Over the past twenty years, Resnick Law has earned a reputation as an aggressive litigation firm. Our attorneys have successfully negotiated and resolved thousands of legal disputes for its clients, yet stand ready to advocate on behalf of any client should it be necessary to try a case before a judge or jury.  The following is a representative sample of cases Resnick Law, P.C. has handled and the results that were achieved through the skill and dedication of our attorneys:

Orley Enterprises vs Tri-Pointe, Inc., 206 Mich App 614, 522 NW2d 896 (1994)
This is an important case in the contract world because it stands for the Black Letter Law that “contractual language is interpreted according to its plain meaning.”  After winning the case in the trial court, Nathan Resnick also won the case on appeal for Tri-Pointe. The Court of Appeals held that the business purchase agreement and the promissory note were part of the same transaction. Therefore, the seller’s demand for return of the business, as allowed under a default provision of the purchase agreement was an election of remedies precluding a separate action to recover on the promissory note. Orley Enterprises could not sue Tri-Pointe for anything more.

York International v Sayo, 2008 Mich. App. LEXIS 662
Resnick Law represented a general contractor for a large hotel in Southfield after the owner stopped paying everyone, including our client. There were numerous liens filed against the hotel, which triggered a foreclosure action with close to 20 different parties. After Resnick Law settled successfully for our client, the case continued only against York International (who was later bought by Johnson Controls). The Plaintiff alleged that one of York’s 300 ton air conditioning units on the hotel rooftop malfunctioned; pipes burst and hundreds of gallons of water leaked down 20 floors causing tremendous damage to the hotel, forcing it to shut down. York’s attorney came to Nathan Resnick, asking him to co-try the case with her.

Nate agreed and co-tried the lawsuit for three weeks. The Plaintiff requested a verdict for $42 million. Mr. Resnick successfully reduced plaintiff’s damages claim to approximately $1.3 million, which was approximately 3% of the verdict requested by the Plaintiff. The case went up to the Michigan Court of Appeals and resulted in a complete win. The verdict was completely wiped out; York did not have to pay anything and was awarded $300,000 in attorney fees.

Volkswagen and Audi Warranty Extension Litigation
Resnick Law, P.C. represented and assisted in the representation of claimants in a multi-district class action lawsuit against Volkswagen and Audi due to oil sludge and coking deposits forming in the engines of certain makes and models of Volkswagen and Audi vehicles. The case was successfully settled.

The Settlement allowed all current and former owners and lessees of Volkswagen Passat vehicles (model years 1998-2004) and Audi A4 and A4 Cabriolet vehicles (model years 1997-2004) involved in the lawsuit to request reimbursement for oil sludge related engine repairs, engine replacements, certain other reasonable associated expenses, and reimbursement for the last two required oil changes.

Current owners and lessees also received an enhanced and extended oil sludge warranty, a $25.discount off the price of an oil and filter change on their vehicle and revised oil maintenance recommendations. The settlement was valued at an estimated $232 million. Approximately 480,000 vehicles distributed in the United States were included.

RESTRUCTURING
For a number of years, Resnick Law represented a major residential builder and developer on land acquisition matters, financing development issues and in litigation.  When the client, as well as its principal officer and director, were sued by a national bank for more than $52 million, we were called upon to provide a defense.

Lawsuits were pending in four different county courts seeking to both foreclose on real property located within each jurisdiction and to recover monetary damages. We were able to convince the bank and its attorneys that the litigation as postured would likely drag on for years and cost both sides hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. The focus then shifted from litigation to negotiation and we were able to negotiate a settlement whereby our clients’ individual liability was limited to a fraction of the total amount sought by the bank.

PROBATE LITIGATION
Following the death of an elderly, childless, widower, Resnick Law was retained to represent the only living heirs in an estate contest. A neighbor of the deceased sought to have an unfunded trust admitted to probate as the deceased’s last will and testament.

Through discovery, we were able to determine that the neighbor had received a “gift” of almost $200,000.00 from the decedent within a relatively short period of time prior to his death. On behalf of our clients we were able to successfully negotiate a six figure settlement in which the neighbor returned the “gift” to the actual heirs, plus paid damages for her fraud.

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
A client of the firm purchased an undeveloped tract of land with intentions of dividing the parcel and then building large homes on the estate-sized lots. After initially receiving some level of cooperation from the local municipality, the client was met with roadblock after roadblock.

Litigation was instituted seeking approval of the client’s proposed use of the property under the Michigan Land Division Act, which was hotly contested by the municipality. After litigation and multiple appeals, we were able to negotiate a successful resolution on behalf of the client where it obtained the land division it sought as well as the parcel identification numbers required by statute.

CONSTRUCTION ATTORNEY MALPRACTICE
A client brought a legal malpractice claim against its longstanding former attorneys arising out of a multi-million dollar highway project.  The former attorneys had failed to timely file a seven figure claim for additional compensation pursuant to the terms of their contracts.

The trial court initially dismissed the case, and we were able to successfully argue in the Court of Appeals that the dismissal was in error.  When the case was remanded to the trial court we conducted extensive discovery to prepare the case for a court-ordered case evaluation.  The case resolved shortly thereafter for a great settlement in favor of our client.

TRESPASS
After proceeding through well over one year of contentious litigation while being represented by another law firm, a client retained Resnick Law to represent them through the conclusion of the litigation.  The case involved a trespass onto the clients’ vacant land in Macomb County as part of a wetland mitigation project.

Before the clients were advised of the ongoing trespass, over one hundred trees were cut down from the property. Although the clients had purchased the property many years ago with intentions of developing it for residential construction, testing during the course of litigation revealed the presence of wetlands on a significant portion of the property.

Recognizing that the development value of the real property was less than originally anticipated, we were able to successfully negotiate a resolution of the litigation that required the defendant to purchase the property at more than its fair market value.