The proposal to add civil rights for LGBT people to Michigan's
constitution will no longer aim for the 2016 ballots, its organizer
announced during a taping of public television show Off The Record Friday morning.
Article here (via mlive).
Friday, January 29, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Michigan Court of Appeals: Ruling on what's considered "usable marijuana" under the Medical MJ Act.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – In a split decision, a state appeals panel said
that harvested marijuana being kept in canisters to dry does constitute
usable marijuana.
Alenna Marie Rocafort, 47, said she intended to make hash oil out of drying - and thus not usable - marijuana.
(article here - via mlive).
The defendant had earlier been charged with being beyond the legal limit of what's allowed under the MMMA law for medical caregivers. Caregivers are allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana per patient. She would be allowed to possess 15 ounces for five patients and herself.
The Kent County Circuit court ruled earlier that she was above the limit - and in violation of the Act. But the Court of Appeals disagreed.
"The trial court concluded that, although the seized marijuana may not have been dried to the ideal extent, it was 'largely dried,' and therefore denied defendant's motions," justices Jane Markey and William Murphy wrote.
Alenna Marie Rocafort, 47, said she intended to make hash oil out of drying - and thus not usable - marijuana.
(article here - via mlive).
The defendant had earlier been charged with being beyond the legal limit of what's allowed under the MMMA law for medical caregivers. Caregivers are allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana per patient. She would be allowed to possess 15 ounces for five patients and herself.
The Kent County Circuit court ruled earlier that she was above the limit - and in violation of the Act. But the Court of Appeals disagreed.
"The trial court concluded that, although the seized marijuana may not have been dried to the ideal extent, it was 'largely dried,' and therefore denied defendant's motions," justices Jane Markey and William Murphy wrote.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Planning for the inevitable: a short guide to Michigan's laws of intestacy
(Warning: This is a cross-post from the Estate Planning News in Michigan blog- which I also write. It's not a complete guide to intestacy laws, but the first in a series).
New Year's Day, and the season in general, is full of reflection on how to live a better life. This leads to the tradition of making resolutions.
One resolution many adults should have is to plan for the future, and if one thing in the future is certain, it is that either you will read my obituary, or I will read yours. (Sorry, but the old adage of "death and taxes" is true, sadly.) It's better to face facts, be prepared, and let your intentions get carried out after death. Otherwise, the state of Michigan will do your planning for you, through its laws of intestacy. (Intestacy means dying without a will).
Q: I don't have a lot of things to pass to other people, or much money to pay an attorney. But what if I care about a few important things?
A: Michigan's probate code (also called EPIC, the Estate and Protected Individuals Code) can be found at MCL 700.2101 (or find it here).
The intestacy portion begins with "any portion not disposed of by will . . . " This means that Michigan allows for a partial will. In other words, if you have a piece of property (real property- like the family cottage, or personal property -- an heirloom, or your speedboat) you can write a will to dispose of those "things," and leave the rest to be sorted out by a probate case after you die.
As far as the cost for an attorney to write your will, the costs can reflect how simple (or complicated) your issues might be.
Q: I have siblings that I don't get along with. Will they inherit from my estate?
A: It depends. If you have a spouse or children who live after your death (or "survive you" as it is legally termed), they will inherit first.
This assumes, of course, that you will have something for them to inherit after debts from your estate are left, as EPIC insists that costs, such as funeral expenses, be paid first.
If you have no spouse or kids when you die, your parents will inherit from your estate, if they survive you. Only once these potential heirs have inherited, will other descendants of your parents inherit.
However, it could possibly be that you die with your spouse, or shortly after, and that your parents are already deceased. The better thing to do, instead of leaving it to chance, is to write a will or partial will, that makes your intentions clear that your sibling (or whomever) will not inherit from your estate.
New Year's Day, and the season in general, is full of reflection on how to live a better life. This leads to the tradition of making resolutions.
One resolution many adults should have is to plan for the future, and if one thing in the future is certain, it is that either you will read my obituary, or I will read yours. (Sorry, but the old adage of "death and taxes" is true, sadly.) It's better to face facts, be prepared, and let your intentions get carried out after death. Otherwise, the state of Michigan will do your planning for you, through its laws of intestacy. (Intestacy means dying without a will).
Q: I don't have a lot of things to pass to other people, or much money to pay an attorney. But what if I care about a few important things?
A: Michigan's probate code (also called EPIC, the Estate and Protected Individuals Code) can be found at MCL 700.2101 (or find it here).
The intestacy portion begins with "any portion not disposed of by will . . . " This means that Michigan allows for a partial will. In other words, if you have a piece of property (real property- like the family cottage, or personal property -- an heirloom, or your speedboat) you can write a will to dispose of those "things," and leave the rest to be sorted out by a probate case after you die.
As far as the cost for an attorney to write your will, the costs can reflect how simple (or complicated) your issues might be.
