Litigation Defenders is a blog designed to keep readers up to date on new, significant court cases, legislation and regulatory changes impacting commercial property owners, retailers, restaurants and their insurance providers. This blog is intended to share best practices for mitigating commercial risk, to examine related trends in the law and to review new and proposed legislation and to explore various other areas of interest to readers.

In addition, the blogs contributors focus on specific liability issues involving liquor sales; alleged slip, trip and falls related to premises conditions, security guard activities; falling merchandise; consumer protection act disputes, product liability, food and beverage service liability, as well as the tender of defense and indemnity claims. 

Please note that this blog is not intended to provide legal advice, and the discussions contained herein should not be applied to any fact-specific situation. Always consult an attorney directly to address any specific legal questions or needs you may have.

Meet the Editors

Litigation Defenders is published by Plunkett Cooney’s Tort & Litigation Practice Group under the direction of partners and blog co-editors Justin J. Hakala and Brian T. McGorisk. 

A former plaintiff's attorney, Justin knows how to win on both sides of litigation. He now applies his unique perspective of dispute resolution to his role as co-editor of the Litigation Defenders blog. Justin, who is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, also has the distinction of being the person who literally wrote the book on "Product Liability in Michigan." His practice includes medical malpractice, nursing home and long term care claims and medical device litigation.

Brian’s busy litigation practice includes a host of practice areas, ranging from financial services liability to premises liability to various aspects of transportation law. A partner in the firm’s Flint, Michigan office, he works closely with his clients to keep them informed about the ever changing legal landscape, and he has successfully resolved countless complex and multi-million dollar cases in state and federal court.