Smith Haughey's Client Successes | Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge | Attorneys at Law | Michigan: Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, East Lansing

Smith Haughey has a long history of successfully representing clients in a wide range of legal matters and we take pride in the work that we do for our clients. Here is a sample of some of our client successes:

February 2008	Shawn Worden successfully represented our client — Bingham Township — in a land use matter that was on appeal. The case involved a parcel of land that was divided and sold to new owners. A neighboring property owner challenged the land division and the Court ruled that the property was illegally divided and that no land use or building permits could be issued until the illegal division was remedied. The Township worked with the property owners who filed an Application for Special Land Use permit for a clustered housing development. The Township Planning Commission held multiple public hearings and intensely debated the specifics of this plan. They then issued the Special Land Use Permit, allowing for one buildable lot on each of the separate owner's property. However the property owners wanted two buildable lots on their parcels and appealed the decision to the Leelanau County Circuit Court, arguing that the Planning Commission's decision violated the clustered housing development provisions of the zoning ordinance and that the decision was not supported by the record. Shawn wrote the response brief and argued the appeal on behalf of the Township . The Circuit Court sided with our client, finding that the property owner's interpretation of the clustered housing development provisions were not logical and that the record supported the Township's decision. Robert Parker and Todd Millar both worked on this case as well. Todd served as lead litigation attorney.
February 2008	Jack O'Loughlin and Jason Sebolt obtained a no cause verdict based upon a finding that our client vascular surgeon was not negligent in the performance of an aortobifemoral bypass grafting procedure. The verdict concluded a six-day jury trial in Kent County Circuit Court. This Wrongful Death action arose from allegations that the vascular surgeon had perforated the patient's sigmoid colon when placing the prosthetic graft. The graft was found in the colon four months later. However, the defense asserted that the graft had eroded into the colon during the intervening time period. The defense required extensive juror education on matters of anatomy, surgical technique, and the impact of the patient's multiple prior surgeries. The verdict indicates that the jurors understood these complex medical matters.
January 2008	Team to sell beer and wine. The Traverse City North Stars have something more on tap than great hockey. Thanks in part to the legal assistance of the team at Smith Haughey, North Stars fans will now be able to enjoy beer and wine during the club's home games. North Stars Owner/President Steve Fournier began pursuing a liquor license in October of 2006, but the process was delayed due to the number of North Stars owners involved. When Fournier became sole owner last May, he and North Star's general counsel Smith Haughey started the process over and completed final paperwork in Lansing in January. The purchase and consumption of beer and wine will be limited to select areas of the Centre ICE arena. No alcoholic beverages will be permitted in the main grandstand or general admission bleachers. Fans who wish to consume beer or wine must furnish government-issued photo ID and receive a wristband.
November 2007	Following a series of short trials and evidentiary hearings throughout this year, Mary Pigorsh spent 12 days in trial in Ottawa County wherein her client the husband was awarded full physical custody of his six-year-old son. At the beginning of the divorce process, the client's wife had been granted an Ex Parte Order for physical custody and was given a Personal Protection Order against him which greatly tilted the playing field in the wife's favor. Despite the initial disadvantages, Mary and her client demonstrated through both expert and lay witnesses that the client was the most appropriate parent to have custody. Regarding the parties' property, the wife wanted more than 50% of everything regardless of when the parties acquired it. Mary identified for the Court what items were her client's separate property before the marriage and thus should not be divided. However, the wife requested to invade the husband's separate property for her own support. Her efforts were unsuccessful because Mary demonstrated for the Court that the separate property should not be invaded given that the wife had not met her statutory burden to justify invading the assets. Thus, the husband was able to keep his assets, most importantly his family Trust, intact.
November 2007	Ann-Mary Petroskey successfully represented a client in an Internal Revenue Service audit of a Federal Estate Tax return. The IRS had initially denied the estate the "Qualified Family Owned Business Interest" deduction in the amount of $665,700, had disallowed valuation discounts on family limited partnership interests, and increased the value of real estate that was sold eight months after the date of death. Ann-Mary was able to preserve the deduction by demostrating that the decedent was an active and material participant in the family business located in Arkansas from her residence in Michigan, obtained a valuation discount of 25% on the partnership interests, and also gained a 10% discount for inflation on the sale of the real estate. This resulted in estate tax savings of $464,000 from the original examination of the return by the IRS.
October 2007	Jeff McManus represented the purchaser of the developer's rights in an existing upscale RV park in Acme, Michigan, as well as adjacent land that had been set aside for future development area. The individual RV lots at the time of purchase were selling for approximately $65,000 per lot. The initial development was for 130 units. The purchase price for the existing 65 lots as well as the future development area and improvements on adjacent property owned by the developer was $4,000,000. Jeff's involvement in this transaction consisted of negotiating a complicated purchase and sale agreement on behalf of the purchaser which included not only a purchase of the real estate but also negotiation of a covenant not to compete, asset allocation, assignment of purchase contract rights for the sale of existing units which were under contract but would not have closed by the date of our client's takeover, and assignment of developer's rights. A complicating twist to this transaction was the purchaser's desire to have the ability to create an additional 220 units into an area designated in the Master Deed as a future development area. Our clients wanted to be able to make this expansion without the need to have existing unit owners participate in the condominium amendment process. After significant negotiation, Jeff was able to persuade the title company to insure that the developer did have the right to expand the project into the future development area without further co-owner approval. His successful negotiation allowed our client to close the transaction with excellent prospects for a good profit based on sales of units in the expansion area.
