Courts in Michigan

The judicial branch in Michigan runs on a single ladder with a few specialized rungs. At the top sits the Michigan Supreme Court, the court of last resort for questions of state law. Below it works the Court of Appeals, the intermediate court that hears most appeals brought from the trial level. The everyday work of Michigan courts happens in three trial benches: Circuit Courts, District Courts, and Probate Courts. A separate Court of Claims handles civil suits against the state, and it is housed within the Court of Appeals. Knowing how these pieces connect tells you where a dispute starts, which judge will hear it, and how far the case can climb on appeal.

Michigan's highest court chooses most of the cases it agrees to hear. A party who loses in the Court of Appeals files an application for leave to appeal, and the justices of the Michigan Supreme Court decide whether the question deserves full review. The court also issues the rules that govern practice across all Michigan courts, from how you caption a motion to the deadlines that control an appeal. When the justices rule on a contested point of law, that holding binds every trial judge in the state. Its published opinions shape how Circuit Courts read a statute, how District Courts manage a crowded docket, and how Probate Courts weigh a contested guardianship. Because it controls the rules of procedure, a change from this court can reshape deadlines and motion practice statewide.

Appeals from the trial benches land in the Court of Appeals. It reviews decisions that come up from the Circuit Courts and from the Court of Claims. Most appeals arrive as appeals of right, which means the losing side gets a guaranteed first look. Others come by application for leave, where a panel decides whether the matter is worth taking. Panels of judges sit together and vote, so a single trial ruling gets more than one set of eyes. Because the Court of Claims lives inside the Court of Appeals, suits against state agencies, the state itself, and its officers follow a path that differs from an ordinary county lawsuit. That design keeps claims against the government in one forum rather than scattered among trial courts spread across the counties.

Circuit Courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction, and they carry the heaviest matters. They hear felony prosecutions, civil suits above the amount that caps the lower bench, divorce and custody through the Family Division, and appeals from some administrative agencies and from the District Court. Each circuit covers a single county or a cluster of smaller counties, so the courthouse you walk into depends on where the events happened or where a party lives. Judges assigned to the Family Division take divorce, child support, personal protection orders, and juvenile delinquency. Money cases that exceed the District Court's ceiling belong here, including major contract fights, business disputes, and serious injury claims. This is the bench where most jury trials happen in Michigan courts, and a circuit judge can also grant injunctions and other equitable relief the lower bench cannot.

District Courts handle the higher volume, lower stakes side of the system. They take civil claims up to a capped amount set by statute, landlord tenant disputes, land contract forfeitures, traffic citations, and the opening stages of felony cases, including the arraignment and the preliminary examination. A felony usually begins in the District Court and then moves up to the Circuit Court once a judge finds probable cause and binds the defendant over. Small claims run through a division of the District Court with relaxed procedure, no lawyers arguing the hearing, and a fast decision. Because these courts sit close to where people live, they also run misdemeanor arraignments, set bond, and take pleas in the everyday cases that fill a county's calendar. For many residents of the state, these are the Michigan courts they will ever actually stand in.

Probate Courts carry a narrower but deep list of subjects. They supervise decedents' estates, the proving of wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, and involuntary mental health commitments. In many counties the Probate Court and the Family Division coordinate closely, because one family may carry a guardianship, a minor's estate, and a custody fight at the same time. Some smaller counties combine trial functions to share judges and staff, so the name on the courtroom door may cover more than one role. Contested will disputes, fiduciary accountings, and petitions to appoint a successor guardian all land on this docket, and the judge often manages a file for years. The rule holds across Michigan courts: the subject of your case, not the building, decides which bench owns it.

Judges reach the bench by election here, and the Governor fills a midterm vacancy by appointment until the next scheduled election. Once a complaint is filed, the clerk assigns the case to a judge, often through a blind draw so no party can pick a favorable one. That judge normally keeps the case from the first filing all the way through judgment, the one judge, one case practice most trial courts use. When a judge has a conflict, the matter is reassigned to another, who inherits the full record, so a change late in the case rarely resets the schedule. Parties keep a limited right to disqualify a judge for cause, plus a narrow chance to remove one without stating cause, both governed by the court rules.

