Michigan Supreme Court - Ledford & Associates

Michigan Supreme Court Ruling Upends Medical Malpractice Tolling Precedent

August 10, 2026

In a significant ruling issued last week, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned its 2004 decision in Waltz v. Wyse, reversing a longstanding interpretation of how the state's medical malpractice tolling law applies to wrongful death claims.

Under Michigan law, medical malpractice claims generally must be filed within two years, and plaintiffs are required to provide a notice of intent at least 182 days before filing suit. During that notice period, the statute of limitations is paused, or "tolled."

Wrongful death cases involve additional timing considerations. Generally, a personal representative has two years from the issuance of letters of authority to bring a claim, subject to an overall three-year limit following expiration of the original statute of limitations.

Michigan Supreme Court again limits life without parole

July 30, 2026

The Michigan Supreme Court struck down life without parole sentences for a group of people convicted of felony murder before 1980. The ruling is the latest decision limiting mandatory life based on constitutional protections against cruel or unusual punishment.

In the decision, People v. Langston, the court ruled that imposing Michigan's harshest penalty on people like Edwin Langston — whose mental state was never proven — amounted to cruel or unusual punishment.

Michigan Supreme Court Says It’s Legal To Use Marijuana While On State Level Probation

July 8, 2026

The Michigan Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state judges cannot automatically prohibit people on probation from possessing or using marijuana if that use complies with Michigan law.

The ruling, issued Monday in People v. Hess, overturns lower court decisions that allowed blanket marijuana bans as a standard condition of probation despite Michigan voters legalizing recreational marijuana.

Quiet change throws Michigan cases into limbo: 'It's massive'

April 13, 2026

Barely noticed outside of legal circles, recent rulings have made it far more difficult to bring civil rights and employment claims against state agencies and universities, torpedoing or severely undermining, on purely technical grounds, Michiganders’ claims of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and more.

A May 2023 opinion by the Michigan Supreme Court — Christie v. Wayne State University — essentially shortened the statute of limitations for most lawsuits against the state to one year, down from three.

Then, last July, in Hudson v. Michigan Department of Corrections, a special seven-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals declared Christie retroactive, pulling the legal rug out from under the claims of hundreds of plaintiffs who thought they were following the law when they took their cases to court.

lawsuit over 2024 withheld bills

April 1, 2026

Michigan Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in May for lawsuit over 2024 withheld bills

The Michigan Supreme Court granted a motion for immediate consideration in the court case between the state Senate and the state House of Representatives over nine bills that never reached the governor’s desk after they passed the Legislature at the end of the 2024 session.

Michigan Sex Offender Registry

October 3, 2024

A judge has struck down a key part of Michigan's sex offender registry requirement that thousands of people stay on the list for life, saying it is unconstitutional.

About 17,000 people who were expecting to be on the registry for 25 years suddenly faced a lifetime sanction after lawmakers amended the law in 2011.

High court affirms Michigan's plan to increase minimum wage

September 20, 2024

Michigan’s $10.33 hourly minimum wage should increase to $12.48 an hour on Feb. 21, the Michigan Supreme Court said in a Wednesday order that clarified the timeline for a phase-in of a $15 minimum wage.

The order came after the high court majority on July 31 ruled a strategy used to curb minimum wage and paid sick leave ballot initiatives was unconstitutional and that the minimum wage increase should be phased in starting Feb. 21, 2025.

How we got here: Michigan’s minimum wage

August 29, 2024

How we got here: Michigan’s minimum wage and pay for tipped workers set for drastic changes

The case eventually made its way to the Michigan Supreme Court. On July 31, in a 4-3 ruling,the highest court in the state ordered that both ballot initiatives be reinstated as originally adopted.

The adopt and amend strategy “violated the people’s constitutionally guaranteed right to propose and enact laws through the initiative process,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote in the majority opinion

Victory to people trying to recoup cash from foreclosures

July 31, 2024

The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday that its 2020 decision stopping local governments from keeping cash windfalls from the sale of foreclosed homes can be applied retroactively, meaning that hundreds of millions of dollars could potentially be returned to people who lost properties over unpaid taxes.

For years, counties kept profits from the sale of foreclosed homes or land — even if the leftover cash far exceeded the amount of unpaid property taxes.

The Michigan Supreme Court threw out a fleeing and eluding case.

July 24, 2024

The Michigan Supreme Court threw out a fleeing and eluding case. What it means for policing

Even if you think police are acting unlawfully, fleeing from police or evading detainment can be dangerous. Know your rights and if you think police are acting incorrectly, to record the interaction and stick to a script. Indicate that you are not consenting to a search and let the officers know you will not speak except with an attorney,” he said. “You have to make it clear that, if you believe that you are being arrested, that you say, ‘I want my attorney.'”

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Tag: Michigan Supreme Court