Trent B. Collier

02/29/2020
Trent B. Collier
Attorney

Trent B. Collier

Attorney

Trent B. Collier

Summary

Trent’s practice focuses on civil appeals, professional-liability defense, and commercial litigation. He is well-versed in bankruptcy law, and is a great resource when the firm’s clients must defend adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court. Before joining Collins Einhorn, Trent was a partner at another major Detroit-area law firm. He also served as a judicial clerk at the Michigan Supreme Court. He is a frequent author, writing on areas including appellate practice, judicial philosophy, evidentiary issues, constitutional matters, and developments in insolvency law. Trent has successfully defended clients in federal, state, and bankruptcy courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. In addition to his work at Collins Einhorn, Trent was an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Law School for the 2018-19 academic year.


Credentials

Education
  • University of Michigan Law School (J.D. 2003)
  • Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S. 1999)
  • Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A. with honors, 1996)
Admissions
  • State Bar of Michigan
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
Professional Activities
  • Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan
  • State Bar of Michigan
    • Professionalism and Civility Committee
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Michigan Defense Trial Counsel
  • Michigan Legislative Council
    • Michigan Law Revision Commission
Accomplishments
  • Best Lawyers of America®
    • Appellate Practice (2020-2022, 2024)
    • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2022, 2024)
  • Super Lawyers™
    • Appellate Law (2015-2023)
    • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2023)
    • Rising Star (2012-2014)
  • DBusiness® Top Lawyer
    • Appellate Law (2017, 2020, 2022)
  • Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award, University of Michigan Law School (2003)
  • William R. Jentes Scholarship, University of Michigan Law School (2000-2003)
  • Co-Author of “Best Brief,” University of Michigan Law School, Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition (2003)
  • Theta Alpha Kappa (National Honor Society for Religious Studies) (1996)
  • Founder’s Award for Expository Writing, Ohio Wesleyan University (1996)
  • Order of the Coif
  • Honorary Member of Scribes, the Society of Writers on Legal Subjects
  • Phi Beta Kappa
Prominent Outcomes

Professional Liability

Deremo v. TWC & Associates, Inc., unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals (Docket No. 305810, August 30, 2012): Obtained opinion affirming summary disposition in favor of defendant insurance agency. The court held that the agency did not breach its duties to the insured.

Johnson v. Doodson Insurance Brokerage, LLC, 793 F.3d 674 (6th Cir. 2015): Obtained an opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant insurance agency. The court held that the plaintiff could not pursue a negligence or contract claim against another entity’s insurance broker.

General Liability

Bailey v. Nyloncraft, Inc., unpublished opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Docket No. 11-14199, August 28, 2012): Obtained an opinion precluding expert testimony from the plaintiff’s damages expert. The court held that the proposed expert’s economic theories were unreliable.

Lieberman v. American Osteopathic Association, 620 Fed. Appx. 470 (6th Cir. 2015): Obtained an opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant associations. The court held that the associations’ testing processes were not “arbitrary and capricious” and that their grandfathering rules did not violate common-law standards of due process.

Zarembski v Bedrock Management Services, LLC, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals (Docket No. 324795, March 10, 2016): Obtained opinion affirming summary disposition in favor of defendant landlord. The court held that the landlord did not have a duty to prevent criminal attack against plaintiff.

Bankruptcy

In re Chaban, unpublished opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Docket No. 2:14-cv-14559, August 25, 2015): Obtained an opinion affirming order granting summary disposition in favor of defendant, a state-court judge. The district court held that the judge did not violate the automatic stay when she ordered sanctions against a debtor.

Micco Construction Co. v. Brunett (In re Brunett), 394 B.R. 425 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2008): Obtained an opinion in favor of plaintiff in an adversary proceeding. The bankruptcy court held that the debtor was precluded from challenging a state-court default judgment that the plaintiff obtained against the debtor before the debtor filed for bankruptcy.

Commercial Litigation

679637 Ontario Ltd. v. Alpine Sign and Printer Supply, Inc., 758 Fed. Appx. 485 (6th Cir. 2019): Obtained opinion affirming summary judgment in client’s favor. The court held that the plaintiff failed to provide timely notice of the alleged defect. Consequently, the plaintiff could not pursue an implied-warranty claim under Uniform Commercial Code.

Insurance Coverage

Bertram, Inc. v. Citizens Ins. Co. of Am., 657 Fed. Appx. 477 (6th Cir. 2016): Obtained opinion affirming summary judgment in client’s favor. The court held that the defendant-insurer was not required to defend the plaintiff in the underlying lawsuit. It also determined that the underlying lawsuit concerned neither disparagement nor trade-dress infringement.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

The Argument Clinic, Michigan Bar Journal (March 2020)Co-Author of Appellate Practice Report featured in each issue of Michigan Defense Quarterly (2011-present)

Co-Author of Appellate Practice Report featured in each issue of Michigan Defense Quarterly (2011-present)

Five Ways to Get to the Point, Res Ipsa Loquitur, Volume 48 No. 1 (January/February 2019)

Much Ado About Denney, Michigan Lawyers Weekly (a three-part series addressing economic damages in wrongful-death cases)  (Jan. 15, Jan. 29, Feb. 12, 2019)

How to Mend a Broken ‘Harts’, Michigan Lawyers Weekly (April 14, 2015)

Broken ‘Harts’, Michigan Lawyers Weekly (February 12, 2015)

Presented at the MICPA Anti-Fraud Issues and Business Valuation Conference (May 21, 2014)

How Much Are You Worth? Value-of-life testimony and its evidentiary challenges, Claims Management (November 25, 2013)

A Primer for Non-Specialists on Litigating in Chapter 11, in Inside the Minds: Creditors’ Rights in Chapter 11 Cases,2011 ed. (Aspatore, 2011)

Understanding the Overrulings: A Response to Robert Sedler, 56 Wayne Law Review 1761 (with Phillip J. DeRosier) (2011)

Chief Restructuring Officer: A Role Not For the Faint of Heart, Michigan Lawyers Weekly (with Allison R. Bach) (August 24, 2009)

The Nuts and Bolts of Bankruptcy Appeals, 87 Michigan Bar Journal 30 (with Phillip J. DeRosier) (July 2008)

The Strange Life and Troubled Times of Deepening Insolvency, Michigan Lawyers Weekly (with Allison R. Bach) (December 10, 2007)

Contributor, Introducing Evidence at Trial (Third Edition, 2007), Hon. David M. Lawson, Kathleen A. Lang, Ronald S. Longhofer, editors

Note: Revenue Bonds and Religious Education: The Constitutionality of Conduit Financing Involving Pervasively Sectarian Institutions, 100 Michigan Law Review 1108 (2003)

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