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Michigan’s Construction Lien Act gives contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers strong leverage – if you follow the paper trail and deadlines. Most subs/suppliers need a Notice of Furnishing early, everyone must track first/last furnishing dates, use sworn statements and lien waivers correctly, record the Claim of Lien on time, serve it properly, and calendar the one-year…

In Michigan, condominium  and HOA boards can usually collect unpaid assessments effectively when they follow a consistent, documented process: accurate ledgers, clear notice, a written collections policy, timely escalation, and disciplined decision-making around liens, payment plans, and enforcement. The key is to treat collections as governance—consistent and defensible—not as a personal dispute with an owner.…

The State Bar of Michigan Health Care Law Section (HCLS) has named health care lawyer Louis C. Szura as chair for a one-year term (2018-19). Szura, a founding partner of Southfield law firm Szura & Delonis, P.L.C., was selected during the HCLS Annual Meeting on September 20th. The Health Care Law Section is one of…

Government reimbursement is a major sticking point for physicians seeking to incorporate telehealth into their practice. The requirements for government telehealth reimbursement are burdensome and make implementing such services difficult to justify economically, despite the potential benefits to patients and providers. However, earlier this month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed significant…

After making the decision to start your own small business, it is a smart idea to make an experienced business lawyer an integral part of your team as soon as possible. He or she will help you to determine which type of entity to form, and then relieve you of the burden of preparing the…

Sometimes you’re stuck. You must arbitrate. Maybe you entered an agreement to do so. Is such an agreement binding and enforceable? If you willingly sign an agreement to arbitrate there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be bound. However, not all such agreements are enforceable. You may still be able to get out. Lawyers often fight…

Legal technicalities may not be invoked to avoid paying sales agents’ commissions. That’s the essence of Michigan’s procuring cause doctrine – an equitable doctrine established by Michigan’s supreme court to protect commission based sales agents.[1] This doctrine protects all manner of sales agents including manufacturer’s reps, purveyors of information systems technology and software, employment recruiters,…

Piercing the Corporate Veil People form business entities to protect their personal assets. They do not want to be personally liable for their business’s debts. However, a business owner’s personal assets can sometimes be seized to pay business debts. This happens when a court reviews “the entire spectrum of relevant facts” and is satisfied that…

If you were a party to a civil lawsuit would you want a jury or a judge to decide your fate? Juries are typically seen as favoring the little guy, usually the plaintiff. But maybe that perception is wrong. Researchers Valerie Hans and Stephanie Albertson found that “beliefs that jurors are highly sympathetic to individual…

Multiemployer defined benefit pension plans face the problem of underfunding. Will there be enough money to pay pensioners the benefits they’ve been promised? Such pension funds are insured through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, but only minimally. In the 1970’s Congress enacted ERISA and made union employers quasi-insurers of the continued viability of defined benefit…