Michigan

  • July 14, 2025

    $94M Fee Bid In Auto Parts Antitrust MDL Rejected, For Now

    A Michigan federal judge on Friday rejected class counsel's request to add $94 million to the $269 million fee award they have already secured for cutting deals totaling $1.2 billion resolving automotive parts antitrust litigation, finding that the request is excessive and premature, but allowing counsel to revise it in the future.

  • July 14, 2025

    States Back Domestic Violence Groups In DOJ Grant Fight

    Nearly two dozen states are backing a group of domestic violence coalitions in their bid to block the Trump administration from imposing restrictions on grants by the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, saying the funding is critical to their ability to fulfill their public safety obligations.

  • July 14, 2025

    Mich. Jury Sides With Red Cross In COVID Vax Refusal Suit

    A Michigan federal jury on Monday found that a former American Red Cross nurse's request for an exemption from the organization's COVID-19 vaccine mandate wasn't based on a sincere religious belief that barred her from getting the injection, rejecting the worker's request for more than $6 million in damages for her firing.

  • July 14, 2025

    Mich. Justices Say GOP Can Challege Poll Worker Imbalance

    The Michigan Republican Party can sue to enforce a rule about the political makeup of poll workers, the Michigan Supreme Court said Monday, reversing a lower court's ruling.

  • July 14, 2025

    Supreme Court Clears Way For Education Dept. Layoffs

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a Massachusetts federal judge's order halting massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, allowing the Trump administration to move forward with firing nearly 1,400 employees.

  • July 11, 2025

    Midyear 2025: A Glimpse At Sports Betting Enforcement

    The first half of 2025 saw a flurry of activity in the enforcement of sports betting rules, with two NBA veterans finding themselves at the center of a federal gambling probe, two mixed martial arts fighters receiving lengthy suspensions, and Shohei Ohtani's disgraced interpreter catching a 57-month prison sentence for theft.

  • July 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Tosses Arbitration Denial In FCA Minivan Fire MDL

    A Michigan federal judge flubbed it when he denied Fiat Chrysler's bid to push into arbitration some of the plug-in hybrid minivan drivers who claim in multidistrict litigation that their vehicles could spontaneously explode, the Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday, saying the judge tipped the scales against the automaker by raising arguments the drivers hadn't mentioned.

  • July 11, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: NYC Zombies, Nashville Tax, Hospo Deals

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney insights into New York City's zombie building scene, a BigLaw specialist's view of Nashville's rise in property taxes, and the firms that guided the top hospitality deals in the first half of 2025.

  • July 11, 2025

    Fired Red Cross Vax Refuser Seeks $6M As Jury Trial Wraps

    An attorney for a nurse fired from the American Red Cross after being denied religious accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate asked a Detroit federal jury Friday for more than $6 million in damages for what he said was the organization's disregard of the woman's beliefs.

  • July 11, 2025

    Mich. Gun Store Seeks Escape From School Shooting Suit

    A gun dealer has asked a Michigan state appellate court to dismiss a lawsuit over the sale of a gun used in a deadly school shooting, arguing it can't be held responsible for the buyer giving the gun to his son.

  • July 11, 2025

    Dem States Drop Bid To Block Machine Gun Trigger Returns

    Sixteen Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia told a Maryland federal judge Friday that they are dropping their motion to block the federal government from returning forced-reset triggers for guns to their owners, following declarations from the government and others that they would not distribute the products into states where possession is illegal.

  • July 11, 2025

    Varnum Grows Its Ranks In Mich. With Ex-NHTSA Atty

    Michigan firm Varnum LLP has announced that a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attorney has joined the firm's Ann Arbor office as a partner in the firm's privacy and mobility practice.

  • July 11, 2025

    Rent Reward Co. Bilt Hits $10.8B Valuation In Mortgage Push

    Bilt Rewards said it has reached a $10.75 billion valuation after raising $250 million as part of an effort to expand to mortgage-holders its system of offering tenants perks for making rent payments.

  • July 11, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Kirkland, Cassels

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Merck buys U.K. drugmaker Verona Pharma, CoreWeave acquires fellow data center company Core Scientific, Royal Gold acquires Sandstorm Gold and Horizon Copper, and Italian food company Ferrero buys WK Kellogg.

  • July 10, 2025

    Vax Refuser Tells Jury Red Cross Mandate Was 'Unsettling'

    A former nurse for the American Red Cross said the organization's requirement that employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine was "unsettling" to her and led to physical manifestations of stress, as she testified before a federal jury on Thursday that she believed receiving the injection went against her religious beliefs.

