Answer
The formal written response a defendant files after being served with a complaint. The answer admits or denies each allegation and raises any affirmative defenses th...
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Michigan Legal Glossary
Plain-language definitions of Michigan legal terms, statutes, and court procedures for injury, No-Fault, civil rights, wrongful death, and related claims.
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What is a legal glossary for Michigan residents? A Michigan legal glossary is a plain-language reference guide that defines the legal terms, statutes, and court procedures Michigan residents are most likely to encounter after an injury, accident, or civil rights violation. Unlike generic legal dictionaries, a Michigan-specific glossary accounts for state laws like the No-Fault Act (MCL 500.3101 et seq.), the Government Tort Liability Act (MCL 691.1401 et seq.), the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (MCL 37.2101 et seq., including employment protections in MCL 37.2201 and MCL 37.2202), and Michigan Court Rules (MCR) that govern how cases are filed, litigated, and resolved in Michigan courts.
A clear, plain-English glossary of Michigan's most important legal terms.
Legal language can feel like a wall between you and the information you need. This glossary tears that wall down.
- 11Categories
- 221Plain-language terms
- 78+Statute citations
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Type a Michigan statute, doctrine, or term — search loads only when you use it. Every term is also available on the static category pages below.
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Glossary Categories
01 General Legal Process and Court Terms Pleadings, motions, deadlines, and how a case moves through court. 58 terms 02 Personal Injury Law Negligence, comparative fault, premises liability, and the doctrines that decide who pays. 33 terms 03 Michigan No-Fault Auto Insurance Law PIP, allowable expenses, the tort threshold, mini-tort, and post-2019 reform. 31 terms 04 Insurance Terms Bad faith, declarations, IME, subrogation, UM/UIM, and the contract language behind every claim. 17 terms 05 Civil Rights Law Section 1983, Monell, qualified immunity, and the tools that hold officials accountable. 26 terms 06 Michigan Governmental Immunity The Government Tort Liability Act, its narrow exceptions, and the 120-day notice rule. 7 terms 07 Workers' Compensation Wage-loss benefits, exclusive remedy, intentional-tort exception, and on-the-job injuries. 10 terms 08 Wrongful Death Survival vs. wrongful death, who can recover, and how the Wrongful Death Act distributes proceeds. 5 terms 09 Damages Economic, non-economic, exemplary, and the caps Michigan places on recovery. 12 terms 10 Evidence and Discovery Depositions, interrogatories, spoliation, expert witnesses, and the rules that win or lose cases. 13 terms 11 Michigan Courts and Jurisdiction District, circuit, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court, and the rules that decide where a case is heard. 9 terms
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One Definition From Each Category
Assumption of Risk
A defense that argues the plaintiff voluntarily encountered a known danger and therefore cannot hold the defendant liable. In Michigan, assumption of risk has largel...
Allowable Expenses
Under MCL 500.3107(1)(a), No-Fault PIP benefits cover "all reasonable charges incurred for reasonably necessary products, services, and accommodations for an injured...
Bad Faith (First-Party)
In Michigan, a first-party bad faith claim arises when an insurer unreasonably delays or denies payment of benefits owed under the insured's own policy. Michigan doe...
42 U.S.C. § 1983
The primary federal law that creates a cause of action for individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated by a person acting under "color of state law." ...
Governmental Immunity
The general rule in Michigan that governmental agencies (state and local governments, and their employees acting within the scope of their employment) are immune fro...
Average Weekly Wage (AWW)
The baseline for calculating workers' compensation wage loss benefits. AWW is generally calculated by averaging the employee's weekly earnings over the 52 weeks prio...
Beneficiaries (Wrongful Death)
Under Michigan's Wrongful Death Act (MCL 600.2922), damages recovered in a wrongful death claim are distributed to the deceased's surviving spouse, children, descend...
Cap on Non-Economic Damages
Michigan places a statutory cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases under MCL 600.1483. The cap is periodically adjusted for inflation. Standard cas...
Admissible Evidence
Evidence that meets the legal requirements for presentation at trial under the Michigan Rules of Evidence (MRE). Admissibility depends on relevance (MRE 401), the ab...
36th District Court
Michigan's busiest district court, located in Detroit (Wayne County). Hears misdemeanor criminal cases, civil cases up to $25,000, and small claims cases. One of the...
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