LexisNexis Practice Guide: Michigan Real Estate Litigation

Chapter 1: James R. Bruinsma a member of McShane & Bowie, P.L.C., Grand Rapids, practices in the areas of commercial and real estate-related litigation. Mr. Bruinsma is admitted to practice in Michigan and Illinois. He represents developers and other landowners in a wide range of contested matters, including litigation relating to zoning and regulatory controls on land use, environmental permitting and administrative review, and federal and state court proceedings adjudicating land use rights. From 1991-1993, Mr. Bruinsma served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert P. Griffin, Michigan Supreme Court. In 1991, Mr. Bruinsma received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School and prior to that attended Middlebury College and received his A.B. degree with highest distinction from the University of Michigan in 1987.

Chapter 2: James Case is a member of Dykema Gossett, PLLC, with more than 30 years’ experience in construction and surety litigation. Jim represents design professionals, contractors, owners and sureties in a wide range of construction and surety related matters. He serves on the Commercial/Construction Arbitration Panel of the American Arbitration Association and also as an AAA mediator in construction disputes. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan; American Bar Association; Surety and Fidelity Claims Institute; National Bond Claims Association; International Association of Defense Counsel—Construction Law and Litigation Committee, and Fidelity and Surety Committee; and the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, and Fidelity and Surety Law Committee. He attended Colgate University and St. John’s University Law School.

Chapter 3: Original Author: Sara G. Lachman is a Member at Miller Johnson in Grand Rapids. She is an experienced civil litigator and has been practicing law since 2004. She is a problem solver with a strong record of success. Ms. Lachman leads disciplined teams known for thorough, imaginative and professional advocacy. Her client work has produced consistently successful results, with outright dismissals, favorable settlements, and wins at trial and on appeal. Her principal area of practice area is in real estate litigation with extensive experience in disputes involving quiet title, restrictive covenants, adverse possession, easement rights, partition actions, street vacations, nuisance and trespass, land contracts, construction claims, agricultural land, environmental contamination, family cottages and more. Ms. Lachman previously served on the State Bar of Michigan's Civil Procedure and Courts Committee and as Chair of the Grand Rapids Bar Association's Litigation Section. She received her law degree cum laude from the University of Michigan Law and received undergraduate degrees magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University and cum laude from Pacific University. Ms. Lachman was honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a 2014 "Women in the Law" and was named the 2015 Athena Young Professional.

Chapter 3: Original Author: Grant E. Schertzing is an Associate at Miller Johnson in Grand Rapids. His principal area of practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions and the negotiation and drafting of leases and other agreements for the purchase, sale and development of real property. He received his law degree summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School and received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Chapter 4: H. Adam Cohen is a founding shareholder of Steinhardt Pesick & Cohen, P.C. in Birmingham, Michigan, where he practices in the areas of eminent domain, condemnation, and property tax litigation. Mr. Cohen is the Chairman of the State Bar of Michigan's Eminent Domain Committee. He regularly represents owners of commercial, office, multi-family, research and development, industrial, agricultural, mobile home, and other properties in litigation throughout the State of Michigan. Mr. Cohen is a past Crain's Detroit Business "40 Under 40" honoree, a regular "Super Lawyers" selection in the field of condemnation, and a past honoree by Best Lawyers as the Detroit area's Eminent Domain & Condemnation Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Cohen graduated from Tulane University, cum laude, in 1989, and from the George Washington University Law School in 1992.

Chapter 4: Jason Long of Steinhardt Pesick & Cohen, P.C., Birmingham, practices in the areas of eminent domain, condemnation, property tax, and other real estate and appellate litigation. He received his B.A. in philosophy and political science with honors from Oakland University, where he received a full academic scholarship, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and studied real estate development at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. After law school, Mr. Long served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Michael F. Cavanagh, Michigan Supreme Court. He has represented both governmental agencies and property owners in eminent domain and condemnation actions involving a wide range of property types, and has done so in trial courts throughout Michigan as well as Michigan's appellate courts.

Chapter 5: James L. Allen is a partner with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. He has written and lectured extensively on mortgage foreclosure, receivership, lender liability and Uniform Commercial Code topics. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan (Phi Beta Kappa), his J.D. from the University of Michigan and his LL.M. from Wayne State University. He was an adjunct professor in Business Law for Walsh College. His master's thesis was Lender Liability: The Cause of Action for Breach of the Implied Obligation of Good Faith. He is licensed in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois where he represents lenders in trial and appellate courts in commercial real estate workouts and foreclosures.