Electronic filing has spread through MiFILE, the statewide platform the judiciary adopted. In counties that have turned it on, lawyers and self represented filers submit documents online, pay the fees, and receive stamped copies back without a drive to the clerk's counter. The rollout has been gradual, so some counties still accept paper while others now require electronic submission, and you should check the local court's own page before you file anything. Some courts also publish local administrative orders that change filing steps, so the safest move is to read both the statewide rule and the county's posting. Public access runs through online case search and the register of actions, though sealed and confidential files, such as many juvenile and mental health records, stay off public view. Hearings are generally open to anyone, and many Michigan courts now stream or record proceedings so the public can watch from a distance. With the structure clear, the practical question comes next: how a civil case travels through these benches from the first complaint to a final, enforceable judgment.

The Michigan courts are structured in tiers, with district courts handling civil claims under twenty-five thousand dollars and misdemeanor criminal offenses within their jurisdiction. Circuit courts within the Michigan courts hear felony criminal cases, civil disputes exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, and appeals originating from lower district court decisions. Family matters including divorce, child custody, and juvenile proceedings fall to the family division of the Michigan courts operating inside each circuit court. The Michigan courts include a Court of Appeals that reviews final judgments from circuit and probate courts before matters may reach the state Supreme Court. Retaining counsel familiar with the specific division of the Michigan courts hearing your matter helps ensure proper filing, adherence to deadlines, and effective procedural strategy.

A civil case in Michigan courts starts with a choice about which door to use. The dollar value of the claim, the kind of relief you want, and where the parties or events sit all steer you toward one trial bench over another. Small disputes go to the District Court; larger money claims and requests for equitable relief go to the Circuit Court. Get the forum wrong and you can lose months, because Michigan courts will transfer or dismiss a case filed in the wrong place. So the first task is matching the claim to the court before a single filing fee is paid.

Subject matter jurisdiction in the civil trial system splits mainly by amount. District Courts hear money claims up to a capped amount set by statute, and Circuit Courts take everything above that ceiling along with cases seeking an injunction, title to land, or other equitable orders. The small claims division of the District Court handles the smallest disputes under a separate cap, again fixed by statute, with a stripped down procedure. A party in small claims gives up the right to a lawyer in the room and the right to a jury, and in exchange gets a quick, cheap hearing. The line matters, because filing above a court's limit forces a transfer and filing below it in the wrong division wastes the fee. If you want those rights back, you can move the case to the regular District Court docket. These divisions let Michigan courts sort routine disputes from the ones that need full process.

Jurisdiction tells you which kind of court can hear the case; venue tells you which county. Venue usually rests where a defendant lives or does business, or where the injury or the transaction occurred. For a car crash, that often means the county of the collision or the county where the defendant resides. For a contract, it may be where the deal was signed or performed. Choosing among proper venues is a tactical decision, because juries, motion practice, and typical timelines differ from county to county across the state. A defendant who thinks the plaintiff picked an improper or inconvenient county can move to change venue, and the judge weighs the statute and the convenience of witnesses. Picking a sound venue at the start avoids that fight.

The case opens when the plaintiff files a complaint and pays the fee, or asks for a waiver based on indigency. The complaint states the facts, the legal claims, and the relief sought. Next comes service of process, the formal delivery of the summons and complaint to each defendant. Michigan courts require personal service or an approved substitute, and the summons carries an expiration date, so a plaintiff who sits on service can watch the case die. Service by mail, by a process server, or by publication when a defendant cannot be found each carries its own proof requirements, and a defective return of service can undo everything that follows. A defendant then files an answer, admitting or denying each allegation and raising affirmative defenses, or files a motion attacking the complaint. Miss the deadline to answer and the plaintiff can seek a default, which can harden into a default judgment if nothing is done to set it aside.