  • July 10, 2025

    Calif. Vape Co. Drops Claims Over Allegedly Counterfeit G Pen

    California-based GS Holistic LLC has reached a deal with a Michigan smoke shop that will end claims the retailer was selling counterfeit versions of its G Pen e-cigarettes without authorization at a fraction of the price, according to a notice issued by a federal judge.

  • July 10, 2025

    Ferrero, Kellogg Ink $3.1B Deal Led By Davis Polk, Kirkland

    Italian food company The Ferrero Group has agreed to acquire WK Kellogg Co. in a $3.1 billion all-cash deal, the companies said Thursday, marking a major expansion for Ferrero into the North American breakfast market. 

  • July 10, 2025

    6th Circ. Sinks Ex-Christian School Dean's Racial Bias Claims

    A Christian school's onetime dean of students cannot have his dismissed race and sex discrimination lawsuit revived because his former position falls under a ministerial exception that bars employment claims, the Sixth Circuit has found.

  • July 10, 2025

    Senate Tees Up 6th Circ. Nom Vote As 1st Of 2nd Trump Term

    The first judicial confirmation of the second Trump administration was readied on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate voting 51-43 to end debate on the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to the Sixth Circuit.

  • July 09, 2025

    Judge Unlikely To Halt ATF Return Of 'Machine Gun' Triggers

    A Maryland federal judge said she was unlikely to block settlements between the federal government and gun-component manufacturers allowing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to return "forced reset triggers" to their owners and questioned the standing of states that claim the returns would break their laws.

  • July 09, 2025

    Venture-Backed MedTech Firm Shoulder Innovations Files IPO

    Venture-backed medical device firm Shoulder Innovations Inc. has filed plans for an initial public offering, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and underwriters' counsel Cooley LLP, marking the latest health-focused technology startup to test public markets.

  • July 09, 2025

    Mich. High Court Affirms Short-Term Rental Deed Restrictions

    The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a private Lake Michigan community's rules bar local property owners from using their lots as short-term rentals.

  • July 09, 2025

    Mich. Justices Nix Ruling On ER Doctor-Hospital Agency

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an appeals court's decision tossing a woman's vicarious liability claim against William Beaumont Hospital, finding she did not need to show she relied on a specific representation from the hospital to establish an ostensible agency relationship between the hospital and her treating doctor.

  • July 09, 2025

    Red Cross Vax Refuser Decries Firing Over Religious Beliefs

    A former nurse for the American Red Cross suffered physically and economically after she was fired from the organization for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, counsel for the nurse told a Detroit federal jury Wednesday, arguing that, in the United States, the Red Cross should not be the arbiter of sincerely held religious beliefs.

  • July 09, 2025

    FDA Gets Early Win In Blue States' Abortion Pill Suit

    A Washington federal judge has granted an early win to the federal government in a lawsuit from 17 Democratic attorneys general challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's restrictions on access to the abortion drug mifepristone, finding the agency has properly reviewed the drug when issuing regulations.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

    Author Photo

    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

    Author Photo

    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

    Author Photo

    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Class Action Trend Tests Limit Of Courts' Equity Powers

    Author Photo

    A troubling trend has developed in federal class action litigation as some counsel and judges attempt to push injunctive relief classes under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure beyond the traditional limits of federal courts' equitable powers, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

    Author Photo

    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.

  • How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns

    Author Photo

    Natale DiNatale at Robinson & Cole highlights the recent National Labor Relations Board advice memorandum that aims to help colleges reconcile competing obligations under the National Labor Relations Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as university students flock toward unionization.

  • How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation

    Author Photo

    Pending challenges against Federal Communications Commission orders at the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright highlight that counsel must be familiar with the statutes, regulations and precedent relevant to the FCC to best navigate the rapidly changing compliance landscape, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • SEC Settlement Holds Important Pay-To-Play Lessons

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent fine of an investment adviser, whose new hire made a campaign contribution within a crucial lookback period, is a seasonable reminder for public fund managers to ensure their processes thoroughly screen all associates for even minor violations of the SEC’s strict pay-to-play rule, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

    Author Photo

    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • What 7th Circ. Collective Actions Ruling Means For Employers

    Author Photo

    With the Seventh Circuit’s recent Fair Labor Standards Act ruling in Vanegas v. Signet Builders, a majority of federal appellate courts that have addressed the jurisdictional scope of employee collective actions now follow the U.S. Supreme Court's limiting precedent, bolstering an employer defense in circuits that have yet to weigh in, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

    Author Photo

    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

    Author Photo

    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Michigan archive.