Legal Updates

In a recent published opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition for an insurer after it denied a claim due to pre-litigation misrepresentations by its insured, which were reaffirmed by the insured in deposition testimony. In Fashho v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, But[...]
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Zausmer Shareholder Cameron Getto recently co-authored an article with Daniel Pollack for Law Practice Today, discussing the emerging effects of COVID-19 on summary judgments. Summary judgment allows parties involved in a lawsuit to obtain certain court rulings before trial regarding particular elem[...]
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In a recent opinion released for publication, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s decision granting an insurer’s motion for summary disposition because the insurer failed to plead fraud as an affirmative defense with adequate particularity. In Thomasina Glasker-Davis v Dama[...]
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Much like political landscapes and the tides, the Michigan court system ebbs and flows. Over the last few months, the appellate courts have continued the shift against insurance carriers in cases involving fraudulent claims. This trend continued on July 29, 2020 with Meemic v Fortson, where the Mich[...]
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Since 2014, Bahri v IDS Prop Casualty Ins Co has given insurance companies the ability to seek dismissal of fraudulent claims based on a claimant’s false deposition testimony. But two recent published Michigan Court of Appeals opinions now severely limit both Bahri and an alternate fraud defense t[...]
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Faced with mounting lost profits and escalating expenses related to COVID-19, including potential liability to third parties, business owners are turning to their insurance policies to cover these losses.  The following is intended as a roadmap of potential coverage issues related to COVID-19 in th[...]
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In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the President signed it into law on March 18, 2020.  As part of the economic stimulus plan, the Act contains a number of provisions that may affect companies’ sick leave.  The Act applies to an[...]
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Following the Michigan Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Bazzi v Sentinel Ins Co, lower courts were given the vague mandate to “balance the equities” between innocent defrauded insurance companies and innocent injured third-party claimants when a policy is rescinded.  Some courts responded by [...]
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In a recent unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition for an insurer, finding that the insurer was entitled to rescind an insurance policy based on the insured’s misrepresentation regarding her employment in the application for insurance. In Erica Kelley v [...]
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In a recent unpublished decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition for the defendant no-fault insurer. The Court examined three issues on appeal: (1) whether a no-fault priority defense is an affirmative defense that must be asserted in a responsive pleading; (2) whether th[...]
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