On March 27, 2025, in Kircher v. Boyne USA, Inc., the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in contracts under Michigan law and also provided guidance on the unilateral discretion necessary to trigger a breach of contract for violation of the covenant. Kircher and Boyne USA (“Boyne”) entered into 2014 and 2019 settlement...
Who construction contractors contract with is important. Say it three times fast. While the Michigan Construction Lien Act (CLA) affords protection and lien rights to contractors performing improvements to real property, so too does it have limits on these protections. One such limit, and its implications on the circuit court’s subject matter jurisdiction, was recently tested in the...
Authored By: Stephen McKenney and Lucy Budreau On December 7, 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued its for-publication opinion in International Outdoor, Inc v SS Mitx, LLC, et al. In it, the Court provided binding guidance concerning the evidence required for relief from judgment based on fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct of an adverse party, as well as the availability of...
Authored By: Kenneth F. Neuman and Nicholas Swider The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is, for all intents and purposes, old news. The federal statute was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act on January 1, 2021 with the goal of protecting U.S. economic prosperity combatting occurrences of money laundering, racketeering, terrorist financing, corruption, and...
Altior Law is excited to announce that Lucy Budreau has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Lucy earned her Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law and received her Bachelor of Arts in International/Global studies from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Altior, Lucy practiced at a large...
Altior Law attorneys Stephen McKenney and Kenneth Neuman recently prevailed in an appeal of a jury verdict entered in favor of Altior Law’s client, Lamar Advertising of Michigan, Inc. As discussed in the lead blog article, on December 7, 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued its for-publication opinion in International Outdoor, Inc. v Lamar Advertising of Michigan, Inc. In it, the Court...
Altior is proud to announce that its partner, Stephen McKenney, has been appointed to serve as the Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association Circuit Court Committee. As Chair, Steve serves at the helm of the Circuit Court Committee comprised of members of the Oakland County bench and bar with the mission of working together on matters of mutual concern relating to court operations to...
Altior Law partner Jennifer Grieco recently served as a panelist and speaker in events hosted by the Eastern District of Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Oakland County Bar Association, and the Women Officials Network. Jennifer, who currently serves as the Chair of the State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, spoke on the strategic use of ADR at the...
Authored By: Kenneth Neuman and Stephen McKenney You have likely seen language to the following effect in a lending instrument: “Borrower agrees to pay the maximum legal interest rate if it is determined that the other contractual terms impose an illegal interest rate.” Such “usury savings clauses” are akin to a blue pencil rule with the aim of permitting a court finding an interest...
Authored By: Jennifer Grieco and Nicholas Swider That collateral estoppel can preclude subsequent litigation of an issue decided in a prior action is unremarkable. Less conventional is whether issue preclusion can apply within a single cause of action, rather than in a later dispute. This, in fact, was an issue of first impression in Michigan decided in the for-publication...
