Michigan Laws 600.8408 – Parties; representation; request for trial before district court judge; removal; waiver
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(1) An attorney at law, except on the attorney’s own behalf, a collection agency or agent or employee of a collection agency, or a person other than the plaintiff and defendant, except as is otherwise provided in this chapter, shall not take part in the filing, prosecution, or defense of litigation in the small claims division.
(2) A sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation as plaintiff or defendant may be represented by an officer or employee who has direct and personal knowledge of facts in dispute. If the officer or employee who has direct and personal knowledge of facts in dispute is no longer employed by the defendant or plaintiff or is medically unavailable, the representation may be made by that person’s supervisor, or by the sole proprietor, a partner, or an officer or a member of the board of directors of a corporation.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 600.8408
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(3) A county, city, village, township, or local or intermediate school district as plaintiff or defendant may be represented only by an elected or appointed officer or an employee who has direct and personal knowledge of the facts in dispute. If the officer or employee who has direct and personal knowledge of the facts in dispute is no longer an officer or employee of the plaintiff or defendant, the representation may be made by that officer’s successor or that employee’s supervisor, or by a member of the governing body of the county, city, village, township, or local or intermediate school district. In addition, a person may not represent a county, city, village, township, or local or intermediate school district in the small claims division unless authorized to appear in the case by the governing body of the county, city, village, township, or local or intermediate school district.
(4) Before commencement of a trial, the plaintiff or defendant may, upon demand, require that the trial be conducted before a district court judge and not a magistrate, or may remove the case from the small claims division to the general civil division of the district court. If the parties commence a trial of the case in the small claims division, both parties waive all rights mentioned in section 8412.