In the first case, Estate of Mark E. Patrick v. Wendy Freedman, Wendy had relinquished all claims she had to Mark’s life insurance as part of their divorce judgment. However, Mark never changed the beneficiary designation on his life insurance policy. When he died, the plan administrator properly and lawfully paid the proceeds to Wendy...Read More

As you know, I’m a big advocate of succession planning, and have tweeted, posted on my social media accounts, and blogged about this topic here and here. However, I still find that well over 75% of businesses in Detroit have failed to implement a comprehensive succession plan. That’s why I was excited to talk to...Read More

Benteler Automotive Corporation v. Wellington Industries, Inc.: This case stresses the importance of a well-crafted settlement agreement. More than 95% of all lawsuits filed never go to trial, they’re usually dismissed or settled out of court. Of course, a settlement is not always the perfect resolution, but an even worse resolution is when the settlement...Read More

Let’s take a look at a Michigan case of an ex-employer enforcing a non-competition agreement. This one may hit close to home as it involved two local swim schools, Goldfish Swim School and Aqua-Tots.  I’m sure you’ve heard of at least one of them, or noticed them popping up everywhere.  They’re very popular indoor swim schools that focus...Read More

All businesses, especially those in the service industry, struggle with distinguishing their business and services from those of competitors. Scott McKain, tackles this issue in, Create Distinction: What to Do When “Great” Isn’t Good Enough to Grow Your Business. Scott is a leading expert on business and professional distinction, the founder of the Ultimate Customer...Read More

Those silly warranty provisions. You see them all the time in contracts where a seller of goods or services has language, usually in ALL CAPS AND BOLD, that essentially says “yea, I sold this this stuff, but I’m not promising that it really does what it’s supposed to do or what you want it to...Read More

I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the O’Keefe Middle Market Forum where O’Keefe Advisors provided the results of its annual survey of middle market companies. The survey focused on recapping 2016 and also looking ahead for 2017. There were a number of interesting items that came out of the survey I think you’ll be interested in....Read More

Rubin Trevino hired an attorney to sue Lee Siler and Saginaw County, for injuries Trevino suffered in an automobile accident with Siler (who was driving a truck while working for Saginaw County). Trevino’s attorney urged him to settle the case for the amount awarded at mediation, $100,000. Trevino resisted, saying he wanted more information about...Read More

Entrepreneurship doesn’t just describe business owners, it can describe adventure travelers as well.  As I read AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller (link to book here), I couldn’t help but think his thru-hike from Georgia to Maine was a true entrepreneurial endeavor. Most dictionaries define entrepreneur as one who “by risk and initiative...Read More

Number 13 on my great big list of books I’m reading this year is Simon Sinek’s Start with Why:  How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.  It is intended to expand on his 18 minute Ted Talk, one of the top ten most watched talks of all time.  Instead , it’s a rambling repetitious repository...Read More