged trusts in the atmosphere of perpetuities reform. The flowchart was updated in 2011 (by the addition of question, or stimulus, 4) to reflect the enactment of Michigan 2011 Public Acts Numbers 11 and 12, the confluence of which made Michigan’s Personal Property Trust Perpetuities Act of 2008 (PPTPA) more instructive for those wielding special powers of appointment over personal property held in trusts “grandfathered” from federal generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax under the United States Department of the Treasury’s GST tax effective date regulations. Read More …
Amid the turmoil of the final days of its 2011-2012 legislative sessions, the Michigan legislature amended the Michigan Business Corporation Act (BCA) and repealed the Michigan Professional Service Corporation Act (PSCA). After more than two years of work by the Corporate Laws Committee of the Business Law section of the State Bar of Michigan (Corporate Laws Committee) and several months of
consideration by the legislature, Senate Bills 1317, 1318, 1319, and 1320 were passed during the legislature’s lame duck session in late 2012 and became Public Acts 566, 567, 568, and 569 of 2012, respectively. The amendments (2013 Amendments) were signed into law by the governor on January 2, 2013 with immediate effect. Read More …
There are three sources for the law of workers’ disability compensation in Michigan. Foremost is the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act of 1969 (WDCA). Another is the rules of the Workers’ Compensation Agency for the administration of uncontested claims, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Magistrates for hearing and deciding contested claims, and the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission for reviewing and deciding appeals from decisions after hearing. And the third source is the case law from the Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan Court of Appeals, and Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission about the availability or meaning of one or another statute in the WDCA or administrative rule. Read More …
The purpose of this Article is to review significant developments in tort law during the Survey period of June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013. During this period, Michigan:s appellate courts created and explained
definitive rules of law involving governmental immunity, medical malpractice, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting tortious conduct, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, defamation, premises liability, tortious interference with a contract, and damages. Read More …
2012 was an election year, with Bridgett McCormick winning the seat vacated by retiring Justice Marilyn Kelly. In the midst of a mortgage scandal, former Justice Diane Hathaway announced her resignation effective in January 2013, and the Michigan Supreme Court found itself in a term with another change in its membership. Justice Hathaway’s sudden resignation cleared the way for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to appoint a replacement, Macomb County Circuit Judge David Viviano, in February 2013. Therefore, Justices Viviano and McCormick did not take part in several early-2013 term cases, and insurance cases were no exception. However, what is widely viewed as the majority ideology of the Michigan Supreme Court did not change during this period, as what is viewed as a conservative majority is believed to have increased with Governor Snyder’s appointment. Read More …
This Survey Article on evidence covers the period of June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013. While evidence certainly has more stability than other areas of the law (see, e.g., search-and-seizure law, of late), courts will always find themselves struggling with close calls on which pieces of evidence a jury should be able to see, and which it should not. That will not change. Read More …
