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Summary On June 13, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the four-factor test in Winter v Natural Res Def Council, Inc , 555 US 7 (2008), governs the issuance of preliminary injunctions under section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 USC 160(j) . Starbucks Corp v McKinney , No 23-367, ___ US ___ (June 13, 2024). This opinion, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson concurring in part and dissenting in part, imposes a more stringent standard on 10(j) preliminary injunctions, eliminating deference to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in such decisions. Facts The case arose when a Tennessee Starbucks terminated ...
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Hon. Bridget Mary Hathaway was elected to the bench on November 6, 2018. She is assigned to the Wayne County Circuit Court’s criminal division. Before her election to the bench, Judge Hathaway worked in private practice at Flood Law and Bodman PLC. For attorneys who have never been to your court, what is your check-in process? For an attorney appearing in person, the attorney should first check in with my deputy who sits at the entrance to my courtroom. If I am on the record at the time, the attorney should wait until the matter concludes before they approach the clerk to check in with her and speak to her about any issues, if any. For an attorney ...
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2024 PA 29 renamed the Revocation of Paternity Act to the Revocation of Parentage Act. MCL 722.1431 . 2024 PA 29 also made amendments to language changing “father” to “parent” and “paternity” to “parentage” in MCL 722.1433 , .1435 , .1437 , .1439 , .1441 , and .1445 . MCL 722.1433 will also add a definition for donor, as defined in MCL 722.1703 of the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act, MCL 722.1701 et seq. In addition to updated language, amended MCL 722.1443 requires the court to consider the length of time a presumed parent was on notice that an individual might not be the child’s ...
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On April 1, 2024, the Michigan Family Protection Act passed in Michigan legalizing paid surrogacy. 2024 PA 24 . Michigan previously had a criminal ban on compensated surrogacy. The ban on paid surrogacy is now lifted and standards will be put into place to protect biological parents, the surrogate, and the child. Standards include the following: A surrogate must be at least 21 years old, have undergone a medical evaluation and a mental health consultation, and have previously given birth to at least one child. An intended parent (or parents) must be at least 21 years old and have a mental health consultation. The surrogate and the intended parent ...
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Judge Donna Howard was elected as a district judge to the Berrien County Trial Court on November 4, 2014, and began her term on January 1, 2015. She has served in both the criminal and civil divisions and was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder on July 26, 2018, to the 2nd Circuit Court in Berrien County, where she currently oversees the civil division, problem-solving courts, and the business court. Judge Howard holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. Before her judicial career, she practiced law for 17 years and served as Berrien County Corporate Counsel from 2010-2014. Judge Howard also volunteers ...
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Judge Avery D. Rose took the bench on January 1, 2023. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Rose was appointed to serve as the probate register for Kent County in 2019, where he oversaw the administration of the Probate Court and the Kent County Guardianship Program. Prior to that, in 2015, Judge Rose was named as the probate register at the Allegan County Probate Court, where he also served as an attorney/referee. During his tenure in Allegan County, Judge Rose also served as the President of the Allegan County Bar Association, participated in the Allegan County Community Corrections Advisory Board, served as board member for the Allegan County Legal Assistance ...
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Judge Julie Gatti graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989. She received her Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University in 1995. Judge Gatti was elected to the Circuit Court bench in November 2018. Prior to her election, Judge Gatti was in private practice, specializing in Family Law. She served 9 years on the Board of the Macomb County Bar Association (MCBA) and was elected its 85th President. She was the proud recipient of the MCBA’s Civility Award for 2017-2018. Judge Gatti serves on the Board of Directors of The Resolution Center. Additionally, she is a member of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan ...
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Judge Karl Barr was elected to the bench in November 2022, and he began his term on January 1, 2023. He currently presides at the 14A-2 District Court in Ypsilanti, Michigan. After law school at Michigan State College of Law, Judge Barr worked in the tax department of Plante Moran and then joined Barr, Anhut and Associates, PC, in Ypsilanti. His practice areas included municipal law, real estate, trust and estates, criminal prosecution, and civil litigation. What types of cases are on your docket? My docket is a mix of civil and criminal. I handle all matters typically heard in a district court including landlord-tenant, general ...
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The EPIC Omnibus bill was signed into law on February 21, 2024, and takes immediate effect. 2024 PA 1 . The new law, put forward by the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan, streamlines Michigan probate and estate law based on surveys of appellate cases and practitioners to identify areas of clarification and adopts certain standards from the Uniform Probate Code. Notable changes include: Statutory Thresholds. To alleviate the often-burdensome cost of judicial intervention in the transfer of assets, the amendments increase the statutory dollar number threshold dictating certain actions, such as the threshold for demanding ...
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On February 6, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court issued ADM File No. 2023-24 , which adopts amendments to MCR 3.701 and the addition of MCR 3.715 , .716 , .717 , .718 , .719 , .720 , .721 , and .722 , effective February 13, 2024. These changes follow the creation of the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act and amendments to the Firearms Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Revised Judicature Act in May of 2023. See more on those changes here . Subchapter 3.700 will be titled “Personal Protection and Extreme Risk Protection Proceedings,” and actions for extreme risk protection are included in the scope of the statute. ...