Chapter 5: Scott R. Lesser is a principal at the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. Mr. Lesser received his B.A. degree from Princeton University in 2005 and his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School (cum laude) in 2008. His practice is concentrated on representing financial institutions, special servicers, and private investors in commercial real estate workouts and foreclosures. He is recognized as a "Rising Star" in Michigan Super Lawyers, 2015 to present, and is the co-author of the Michigan chapter on receiverships in Strategies For and Against Distressed Businesses. Mr. Lesser is admitted to practice in Michigan and Ohio.

Chapter 6: Andrew T. Blum of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, PLC, Grand Rapids, practices in the areas of commercial and real estate-related litigation. He is a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. degree in both Government and English. Mr. Blum also received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Blum represents parties in eminent domain and other real estate/mineral interest litigation as well as also specializes in commercial litigation involving the automotive sector and the Uniform Commercial Code. Mr. Blum is the author of Making Sense of the U.C.C. Statute of Frauds which was published by the Michigan State Bar Journal as part of its special 50th Anniversary edition honoring Michigan's adoption of the U.C.C.

Chapter 6: Stanley J. Stek of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, PLC, is a senior equity principal in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group of the Firm and is based in the Grand Rapids office of the Firm. He practices in the areas of general commercial litigation, real estate litigation and eminent domain, with a special experience in condemnation and land use litigation. He is a graduate of Calvin College with a B.A. degree in History and Political Science. Mr. Stek received his law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law where he also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Valparaiso University Law Review. Mr. Stek represents parties in eminent domain and other real estate/mineral interest litigation as well as also specializes in commercial litigation involving the automotive sector and the Uniform Commercial Code. Mr. Stek has presented at various seminars and symposiums and has authored articles in professional publications including FTC Preservation of Consumer Claims and Defenses: Consumer Security or Consumer Fraud 11 Val. U. Law Rev. (1978).

Chapter 7 : Charles N. Ash Jr., of Warner, Norcross & Judd LLP's Grand Rapids office, is a litigator with extensive experience representing businesses in complex contract and tort litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. He has successfully represented global manufacturers, handled several cases with over $100 million at stake and represented two creditors in the city of Detroit's historic bankruptcy case. Mr. Ash received his law degree from Stanford University in 1998.

Chapter 7: Lance Zoerhof of Warner, Norcross & Judd LLP's Grand Rapids office, practices in the areas of commercial and real property litigation. That includes disputes related to mining and oil and gas development, as well as litigation over zoning, easements, boundary lines, leases, restrictive covenants, riparian rights, and other state and federal proceedings deciding rights related to land. Mr. Zoerhof received his law degree from the University of Oregon in 2002.

Chapter 8: Thomas M. Amon of Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, Grand Rapids, practices in the areas of complex commercial and real estate-related litigation. Mr. Amon graduated with honors from Michigan State University in 2005, and graduated summa cum laude from Wayne State University Law School in 2008, where he published a law review note discussing the Michigan Supreme Court's seminal opinion regarding the Great Lakes public trust doctrine, Glass v. Goeckel. Mr. Amon is an active practitioner who represents landowners in a wide range of contested matters, including litigation related to boundary line disputes, landlord/tenant matters, zoning and regulation of land use, property tax appeals, and federal and state court proceedings adjudicating real property related and complex commercial disputes.

Chapter 8: Brian Lang is a partner with Warner Norcross & Judd LLP practicing from both its Grand Rapids and Muskegon offices. Mr. Lang formed and chairs WNJ's Real Estate Litigation Practice Group, serves on the firm's Management Committee, and practices in the areas of real estate and commercial litigation. Mr. Lang graduated with honors from Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University in 1999, and graduated cum laude from Hillsdale College in 1995. His real estate litigation practice extends to all manner of disputes including adverse possession, boundary lines, commercial lease terms, easements, fraudulent transfers, Michigan's Builder's Trust Fund Act, mortgage re-purchase demands, partition, permit disputes and contested cases, quiet title, receivership, riparian rights, zoning, as well as real estate issues that arise in trust and estate proceedings.

Chapter 8: Amber M. Underhill is an associate with Warner Norcross & Judd LLP practicing in the area of intellectual property. She graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 2015 and holds a bachelor's degree from Grand Valley State University. Previously, Amber worked with the University of Notre Dame's Office of General Counsel and served as an intellectual property paralegal with Warner Norcross & Judd prior to attending law school.