The open and obvious doctrine is straightforward: plaintiffs cannot recover for injuries from hazards that a reasonable person could have seen, unless those hazards were unavoidable or especially dangerous. This logic undermines most slip-and-fall claims based on snow and ice. As the Michigan Supreme Court put it (perhaps somewhat sarcastically) inHoffner v. Lanctoe, “Michigan, being…

One facet of a no-fault system like Michigan’s is that it aims to exchange prompt payment of economic damages for the ability to sue for noneconomic damages (except for more serious injuries). Michigan’s no-fault act contains a “stick” (not a carrot) to motivate prompt payment. The act provides that a claimant can recover attorney fees…