Q: I have siblings that I don't get along with. Will they inherit from my estate?
A: It depends. If you have a spouse or children who live after your death (or "survive you" as it is legally termed), they will inherit first.
This assumes, of course, that you will have something for them to inherit after debts from your estate are left, as EPIC insists that costs, such as funeral expenses, be paid first.
If you have no spouse or kids when you die, your parents will inherit from your estate, if they survive you. Only once these potential heirs have inherited, will other descendants of your parents inherit.
However, it could possibly be that you die with your spouse, or shortly after, and that your parents are already deceased. The better thing to do, instead of leaving it to chance, is to write a will or partial will, that makes your intentions clear that your sibling (or whomever) will not inherit from your estate.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Legal documents, rules, and cases: they are your friends! More novel concepts in the law
Many times when a client (or potential witness) gets some legal documents in the mail, they become overwhelmed, and don't even read them. Or they read parts of them, and blank out the other parts. This often leads a to missed deadlines, a failure to respond, and makes the case even worse. It's the "ostrich" approach to litigation (If I put my head in the sand, maybe it will all go away). This approach isn't a very good one.
Same thing goes for attorneys sometimes: they will get some pleadings from another attorney, or a notice from court, fail to read it thoroughly, and miss something important about the case.
Ancient truth: Yes, legal paperwork is sometimes hard to read, but if you break it down into smaller parts, it's easier.
And here's the secret: when you read it, it has to contain the rules (or cases) that it's based on, and those rules are something that you will need to use to argue (with or against) to get to win your side of the case!
In other words, you have to read it all (especially if you're an attorney), to see what else you should be arguing. And most likely the judge will read all of it too. So if you don't read, the judge will wonder why you left that out of your argument.
Let me get specific here: You're the client, and you have gotten a notice to appear on your case. It will have the case number, name of the hearing, where the hearing will be (the courthouse, room, and street address), the time and date. It will also have how to respond to it listed on that same form. You (or your attorney) will need to contact the court to do something about the hearing, like reschedule it.
Sometimes, however, the form will contain other information, like "if you do not respond by 21 days from the date of this notice, then . . . ." What's the "then?" Possible "thens" : this order will be signed by the judge, or then you will lose your window of appeal, or then the bench warrant will be issued. That's the trigger to get you into motion.
Or, let's try a different scenario: You're the attorney, and you get a new client, who needs you to do something with the documents. Where do you start? What court are you in? Make the first step of actually reading what the client gives you. (One more hint: it might not say what the client thinks - see above, clients don't always read everything!) But at least what the client gives you will have the court on it, and something about the case so you can at least get more information.If the client doesn't have the right papers, get the copies from the court of everything else in the file, so that you know exactly where you stand right now. Otherwise, your response will not be accurate.
Now: back to Novel concepts in the law: use those same documents to get the basis that you need to start arguing. In this scenario, you're the attorney with new pleadings from the other side. Those pleading should have a rule, or case citation in them. Look at the rule (or case)! It could be that the attorney on the other side is citing the wrong thing (so you will need to mention to the court what should actually be argued), or that your client's situation is somehow different from what's cited. Then you go about distinguishing your client's case from the one cited, and try to persuade the judge that he or she should agree with your version of things. It's the old "the sky is blue, your honor, that's true, but the shade of blue it was on that day was streaked with gray clouds. So when the opposition says "blue," they should really be saying . . . " You get the idea.
Same thing goes for attorneys sometimes: they will get some pleadings from another attorney, or a notice from court, fail to read it thoroughly, and miss something important about the case.
Ancient truth: Yes, legal paperwork is sometimes hard to read, but if you break it down into smaller parts, it's easier.
And here's the secret: when you read it, it has to contain the rules (or cases) that it's based on, and those rules are something that you will need to use to argue (with or against) to get to win your side of the case!
In other words, you have to read it all (especially if you're an attorney), to see what else you should be arguing. And most likely the judge will read all of it too. So if you don't read, the judge will wonder why you left that out of your argument.
Let me get specific here: You're the client, and you have gotten a notice to appear on your case. It will have the case number, name of the hearing, where the hearing will be (the courthouse, room, and street address), the time and date. It will also have how to respond to it listed on that same form. You (or your attorney) will need to contact the court to do something about the hearing, like reschedule it.
Sometimes, however, the form will contain other information, like "if you do not respond by 21 days from the date of this notice, then . . . ." What's the "then?" Possible "thens" : this order will be signed by the judge, or then you will lose your window of appeal, or then the bench warrant will be issued. That's the trigger to get you into motion.
Or, let's try a different scenario: You're the attorney, and you get a new client, who needs you to do something with the documents. Where do you start? What court are you in? Make the first step of actually reading what the client gives you. (One more hint: it might not say what the client thinks - see above, clients don't always read everything!) But at least what the client gives you will have the court on it, and something about the case so you can at least get more information.If the client doesn't have the right papers, get the copies from the court of everything else in the file, so that you know exactly where you stand right now. Otherwise, your response will not be accurate.
