Recent impact cases:
- Kushner v. Social Security Administration: This appeal involved the termination of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) of a cognitively impaired child in 1996, which impacted him when his father died in 2006. At that time, the client’s Disabled Adult Child benefit increased above the income limit for Medicaid and he lost his SSI benefits because his assets were too high and no appeal was filed. MPLP and Legal Services of South Central Michigan were able to have the case reopened based on lack of notice to the client. The Appeals Council rendered a partially favorable decision, but did not grant the relief requested. On appeal to the Eastern District court, our Motion for Summary Disposition was granted and the case remanded back to the Administrative Law Judge. In 2024, the court ruled in favor of the client. He was re-enrolled in Medicaid and received a refund of $8,300 in unlawfully withheld disability payments. He is now able to pay for necessary home help services, including respite care.
- In re O.O. Claudio Perez: MPLP co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, the Legal Services Association of Michigan, and the Michigan State Planning Body in support of a parent’s Michigan Supreme Court application challenging termination of parental rights. The amicus raises challenges to the lower court’s findings that the mother, who arrived with her infant son in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor from Guatemala, could not correct the conditions that led to removal of her son when MDHHS failed to provide services that were linguistically/culturally competent. In 2024, MSC adopted arguments made in our amicus and reversed and remanded the trial court to allow time for reasonable efforts to be made by MDHHS to avoid termination, noting that services that had been provided in a language that was not her native tongue were not reasonable or sufficient.
- Blackman v. Millward: MPLP is the lead counsel in this case, co-counseling with Legal Services of South Central Michigan. The appellant is the biological father of a child conceived by criminal sexual misconduct. The Court of Appeals issued a published decision on October 29, 2024 favorable to our client, but the panel found that the trial court erred by not conducting a full evidentiary hearing to determine circumstances of the child’s conception and relying on judicial notice of the Defendant’s convictions because the offense dates were outside of the window in which the child was conceived. While we were preparing for the remand proceeding, the Defendant filed an application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, which stayed the remand proceedings. We filed an answer on January 6, 2025 and filed a cross appeal on the issue of the Court of Appeals’ failure to provide proper guidance to the trial court. RAINN, the largest national advocacy organization representing survivors of rape, abuse, and incest filed an amicus brief on behalf of the client.
- Attorney General v. Eli Lilly: This case, pending before the Michigan Supreme Court, seeks to have the Court overturn Smith v. Globe Life Ins. and Liss v. Lewiston-Richards’ ruling on the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. In Smith and Liss, the MSC interpreted the MCPA exemption provision to apply to a broad category of entities that are regulated. This case raises the issue that these cases were wrongly decided. MPLP, the Legal Services Association of Michigan, and the Michigan State Planning Body joined the State Bar Consumer Law Council in its amicus brief. On April 4, 2025, the Court granted leave to Appeal and has asked for supplemental briefing on the same issues.
- Saunders v. UIA: MPLP co-authored an amicus with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in support of class action litigation arguing that the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) must stop all collection actions for pandemic-era unemployment benefits until it reviewed all requests for a hearing. In 2024, a $55 million settlement was negotiated between UIA and affected parties.
- Moumouni v. Weedal: MPLP filed an amicus brief in coordination with Legal Aid of Western Michigan in a case where the court determined that the CARES Act mandate of at least 30 days notice before filing an eviction for nonpayment of rent applied.
Legislative Advocacy
- MPLP worked on legislation with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, signed into law in January 2025, to allow Administrative Law Judges to hear all pertinent matters and stop the current practice of multiple hearings in the same unemployment claim. The legislation also increases the number of hardship waivers per year, raises the asset limit for overpayment waivers, and removes denial of waiver requests when there is an appeal pending.
- MPLP worked on legislation that classifies unemployment insurance benefits as social welfare benefits which was signed into law in January 2025. MPLP submitted an amicus to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission (UIAC) after it requested submissions on the impact issue of whether unemployment insurance benefits can be categorized as social welfare benefits for purposes of deciding economic hardship in overpayment waiver claims. The UIAC recently ruled, en banc, that unemployment insurance payments are social welfare benefits and cannot be counted when assessing hardship. Language from our amicus was quoted in the decision.
- MPLP worked with national partners from GLAD and UC Davis Law School to improve draft legislation to integrate gender neutral language throughout the Michigan Family Protection Act, which amended the Child Custody Act, Acknowledgement of Paternity Act, Revocation of Paternity Act, and Vital Records Act, among others. The Act went into effect in April 2025.
- MPLP worked with partners to raise awareness of the potential harmful effects of the well-intentioned Kayden’s Law legislative package banning “reunification treatment,” which could have prevented a court from ordering services that would allow a domestic violence survivor a way back into their child’s life after a period of absence, even if that estrangement was caused by the actions of the parent who is the perpetrator of domestic violence.
- MPLP played a critical role in drafting bills that would have prohibited service fees on payday loans from exceeding an annual rate of 36%. MPLP also worked on bills seeking to restrict out-of-state debt collectors, protect more wages, bank account funds, public benefits, vehicles, and homes from seizure by debt collectors, and establish a water affordability program in Michigan. While these bills did not survive the recent lame duck session, they are an important starting point for protecting consumers.
Trainings
- In 2024, MPLP hosted five CORT trainings, two Racial Justice Collaborative trainings, six Roadshow trainings on various substantive legal topics, 52 mini-trainings and seminars, and 22 task force meetings. In total, MPLP trainings, taskforce meetings, and support requests provided information to 2,685 people.