Once the pleadings close, the case moves into discovery, the exchange of information that fills in the facts. Parties send interrogatories, demand documents, ask for admissions, and take depositions under oath. The trial courts run discovery under the court rules, and a scheduling order sets the dates for completing it, naming experts, and filing dispositive motions. Disputes over what must be produced go to the judge on a motion to compel, and a party that hides evidence can face sanctions. Discovery is where most cases are actually won or lost, because the record built here decides whether a claim survives summary disposition. Both sides also weigh settlement as the costs climb.

Before trial, either side can ask the judge to decide the case or narrow it through a motion for summary disposition. The moving party argues that the undisputed facts entitle it to judgment, or that the other side lacks evidence to support an element of its claim. If a genuine factual dispute remains, the judge sends the case to trial; if not, the judge rules as a matter of law. Timing matters here, because a motion filed after the scheduling deadline may be refused. Michigan courts also push parties toward alternative dispute resolution, and many county programs order case evaluation or mediation before a trial date is set. A rejected case evaluation award can carry cost consequences, which gives both sides a reason to settle.

A civil trial can be tried to a jury or to the judge alone, depending on whether a party demanded a jury and paid the jury fee. The plaintiff carries the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, a lower bar than the criminal standard. After opening statements, each side calls witnesses and offers exhibits, then closes with argument. Objections during testimony preserve issues for appeal, so trial counsel watches the record as closely as the witness. The judge instructs the jury on the law, and the jury returns a verdict; in a bench trial the judge issues findings of fact and conclusions of law. Trials here move on the assigned judge's calendar, and adjournments happen, so a firm date can still slip. Once the verdict lands, the prevailing party prepares a proposed judgment for the judge to sign.

Entry of the judgment starts new clocks. The losing side has a set window to move for a new trial or to appeal to the Court of Appeals, and interest runs on the amount owed. A money judgment does not collect itself. The winner enforces it through garnishment of wages or bank accounts, liens on real property, and, in some cases, seizure of assets, all under procedures the court rules and statutes lay out. Michigan courts can hold a debtor in contempt for ignoring a proper order to appear and disclose assets. Fees, deadlines, and available remedies vary by county practice, so a lawyer who knows the local bench earns the retainer. Civil process handles disputes over money and rights, but a different set of rules governs when the state charges a crime, when a family breaks apart, and when an estate needs a court's protection.

Civil cases in Michigan courts begin in either district court or circuit court, depending primarily on the amount of money the plaintiff seeks to recover. District courts within the Michigan courts system generally handle civil claims involving disputes valued at twenty five thousand dollars or less. Claims exceeding that threshold, along with divorce and property title matters, proceed to the circuit courts operating throughout the Michigan courts system. The small claims division found in many Michigan courts resolves minor disputes informally, though parties there waive their right to attorney representation and appeal. Hiring counsel familiar with Michigan courts helps litigants navigate filing deadlines, evidentiary rules, and procedural requirements that self represented parties frequently misunderstand or overlook entirely.

Not every dispute is about money. Michigan courts also decide who goes to prison, who raises a child, and who manages the affairs of a person who cannot manage them alone. Each of those tasks sits with a particular bench, and the procedure changes with the stakes. Criminal cases split between the District Court and the Circuit Court. Family matters run through the Family Division of the Circuit Court. Estates, guardianships, and commitments belong to the Probate Court. When the defendant is the state itself, the case goes to the Court of Claims. Sorting these paths keeps the right judge on the right file.

On the criminal side, the seriousness of the charge decides the bench. Misdemeanors, which carry shorter jail exposure, are handled start to finish in the District Court, from arraignment through trial and sentencing. Felonies begin in the District Court but are tried in the Circuit Court. Michigan courts route a felony through an arraignment on the complaint, a probable cause conference, and a preliminary examination where the judge decides whether enough evidence exists to bind the case over. Once bound over, the felony moves upstairs, and a new arraignment on the information occurs in the Circuit Court. That split means the same charge can involve two judges and two courtrooms before a jury is ever seated.