August 2007	TJ Ackert and Craig Neckers completed the preparation of an International Distributor and License Agreement for a U. S. based furniture company with a Japanese distributor which will assist the company in expanding its global market.
June 2007	Smith Haughey represented an insurance company client in the sale of its privately owned corporate stock. The deal had a value in the tens of millions. Jim Black and Kirk Morgan guided the client through the process from the beginning. The fairly complicated deal involved not only the stock purchase but also numerous ancillary agreements as the client prepared its business for the sale.
April 2007	The board of directors of Kindel Furniture Company recently named Smith Haughey as local counsel. The firm will serve as corporate counsel for all matters, including employment, corporate, benefits, and litigation.
April 2007	Smith Haughey welcomes Trinity Health as a new client of the firm. Trinity Health is the fourth-largest Catholic health system in the United States, based on operating revenue.
April 2007	Smith Haughey welcomes International Master Products Corporation d/b/a MasterTag as a new client of the firm.
April 2007	Chip Behler and Matt Wikander represented a governmental agency and its former manager in a lawsuit brought by a recently terminated employee. The plaintiff alleged a breach of contract claim against the governmental agency, alleging that the agency had failed to complete a reciprocal transfer of the plaintiff’s pension benefits. The plaintiff also alleged that the agency’s former manager tortuously interfered with the plaintiff’s contract, causing a breach. Finally, plaintiff alleged that the agency’s former manager had openly defamed plaintiff during both public and private meetings. With reference to targeted discovery, and a thorough application of the facts to the relevant law, the court dismissed the governmental agency from the lawsuit, stating that the agency had performed all of its obligations under the contract. The court dismissed all remaining claims against the former manager on the basis of governmental immunity and absolute privileges that the manager held while engaged in the alleged conduct.
April 2007	Mark Gilchrist drafted and argued a motion for summary disposition in a legal malpractice case in Ingham County arising out of a property transaction. The court ruled there was insufficient causation between the allegations of malpractice and damages that the defendant’s conduct was protected by the attorney judgment rule.
April 2007	Smith Haughey welcomes Cocktailz Restaurant and Bar as a new client of the firm.
April 2007	Smith Haughey welcomes Johnsen & Wikander, P.C. as a new client of the firm.
April 2007	Mark Bickel and Rob Tubbs received a no-cause verdict in a premises liability case that was in trial for three and a half weeks in Saginaw County. The plaintiff claimed she fell down the stairs at our client’s location, a retail business – and that, as a result of the fall, suffered a traumatic brain injury, miscarriage, post-traumatic epilepsy, hearing loss, tinnitus, depression, anxiety, insomnia, memory loss, and blurred vision. The Court appointed case evaluation panel evaluated the case at $425,000 before trial.
April 2007	Mark Gilchrist drafted and Craig Neckers argued a motion for summary disposition in a legal malpractice case in Wexford County arising out of a divorce representation. The court determined the plaintiff was collaterally estopped from presenting her case to the jury because the claim could have been raised in a previous suit – which we also successfully defended.
October 2006	Jon Vander Ploeg and Bill Henn successfully defeated a plaintiff’s motion for an emergency preliminary injunction to halt a County Road Commission’s right-of-way brush control program. They argued, and the Circuit Court agreed, that based on principles of constitutional law creating and governing the existence of the judicial branch of government, the plaintiffs lacked standing to obtain the relief requested.
October 2006	Richard Kraus received a favorable decision from the Michigan Supreme Court where the firm represented the University of Michigan. In Woodard v Custer, the court held that when a physician sued for malpractice has specialized in a narrower subspecialty area or received a certificate of special qualifications in that field, any expert witness must have the same experience and qualification in the subspecialty. Prior decisions only required experts to practice the same specialty, as opposed to the same subspecialty. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, the case against the director of a subspecialty unit at the University of Michigan Hospital was dismissed.
October 2006	Craig Noland represented a township, the township supervisor, and the township fire chief in defense of a civil lawsuit claiming sexual harassment and retaliatory discharge brought by a former township employee. At the conclusion of the trial, the court rendered a judgment of no-cause of action in favor of all the defendants.
May 2006	Mark Bickel obtained a no-cause verdict on behalf of a no-fault insurance carrier after a trial in October. The plaintiff had received significant injuries following an accident while driving his longtime girlfriend’s car. Mark successfully proved that the insurance policy was void because the girlfriend had made a material misrepresentation by failing to disclose that her boyfriend lived with her, and that the plaintiff was not an innocent third party because his use of the vehicle made him an owner under the No-Fault Act.
