Michigan Laws Making News

What Laws Are Impacting Grand Rapids Area Residents

Ledford & Associates

With over 20 years of experience in the legal profession Paul Ledford cares about you and your legal needs.

Law In The News

Governor signs bill to ban cell phones from K-12 classrooms in Michigan

February 10, 2026

The new laws call for districts to create action plans to keep kids off their phones, except for emergencies and academic use. Exact details of what policies have to look like were left up to the individual school systems.

Seventh Circuit chickens out of $50 million poultry settlement brokered over email

February 6, 2026

The Pilgrim’s settlement is just one part of the multidistrict litigation that kicked off in 2016 with food service distributer Maplevale Farms suing poultry farms and chicken product producers over purported price fixing of “broiler chickens” — a chicken bred to gain lots of weight very fast.
Over the years, several bulk purchasers of the broiler chicken product like Walmart, Kraft Heinz and Nestle joined the suit and the case ballooned with over 100 associated lawsuits and more than 7,400 filings.

Lift of deer baiting ban passes State House, headed to Senate

February 5, 2026

A bill to reverse the ban just passed the Michigan House. Supporters argue that deer are naturally herd animals and gather in large numbers regardless.

With growing deer populations in the lower peninsula, the lift on baiting could help with hunting success. That is key because hunting is the main way the state manages deer herds.

H-1B Lottery Process Opens March 4 With New Weighted Selection

February 3, 2026

US employers can enter workers in the annual H-1B lottery from March 4-19, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday, the first time odds of selection will be weighted based on wages and seniority.

USCIS finalized regulations in December that will give workers greater chances of selection for 85,000 H-1B slots according to which of four wage levels they’re assigned to. The Trump administration has said the rule will prioritize the most high skilled and highly paid foreign workers.