Commercial disputes, fiduciary litigation, partnership and shareholder actions, business fraud, and breach of contract matters — tried in state and federal court.
The firm represents business owners, investors, fiduciaries, and creditors in the full range of commercial disputes that arise outside the bankruptcy context. The common thread is financial complexity: matters where the outcome turns not only on contested facts, but on the ability to trace money, structure, and conduct with precision.
Closely held businesses generate the most bitter litigation in commercial law. The firm represents minority and majority owners in shareholder oppression claims, member disputes in LLCs, partnership dissolutions, derivative actions, and business divorces. Relief sought ranges from court-ordered buyouts to full judicial dissolution of the entity, with forensic accounting and business valuation as recurring features of the work.
Fiduciary claims arise whenever one party holds power over the property or decisions of another — directors, officers, trustees, managing members, partners, and agents. The firm prosecutes and defends breach of fiduciary duty claims with an emphasis on self-dealing, misappropriation of opportunity, and failure to disclose material information. These claims often travel together with accounting actions and requests for equitable relief.
The firm handles claims of fraud in the inducement, silent fraud, innocent misrepresentation, and related tort theories in the business context — including cases involving distressed acquisitions, misrepresented financial statements, and concealed liabilities. Representation often includes coordinated discovery across multiple parties and jurisdictions.
General breach-of-contract litigation is the backbone of any commercial practice. The firm handles disputes arising from supply agreements, distribution contracts, services agreements, commercial leases, franchise disputes, and financing arrangements — in both state court and the Business Court divisions of the Michigan Circuit Courts.
The firm has obtained multiple successful jury verdicts in business litigation. When the matter requires it, Patrick tries the case — this is not a firm that files complaints and waits for settlement. Appellate work is handled in coordination with trial work, with briefs filed before the Michigan Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Commercial litigation is often described as dry. It is not. The facts are almost always a story about trust — how it was established, how it was broken, and what it is worth.
The firm handles new matters on a consultative basis. Call the office, or reach us through the contact form on our main page.