Spring 2021

Thomas R. Behm

Gruel Mills Nims & Pylman PLLC

This year the Negligence Law Section has the pleasure of honoring six outstanding individuals for their contribution to the legal profession and their unwavering commitment to excellence. Each of the award recipients will be honored this summer at the Past Chairpersons Dinner to be held at the Detroit Golf Club on June 24, 2021, or at the Summer Reception to be held at the Cascade Hills Country Club on August 12, 2021. Please join me in congratulating this years’ recipients...

Todd Tennis

Capitol Services

Whenever you have the Legislative and Executive Branches of government controlled by different political parties, some acrimony is expected. There is always tension and competition to win not only favored policies, but also to win the public relations battle. However, a solid year of pandemic restrictions have raised the temperature to unprecedented levels in Lansing. The Legislature has already been victorious in one lawsuit against Governor Whitmer, and it is possible that another may be coming soon to a courtroom near you...

Emily G. Thomas

Olsman MacKenzie Peacock & Wallace

For new lawyers, the best teacher is experience. However, an even better teacher is someone who can impart experiences that a new lawyer has not been blessed to have had. As Albert Einstein once said “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” During this pandemic we were arguably all new lawyers, we all learned a way to practice law in the new virtual world. A year after the courts and our practices shut their doors to the public, we’ve all been practicing at home for what seems like a long time...

Matthew G. Swartz

Nolan & shafer PLLC

Does Michigan law prohibit enforcement of a fee agreement containing a mandatory arbitration provision which eliminates the right to a jury trial, eliminates appellate reviewability of substantive and procedural errors, and eliminates traditional discovery rights, and where client did not consult with independent counsel regarding the arbitration provision, and was not advised as to all implications of the provision?..

Robert June

Law Offices of Robert June PC

Understanding endorsements and riders to the insurance policy is essential in any case

involving a coverage dispute. It seems simple enough – the endorsement trumps the terms of the policy, so just enforce the terms of the endorsement and that is the end of the inquiry. But as with interpretation of any contract, reconciling endorsements with underlying insurance policies can sometimes prove tricky...

Donna M. MacKenzie

Olsman MacKenzie Peacock & Wallace

John Whitman

Garan Lucow Miller PC

Can an attorney include an arbitration clause in a client engagement agreement? Does an arbitration agreement in an employment contract allow an employer to compel arbitration of claims of sexual assault by an employee? As these important questions have been presented to the Michigan Supreme Court recently, we take a deeper dive into the current status of predispute arbitration agreements under Michigan law as well as the arguments for and against such agreements...

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The Michigan Association for Justice in cooperation with The Michigan Defense Trial Counsel offer their membership and the public this first opportunity to purchase:

The SBM Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) currently receives more than 500 calls each week from people looking for lawyers. Many of these are unable to find a match because there are not enough attorneys in some geographic areas or in some practice areas. For more than a year we have been revising and improving the LRS. The result is a system that produces better matches for attorneys and consumers alike. We are ready to begin a significant marketing initiative to consumers and we need more lawyers to participate as panel members.

Here are few examples of concrete improvements: Better matches mean a higher likelihood of securing paying clients than ever before. The new online platform now automates much of the tracking and reporting that attorneys had to do in the past. In addition to traditional cases, LRS has added Modest Means panels for family law and bankruptcy, and opportunities for attorneys to market Limited Scope practice.

Thank you very much. We are excited about these new opportunities for your section members to expand their practices and to enhance access to quality legal services throughout Michigan.

Click here to learn more about LRS

Click here to learn more about joining one or more of our LRS panels

Click here to learn more about Limited Scope practice

Did you know that the Negligence Law Section has a LinkedIn page? We share lots of information, including when events are taking place, interesting articles from both our own members and other pages. We encourage you to follow our page! Click the link below and then click the follow button in the upper left corner.

When: Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 9:00 AM - 3:15 PM

Where: ZOOM

Program:

9:00 am - Maximizing Damages in Wrongful Death Cases - Sach Oliver - Bailey & Oliver Law Firm, AR

10:00 am - Rethinking Your Damages Paradigm to Maximize Results - Joe Fried - Fried Goldberg LLC, GA

11:00 am - Break

11:15 am - Costliest Mistakes Plaintiff Lawyers Make - Lesson From 10 Years Trying Cases on the Defense Side - Tim Holland - Michigan Auto Law, MI

12:15 pm - Break

12:45 pm - Thinking Out of the Box - Demonstrative Evidence and Trial Strategies that Can Add Millions to Your Case - Allegra Carpenter - Allegra Carpenter Law, NM

1:45 pm - Applying Overcoming Jury Bias Principles, The Reptile Safety Rules, Rules of the Road, and New Research on COVID Bias to Your Case - Lance Sears - Sears & Associates, PC, CO

2:45 pm - Q/A

Mark R. Granzotto

Council Member

Mark Granzotto PC

Deborah A. Lujan

Council Member

Collins Einhorn Farrell PC

Donna M. MacKenzie

Council Member

Olsman MacKenzie Peacock & Wallace

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