Last Friday, September 19, 2014, I participated in a panel discussion at the Negligence Law Section breakout at the state bar conference in Grand Rapids to discuss the Michigan Supreme Court's upcoming (October 8) hearing of oral arguments in the calendar cases of Hunter v. Sisco, et al, and Hannay v. MDOT, the latter in which I [...]
Tag: causation
“Gross Negligence” Exception to Governmental Immunity Under Attack in Cases Against First Responders / Law Enforcement Officers
The Court of Appeals has released two cases that appear to undermine the meaning of the "statutory" "gross negligence" exception, MCL 691.1407(2) under Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA). The GTLA, MCL 691.1401 et seq., provides immunity for law enforcement officers and other individual governmental employees engaged in the discharge of a governmental function and while [...]
“No-Fault” Wage-Loss Benefits Required to Be Paid to Unemployed Claimant Suffering Disabling Injury at the Time of Auto Accident
In Jones v. Home Owners Ins. Co.COA, a 2-1 unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that a claimant suffering disabling injury in an auto accident was entitled to no-fault wage-loss benefits under Michigan's No-Fault Act, characterizing her as "temporarily unemployed" under MCL 500.3107a. MCL 500.3107 of the No-Fault Act provides for first-party insurer "work-loss [...]
Supreme Court Leaves Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Claim Intact to Recover Damages for Loss of Kidney in “Dual Organ” Case
The Supreme Court has let stand a Court of Appeals decision, which held that a doctor’s alleged misdiagnosis and ultimate removal of a cancerous kidney gave rise to a cause of action for damages because of the potential for greater future harm due to the additional risk associated with having only one functional organ. Lawrence Garcia, Esq. [...]
Michigan Supreme Court Denies Leave in Two of Three Cases Pending to Address Legal Causation Under No-Fault Act for Motorcycle Accidents
Last week I filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the State Farm v. MMRMA case pending on application to the Michigan Supreme Court. Â As I mentioned in my last post, there were two other cases, both pending on applications to the Court, which asked the Court to deal with the same [...]