News & Info

At the beginning of the third week in March, the United States Supreme Court decided a bankruptcy case which includes relevant lessons and considerations for lenders, investors and those manufacturers which finance the purchase of their goods. At issue was whether a bankruptcy court has the authority to confirm a settlement agreement in conjunction with the dismissal of a bankruptcy filing when the settlement agreement violates the priority for distributions set forth by the Bankruptcy Code and the impaired creditors have not consented to the settlement agreement.

In a familiar refrain, business owners often question which practices they should engage in when managing members of the millennial generation (roughly those individuals born between the early 1980’s and the year 2000).

Have you or your business received a letter from the Business Software Alliance (“BSA”) claiming that your software licenses are out of order? Would you be prepared to respond to such a letter?

They listen to our stories and complaints when no one else is around. They encourage us to get up off the couch and be active when we are feeling lazy. They comfort us, provide a sense of security, and never judge us. But what happens to our beloved pet or companion animal when we are no longer able to look after them? Increasingly, people are turning to pet trusts to answer that question.

Business owners, including many manufacturers and vendors, often think twice prior to hiring counsel to review the standard contracts of their business. This hesitancy is understandable since legal fees can quickly accumulate and short run returns are not always immediately evident. However, a recent Michigan Court of Appeals case emphatically demonstrates why it is important for business owners to partner with a good lawyer to achieve objectives and identify risks in a manner that allows the business to maximize its long term earning potential while minimizing its risk exposure.

In a rare example of bipartisan effort to correct a problem created by the Affordable Care Act, Congress passed and President Obama signed the “21st Century Cures Act” (Public Law No. 114-255) into law in December 2016. Among other things, the law allows small employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees to create a new form of health reimbursement account (“HRA”) to help their employees pay for certain medical expenses. The new HRA can be used to reimburse employees for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses and for non-group plan health insurance premiums, including plans purchased on public health care exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.

If your business offers products or services to residents of the European Union, you may be required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

Most businesses take steps to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices in order to protect information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure. A good cybersecurity strategy should not only manage security threats—it should also proactively address how a business will respond to security breaches.

Spring is a common time for homeowners and businesses to engage in “spring cleaning,” tackling projects which acquire attention to better position the home or business for the long run. It often behooves a business to review its legal documentation every few years as part of its “spring cleaning.”

As an estate planning attorney, I often find that individuals who have recently been divorced are not aware of the importance of revising their estate plan. After a divorce, particularly one that is long and drawn out, the last thing a client wants to do is spend more in legal fees. However, failing to promptly attend to estate planning can be financially disastrous.

Summer in Michigan is finally heating up, and so are clashes between local governments and property owners over short-term rentals.

State law preempts local zoning and land use control over many different types of land uses. One of the most important protections is for commercial agricultural operations under Michigan’s Right to Farm Act (RTFA). Local governments often face difficult issues about whether they can enforce their ordinances with respect to farm animals, accessory buildings, and farm market sales.

The Michigan Townships Association 66th Annual Educational Conference will be held at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids from April 1 through 4, 2019.

In 2018, the State passed several new laws which affect local zoning and other local ordinances. Some of these may require changes to your local ordinances.

When preparing to take action in response to a complaint of an ordinance violation (zoning or otherwise) for which a formal hearing is required, here are some helpful tips ordinance enforcement officers should follow to ensure your civil infractions are upheld in court.

Over the past few months, the Court of Appeals has issued three opinions in cases involving successful claims against the Delta College Board of Trustees, for alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”), in connection with closed session meetings. One of the three opinions, Vermilya v Delta College Board of Trustees (July 31, 2018), is published, and therefore establishes state-wide precedent concerning the procedures that must be followed when entering a closed session.

Three recently enacted laws, Public Acts 323, 324 and 325 (the “Acts”), which took effect in July of 2018, will create an asset management framework for Michigan’s water, energy, transportation, and communications infrastructure and create interrelated councils to coordinate planning for those infrastructure systems at local, regional, and statewide levels. Among other things, the Acts place requirements on local municipalities, and sewer, water and road authorities to develop and adopt asset management plans.

On March 13, 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a published opinion in Lockwood et al v Township of Ellington et al, affirming the authority of public bodies to ratify, or not ratify, decisions made in violation of the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) at their discretion.

While financing public infrastructure improvements through the use tax increment financing by downtown development authorities, local development finance authorities, and corridor improvement authorities is not new in Michigan, those entities will be established and will operate under a new statute as a result of legislation approved by the state legislature and signed by the Governor earlier this year.

The Michigan Townships Association 65th Annual Educational Conference will be held at the Grand Traverse Resort from April 23 through 26, 2018.

In 1994, Michigan’s voters approved “Proposal A.” A key feature of Proposal A limited annual increases in property tax assessments to the lesser of 5%, or the rate of inflation, until a property is transferred. The calculated tax assessment is called the “taxable value.” The local assessor still keeps track of the “state equalized value,” (“SEV”) which is theoretically one-half of the property’s market value. When the property is transferred, the taxable value is automatically increased to the SEV– usually referred to as “uncapping.”

Michigan is finally administering a procedure for “Medicaid recovery” of financial support paid under the Medicaid system. Medicaid is a needs-based program to provide long-term nursing care (among other purposes). To qualify for Medicaid, a single person must have $2,000 or less of “countable” assets. Among the few assets which are not “countable” is the person’s homestead with up to $500,000 in equity (adjusted for inflation). In addition, term life insurance policies without a cash value are not countable assets.

The use of “Lady Bird Deeds” has become common in Michigan is a way to pass property upon death. The name comes from the mechanism that President Lyndon Johnson used to pass property to his wife, “Lady Bird” Johnson on his death. Some lawyers call these “enhanced life estate” deeds.

Danielle S. Nickelson is a member of the firm's Litigation, Business and Commercial, Municipal, and Labor Practice Groups. S

The firm has 25 attorneys included in the 2020 edition of the Best Lawyers in America.

On July 31, 2019, the Grand Rapids Business Journal Law Blog posted Mike Huff’s article “Funding your business: What can be learned from the Pac-12 Conference?”

In the August/September edition of West Michigan Woman, Neil Jansen explained the importance of having a Will in the article “Write It Down: The Importance of Having a Will.”

Kim Large was selected as a member of the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Class of 2019 “Women in the Law.”

Andrea Crumback was recently elected to a three-year term as a Trustee of the Grand Rapids Bar Association Board of Trustees.

On July 2, 2019, Andrea Crumback’s article “What I Wish I Knew About My Property Taxes” was published by West Michigan Woman.

On May 24, 2019, Liz Bransdorfer was quoted in the U.S. News article “Child Support vs. Alimony: Do You Know the Difference?”

On May 31, 2019, the Grand Rapids Business Journal Law Blog posted Mike Huff’s article “The lawyer as a counselor.”

Elizabeth Bransdorfer was quoted in the May 20, 2019 U.S. News article “Can I Fight My Divorce?”