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On February 6, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court issued ADM File No. 2023-24 , which adopts amendments to MCR 3.701 and the addition of MCR 3.715 , .716 , .717 , .718 , .719 , .720 , .721 , and .722 , effective February 13, 2024. These changes follow the creation of the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act and amendments to the Firearms Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Revised Judicature Act in May of 2023. See more on those changes here . Subchapter 3.700 will be titled “Personal Protection and Extreme Risk Protection Proceedings,” and actions for extreme risk protection are included in the scope of the statute. ...
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The Michigan Legislature passed numerous bills related to criminal law before adjourning for the year. The following laws, signed by the governor, include enhanced penalties for domestic violence offenders and for assaulting medical personnel, expanded rights for crime victims, codification of reproductive rights, classification of certain activities as hate crimes, additional protections for vulnerable adults, and new laws protecting election officials. The legislature also passed a package of bills geared toward the juvenile justice system. Expansion of List of Crimes that Bar Gun Ownership Domestic Violence The legislature passed a package of bills ...
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Curtis J. Bell is the chief judge of the Kalamazoo County Probate Court and 9th Circuit Court in Michigan. He was appointed to the court by former Governor Jennifer Granholm on February 8, 2005, and assumed office on February 25, 2008. He has served as chief judge of the court since 2014. For attorneys who have never been to your court, what is your check-in process? It depends on whether the hearing is in person or virtual. If it is an in-person hearing, an attorney should go directly into the courtroom where they can either come to the judicial aide’s desk or the judicial aide will inquire of those present prior to the hearing. Should the hearing be ...
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Hon. Amanda J. Shelton was elected to the 6th Judicial Circuit Court in November 2022 and was assigned to the family division. Prior to being elected, Judge Shelton practiced law for 18 years (2004-2022). Judge Shelton is a member of several professional organizations. For attorneys who have never been to your court, what is your check-in process? For matters on Zoom, attorneys need to identify themselves by name and case number. Attorneys need to make sure their clients properly identify themselves as well. We get many folks showing up as “iPad,” “Samsung”, etc. For motion call, the court schedules motions in 15-minute blocks, so ...
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On November 7, 2023, Governor Whitmer signed the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA) into law. 2023 PA 187 . The UPOAA repeals the durable power of attorney provisions in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.5501–.5505 . It goes into effect on July 1, 2024. The UPOAA is a model statute developed by the Uniform Law Commission in 2006. Michigan joins 30 states and the District of Columbia in adopting this statute (or a substantially similar statute), which provides consistency in application of powers of attorney as people change states and allows Michigan to benefit from the jurisprudence of other states. The UPOAA applies to ...
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Hon. David J. Allen was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court by Governor Jennifer Granholm in December 2003. He practiced law for ten years prior to taking the bench. He currently serves on the civil docket and as a business court judge. What types of matters/motions are held via Zoom and which are held in person? Trials are in person. I hold everything else via Zoom, unless the parties request otherwise. What is your check-in process? For both motion call and everyday status and settlement conferences, I let everyone into the Zoom room, and my law clerk directs counsel to use Zoom’s chat function to check in. I don’t use ...
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The Michigan Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Michigan Rules of Evidence (MREs) effective January 1, 2024. According to the Staff Comment to the amending order, the amendments are designed to “restyl[e] the MREs in an effort to remain as consistent as possible with the 2011 restyling of the Federal Rules of Evidence.” ADM File No 2021-10 . There are also a few notable amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence (FREs) effective December 1, 2023, that these MRE amendments do not parallel. MRE Amendments Effective January 1, 2024 While the MRE amendments are primarily stylistic, there are several linguistic changes that may be of interest ...
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A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend the 8 th Annual Cannabis Law Conference, presented by the Cannabis Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan in cooperation with ICLE. It was at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and featured wonderful networking opportunities and truly rewarding substantive presentations. I didn’t make it to every session, but if you’re following this dynamic area of practice, you might be interested in hearing a little bit about what I learned. Federal policy updates. Hilary Bricken discussed the potential for the Drug Enforcement Administration to review a rescheduling recommendation that would move cannabis from a schedule ...
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Judge Kinsella was appointed to the circuit court on April 27, 2022, by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Prior to her appointment to the Oakland County bench, Judge Kinsella spent nearly 20 years at Miller & Tischler, PC, in Farmington Hills in litigation practice and served as the firm’s vice president and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. For attorneys who have never been to your court, what is your check-in process? For all in-person matters, an attorney need only enter the courtroom where one of my two clerks will greet them and check them in for their matter. For Zoom matters, attorneys need only sign in to the Zoom courtroom, and ...
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The Michigan Supreme Court released seven criminal law opinions in July. These cases discuss issues pertaining to voir dire, the reversal of a plea as a result of inaccurate information, the standard for reversing a parole board’s decision to grant parole, the ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to request the lesser-included offense, the forfeiture doctrine, identification of a defendant at trial, appealing within-guidelines sentences, and voluntariness of a witness statement. People v Yarbrough Facts In People v Yarbrough , No 161513 , ___ Mich ___, ___ NW2d ___ (July 14, 2023), during voir dire, the trial judge informed counsel that ...
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