Now: back to Novel concepts in the law: use those same documents to get the basis that you need to start arguing. In this scenario, you're the attorney with new pleadings from the other side. Those pleading should have a rule, or case citation in them. Look at the rule (or case)! It could be that the attorney on the other side is citing the wrong thing (so you will need to mention to the court what should actually be argued), or that your client's situation is somehow different from what's cited. Then you go about distinguishing your client's case from the one cited, and try to persuade the judge that he or she should agree with your version of things. It's the old "the sky is blue, your honor, that's true, but the shade of blue it was on that day was streaked with gray clouds. So when the opposition says "blue," they should really be saying . . . " You get the idea.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Why not ship some beer for Christmas? Well, because it's illegal (at least in Michigan, for the most part).
Cyber Monday has come and gone. But there is still time to buy! But one thing you can't do, for the most part, is have some beer (or alcohol of any kind) shipped to Michigan (for the most part).
Why? Because the Liquor Control Commission says so.
The thing is, the LCC wants to bring as much revenue as it can into the state. It controls that (hence the name). So every consumer who buys alcohol of any kind is violating the LCC's ability to control things.
Here's another article about this (it's old and lists Granholm as governor, but is still accurate.) Here's a link to the LCC page about importation of alcohol.
How do you get around it? It's not easy. This author tried to buy wines from nakedwines.com, but couldn't have the order ship to Michigan. Essentially an online retailer has to purchase a special license from the LCC to be able to ship their products to Michigan. If you happen to shop at an online retailer who doesn't have that license, there's no guarantee that your order will arrive.
Why? Because the Liquor Control Commission says so.
The thing is, the LCC wants to bring as much revenue as it can into the state. It controls that (hence the name). So every consumer who buys alcohol of any kind is violating the LCC's ability to control things.
Here's another article about this (it's old and lists Granholm as governor, but is still accurate.) Here's a link to the LCC page about importation of alcohol.
How do you get around it? It's not easy. This author tried to buy wines from nakedwines.com, but couldn't have the order ship to Michigan. Essentially an online retailer has to purchase a special license from the LCC to be able to ship their products to Michigan. If you happen to shop at an online retailer who doesn't have that license, there's no guarantee that your order will arrive.
Blogging: how it can help you increase your legal market (Or: Novel points in the law, part 3: write about what you know)
Blogging can be pivotal in increasing your law practice, it's true!
See this article (via aba journal).
The theory is (and this actually is fairly true) that people searching for answers use the Internet. If you're writing about an area of law that a lot of people in the general public (or other lawyers, even), don't know about, your blog will get "hits" more often, as you're the only source of information available.
This leads to new clients, more information about cases, and more renown! Give it a try!
The way that I have seen this work: use a blogger profile, in connection with a Google plus page. When you publish a blog article, it shows up in Google (because G+ wants to reward its users). It also shows up with a photo pic of the author. And of course, your Blogger page will have the short bio of you and your area of law as well.
So my advice (back to novel points in the practice of law) is to write about what you know! If your practice area is intellectual property, focus on that. It will help increase your own knowledge, and other people - legal professionals and potential clients - will be drawn to that.
See this article (via aba journal).
The theory is (and this actually is fairly true) that people searching for answers use the Internet. If you're writing about an area of law that a lot of people in the general public (or other lawyers, even), don't know about, your blog will get "hits" more often, as you're the only source of information available.
This leads to new clients, more information about cases, and more renown! Give it a try!
The way that I have seen this work: use a blogger profile, in connection with a Google plus page. When you publish a blog article, it shows up in Google (because G+ wants to reward its users). It also shows up with a photo pic of the author. And of course, your Blogger page will have the short bio of you and your area of law as well.
So my advice (back to novel points in the practice of law) is to write about what you know! If your practice area is intellectual property, focus on that. It will help increase your own knowledge, and other people - legal professionals and potential clients - will be drawn to that.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Law suit in Flint Michigan seeks over $1 million from ambulance drivers who "missed" attending to car crash victim
FLINT, MI – A lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million after a pair of
ambulance workers failed to spot a man in the driver's seat of a car
that crashed into a tree.
The lawsuit was filed Nov. 24 in Genesee Circuit Court by the law firm of Geoffrey Fieger on behalf of the estate of the car crash victim, Cortez Lionel Cheathams, against the ambulance campany, Mobile Medical Response.
Article here (via mlive).
The lawsuit was filed Nov. 24 in Genesee Circuit Court by the law firm of Geoffrey Fieger on behalf of the estate of the car crash victim, Cortez Lionel Cheathams, against the ambulance campany, Mobile Medical Response.
Article here (via mlive).
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