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

Important change to MCR 2.106, updating the definition of “newspaper” for notice by publication

April 21, 2026

The Michigan Supreme Court has recently issued several administrative orders affecting procedure, including an important change to MCR 2.106, updating the definition of “newspaper” for notice by publication .

This change takes effect May 1, 2026.

MPA: Public notice requirements are essential

April 17, 2026

Public notices often include information about budgets, financial reports and municipal projects that provide insight into the programs and projects that use taxpayer dollars.

These notices are important transparency requirements that help keep the public aware of the actions of elected officials and allow them to weigh in on decisions that can directly affect property taxes, utility costs or business expenses.

Legal notices also affect taxpayers’ lives with information about foreclosures, estate settlements and changes in local laws, which can alert residents to potential impacts on their property values and protect residents from scams and fraud that could cause them long-term financial damage.

Michigan's new Anti-SLAPP law: a practical guide for business counsel

April 15, 2026

Consider a scenario: a Michigan business owner testifies at a township planning meeting against a proposed development. Weeks later, the developer files a defamation suit. The suit is filed not to win, but to bury the business owner in legal fees and send a message to anyone else thinking about speaking up. Before December 2025, that business owner had no expedited way out. Now they do.

Just who are “the people”?

April 14, 2026

The Second Amendment states that “[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” As both critics and supporters of the amendment recognize, little of that language is particularly straightforward. What is a “well regulated Militia,” and how does that apply to today’s arguments over gun control? What constitutes “Arms,” and when is keeping and bearing them “infringed”?

Amid that morass, one phrase that would seem (at least on the surface) a good deal more intuitive is “the people.” After all, doesn’t the people consist of, well, everyone? The answer is … not exactly. So who exactly are “the people” that may possess firearms in the first place? And how might this play into the court’s future decisions on the Second Amendment?