Archive for the ‘General’ Category

On December 16, 2011, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in favor of Karl Numinen’s client, Mike Nason, by denying the Attorney General’s application for leave to appeal.  The favorable decision was issued just two weeks after Mr. Numinen appeared before the full Court to present oral argument on behalf of his client.

Mr. Nason is a former corrections officer who was denied disability benefits when the State Employee Retirement Board ruled he still had the ability to work at jobs he had before he became a corrections officer.  Mr. Numinen appealed the SERB’s decision and won at the Circuit Court level.  The Attorney General appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed the Circuit Court.  The Attorney General sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.  After oral argument, the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal effectively affirming the decision of the Court of Appeals.

The published decision of the Court of Appeals will make it easier for state employees to receive disability retirement benefits.  To read the Opinion, go to:

http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20101028_c290431_42_158o-290431-final.pdf

Karl Numinen just won a major victory in federal court in Grand Rapids after a week-long civil jury trial.  The trial was covered in a feature story in Michigan Lawyers Weekly and you can read the article by clicking on TjohnE Article LW 10-10-11 .

On Friday, September 23rd, the jury came back with their unanimous verdict in favor of Karl’s client.  Karl defended a Grand Rapids business that hired certain part-time workers as independent contractors.  A group of these former workers filed a federal civil suit claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The issue was whether the workers were properly classified as independent contractors or whether they should have been treated as employees.  The former workers were claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.  Karl won all counts.

Karl successfully argued a custody case before the Michigan Court of Appeals on September 13th.  The Court just issued its written decision affirming the trial court’s award of primary physical custody to Karl’s client, the mother.  The appellate court rejected the father’s claim that the trial court erred when it limited the trial attorneys’ time, awarded primary physical custody to the mother, and ordered the father to pay thousands of dollars of the mother’s attorney fees.  To read the actual appellate court opinion, go to:  http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20110920_c301943_34_301943.opn.pdf

Karl Numinen has been selected for inclusion in the 2011 Super Lawyers publication!  The Michigan Super Lawyers list will be published September 18, 2011 in The New York Times as well as a special magazine edition sent to all attorneys in Michigan.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new website and office building. We look forward to continue serving the Upper Peninsula