May 2006	Karl Butterer received a no-cause jury verdict in federal court for his client township and its police chief against multiple claims of retaliation brought by a township police officer.
May 2006	Mark Gilchrist recently won a breach of contract and unjust enrichment trial on behalf of an individual against a former employer.
May 2006	Richard Kraus recently represented several clients in criminal investigations conducted by the Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Unit and in professional licensing investigations by the Bureau of Health Professions. Following extensive negotiations with the state’s attorneys and investigators, the cases were closed without any action taken against Richard’s client.
May 2006	Richard Kraus and Jack Oostema recently prevailed in a federal appeal on behalf of the State Bar of Michigan. A law school graduate who did not pass the character and fitness screening required for admission to practice law in Michigan filed suit against the State Bar, alleging the acts on which the denial of admission were based were protected by his constitutional free speech and due process rights. Richard and Jack obtained a dismissal of the claim in the federal district court that was affirmed on appeal.
May 2006	Veronica Marsich recently worked with a Michigan hospital that was at risk of losing its Medicare certification as a specialty hospital. Understanding of and compliance with the volumes of Medicare regulations was required to stabilize the hospital’s reimbursement and patient mix in a way that allowed the hospital to maintain its certification and develop a solid business model that will enable the hospital to grow its community presence and service options.
May 2006	Veronica Marsich and Kirk Morgan worked on behalf of a Michigan hospital to develop a model that allowed the hospital and a collection of physician specialists to invest in new technology and bring that technology to a new community of patients. Their design allowed the hospital and physicians to stay on the right side of the complicated collection of fraud and abuse, tax and other regulatory laws that otherwise limit these kinds of arrangements. It also created the right motivation for the parties to partner together to serve the community.
May 2006	Cara Nieboer successfully convinced a Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge to dismiss a medical malpractice claim. Her argument was based on a plaintiff’s repeated failure to comply with discovery requests and court orders demanding that the plaintiff provide answers to discovery.
May 2006	Tom TerMaat and Matt Wikander recently obtained a dismissal for our client, a local retailer, in a slip and fall case. The plaintiff claimed that he had fallen on “black ice” in the parking lot and was injured. The plaintiff alleged that the store had failed to keep its premises safe for its customers. Through an aggressive campaign of discover, Tom and Matt were able to gather evidence on which to base a motion for summary disposition. Their argument was based on the fact that the ice was open and obvious, and that the owner did not have sufficient notice of the allegedly dangerous conditions.
May 2006	Marilyn Tyree, in an intensely litigated wrongful death case, convinced the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court’s denial of summary disposition in favor of her client, the descendant’s landlord. The descendent died 26 hours after sustaining severe burns in an apartment fire. The Court of Appeal agreed that, as a matter of law, the plaintiff was unable to establish that a defect in construction of the apartment proximately caused the fire at issue. The court also rejected the plaintiff’s argument tat the defendant’s failure to obtain an occupancy permit for the apartment rendered the defendant liable.
February 2006	Rachel Roe and Chuck Judson were retained by a northern Michigan governmental agency to conduct a fraud investigation involving government officials. The investigation resulted in criminal charges against two current and one former official. Rachel and Chuck are now assisting our client in pursuing financial recovery of losses resulting from misappropriations of public funds.
February 2006	Chip Behler and Steve Stawski were retained by an LLC created specifically for a large construction project. When it became likely that the LLC was going to lose significant money on the project, one member f the LLC claimed certain contractual rights against the LLC – rights that would have eliminated the member’s share of the losses, and in fact, generated a profit for the member at the additional expense of the LLC. This member also resorted to self-help by removing substantial amounts of cash from the LLC checking account. Through a series of motions Chip and Steve presented to the Court, the LLC was successful in regaining the cash and establishing the member was responsible for its share of project losses. The Court of Appeals recently affirmed that result.
February 2006	Ann-Mary Petroskey and Scott Harvey were retained by a not-for-profit client when the client was assessed the maximum “failure to file” penalties by the IRS. Ann-Mary and Scott were successful in obtaining a complete abatement of those penalties. Ann-Mary advises that the IRS is getting stricter about enforcing IRS rules applicable to charitable organizations.
February 2006	In an effort to recover millions of dollars of damage to blueberry bushes and crops allegedly caused by the application of road salt, several West Michigan blueberry farmers sued their local road commission and the Michigan Department of Transportation. The farmers claimed that their property was taken without the just compensation required to be paid by the Michigan Constitution. Chip Behler successfully procured dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claim after a hearing on their motion for summary disposition. The case against the Michigan Department of Transportation continues.
February 2006	George Bearup continues to successfully represent clients in high-profile, high-value divorce matters in Northern Michigan.
February 2006	Jack Oostema has been named National Coverage Counsel for Professionals Direct Insurance Company a Michigan-based carrier that writes lawyers professional liability policies in 30 or more states.