Michigan General Practice Legal Questions

I am sorry your daughter is not feeling well. There is a chance that you have a case that might allow you to recover significant damages. There are couple of theories of law that apply to this situation. It is recommended that you speak to legal counsel as soon as possible to explore the full extent of your rights. It is critical that you preserve evidence: photos of where you have found black mold, communications with the property owners and medical receipts. If you can film your daughter's condition when she is not feeling well, that is useful too. If I can be of service, please feel free to be in touch.  ... Read More

Lawyers are encouraged to do pro bono work and some of Michigan's larger law firms actually require their lawyers to do pro bono work. For civil matters with potential damages, lawyers are almost always willing to work on contingency fees, they only get paid on success. For criminal matters, some lawyers do pro bono work but most are court appointed and paid by the state to defend people. I hope this helps, your comment did not make clear what your specific issue is.  ... Read More

With a few of exceptions (knowing you intend to commit a crime, cause harm to yourself or others, or court order), from the moment a lawyer is hired until they die, we are to keep our clients' confidential information in confidence. Failure to do so the most serious breach of professional ethics and is grounds for the lawyer to lose their license.  Since lawyers like to keep our licenses, we take this responsibility with the utmost sense of duty to clients. I hope this helps.... Read More

You need to get a personal protective order against this person. Your ex has no say in this. You should also advise your ex in writing that your child does not have your permission to leave the state and to visit that person under ANY circumstances. If your ex allows the child to leave the state to visit, alert the police. If you are able to get a PPO, then the matter is considered extremely urgent by law enforcement. It is unclear what your Divorce Settlement Agreement states but you might consider consulting your divorce attorney to possibly make a motion modifying the custody order or bringing the matter up yourself before the county friend of the court regarding custody. I hope this helps. best of luck to you. ... Read More

Without more information, specifically a copy of a Deed or some trust document creating the life estate, it is hard to know exactly what your rights are. Some estates can be revokable, others not. Moving out, in some circumstances can trigger changes in the life estate. The taxation and SSI reporting are separate issues and, if your mom is allowed to sell the property, it might be you have nothing to report. The main issue you have is to learn the terms of your life estate; I would urge you to find legal counsel. I recommend using a lawyer not tied to your family as that lawyer might be working with your mom.   ... Read More

Ok so if he was a process server, who was serving a summons and complaint, then that means the lawsuit has already been filed. So, you can call all the civil courts in your county, including small claims court, and family courts and ask the court clerk to do a name search-for your first and last name in the last 3-4 months to see if anyone filed a claim against you. The other possibility is that this could be a census taker, but those people usually announce themselves if you ask them what they want. Another possibility is that it was just a sales call. ... Read More

The friend has materially breached his contract with your daughter-in-law by failing to pay the remaining $410 he owes.  Your daughter-in-law has the option of rescinding the contract, i.e. taking back the car and refunding the $90 (she would then probably hav e claim against the friend for the rental value of the car for the time he possessed the car) or suing him for damages, i.e. the $410 he owes plus interest from the time it was due.... Read More

I think the first relevant question is who hired the caregiver?  If the Guardian made the contact, and ultimately the contract, to retain the services of a caregiver, then the caregiver should look to that Guardian for payment of the expenses.  It should be up to the Guardian to make sure that they have sufficient resources available, whether government funding, health insurance, or private funds to satisfy any care obligations they might have ordered.  The Trust may eventually pay for the services but the Guardian should have had contact with the Trustee to verify that those funds were or are available for care. If the Guardian refuses to pursue the funds necessary to pay for the claim then the next step would be to file a petition or claim in the controlling probate court.  The probate courts are generally helpful with encouraging their guardians to satisfy their obligations.  The Court may even go so far as to require that the Trust come forward and justify the refusal to pay or it may force the Guardian to seek out and become the payee for government funds such as social security etc. Chuck Penzien www.penzienlaw.com... Read More

It seems like a pretty good medical malpractice case (a form of negligence), although (assuming your son will recover fully) his recovery would not be astronomical because his damages would only be a few extra days of suffering and the extra medical costs.  It would be malpractice if the doctor's failure to diagnose the problem was because he/she did not act with the ordinary amount of professional skill; it would not be malpractice if, a doctor acting with the ordinary amount of professional skill, would have missed the problem.  The fact that the second doctor did correctly diagnose the problem suggests that the first doctor screwed up.... Read More

In most cases, oral agreements are as valid and enforceable as written ones.  Only certain agreements, for example agreements to sell real estate or which can't be performed within one year, are required to be in writing.  From the little you've written, there appears to be no reason why your oral agreement would not be valid.  However, if the other party disputes that there was an agreement, or what its terms were, you would have a much better chance of convincing a court that you were telling the truth if you had some documentation.  Even without an agreement, however, you may be able to collect for the fair market value (as opposed to the contractually agreed amount) of your services based on the legal theory of "quantum meruit".  Basically, while quantum meruit cannot supercede the terms of an express agreement, where for whatever reason there is no valid agreement, and you provide a benefit to another party with their consent, you are generally entitled to receive the fair value of your efforts as compensation.... Read More