The criminal timeline follows fixed steps. At arraignment the defendant hears the charge and a judge sets bond, weighing flight risk and danger to the community. Bond can be cash, a surety, or release on personal recognizance, and a defendant can ask the judge to revisit it as the case develops. Discovery in criminal cases runs narrower than in civil ones, but the prosecution must turn over exculpatory evidence under the constitutional rule of Brady v. Maryland. Pretrial conferences give the parties room to negotiate a plea, and most cases resolve by plea rather than trial. If the case goes to trial, the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest standard in the law. Sentencing follows a conviction, guided by the sentencing guidelines and the presentence report.

Family matters carry a different rhythm. The Family Division of the Circuit Court hears divorce, separate maintenance, custody, parenting time, child support, paternity, adoption, name changes, and personal protection orders. Michigan courts treat a divorce with minor children differently from one without, because custody and support add layers of investigation and, often, a referral to the Friend of the Court. That office investigates, recommends, and enforces support and parenting time, and its involvement stretches a case well past the final judgment. Juvenile delinquency and abuse or neglect proceedings also sit in this division, where the judge balances a child's safety against a parent's rights. Emotions run high, so many Michigan courts use mediation and settlement conferences to resolve custody before a contested trial.

Probate work protects people and property. When someone dies, the Probate Court oversees administration of the estate, whether the person left a will or died intestate. The court appoints a personal representative, supervises the payment of debts, and confirms distribution to heirs. Guardianships and conservatorships protect a minor or an incapacitated adult, and the court requires regular accountings so a fiduciary cannot quietly drain an estate. A supervised conservator may need court approval before selling a house or making a large gift, and the judge can remove a fiduciary who breaches that trust. Trust disputes, will contests, and demands for an accounting land here as well. The Probate Court also handles involuntary mental health commitments, a process with tight due process protections because it can strip a person of liberty.

Suing the state follows its own track. The Court of Claims hears civil actions for money or equitable relief against the state of Michigan, its departments, and its officers acting in an official capacity. The Legislature placed this court inside the Court of Appeals, and judges of the Court of Appeals are assigned to hear its cases. A claim against a state agency does not start in a county Circuit Court the way a claim against a private company would. Michigan courts apply special notice requirements and shortened deadlines to these claims, and a plaintiff who misses the statutory notice can lose the right to sue before the case begins. Governmental immunity also limits what the state can be sued for, so many suits fail on immunity grounds rather than on the merits.

The dockets feel different because the goals differ. A criminal docket runs on constitutional deadlines and the defendant's liberty, so speedy trial rules and bond reviews drive the calendar. A family docket runs on the welfare of children and the finances of a household, so it revisits the same family as circumstances change, modifying support or custody long after the first judgment. A probate docket runs on the protection of assets and vulnerable people, so it leans on accountings, bonds, and periodic review. The trial courts staff these divisions with judges and referees who specialize, and in larger counties a judge may sit in one division for years. Referees hear many family and juvenile matters first and issue recommendations that a judge then reviews. In smaller counties one judge may cover several divisions, which shapes how quickly a matter is heard.

Matching the matter to counsel follows the same logic as matching it to a court. A felony defense lawyer lives in the Circuit Court and knows the local prosecutor's habits. A family lawyer works with the Friend of the Court and the judge's parenting time preferences. A probate lawyer reads fiduciary duties and accounting rules the way a litigator reads discovery. Because practice in Michigan courts turns on county specific rules, local administrative orders, and the temperament of individual judges, a lawyer who appears in that courthouse each week carries knowledge no statute prints. Ask a prospective lawyer how often they appear in the exact division and county where your case sits, how they bill, and who in the office will actually stand up at the hearing. Those answers tell you more about fit than any advertisement, and they help you compare practitioners who appear regularly before those benches before you sign a retainer.

In Michigan courts, circuit courts hear felony criminal cases and probate courts handle estate administration, while family divisions manage divorce, custody, and juvenile matters within their jurisdiction. When retaining counsel for cases in Michigan courts, verify that the attorney practices regularly in the specific division handling your criminal, family, or probate dispute.

Two systems of courts operate inside this state at once. Michigan courts, the ones described earlier, hear cases under state law and the Michigan Court Rules. Alongside them sit the federal district courts, created by Congress and bound by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The state is split into two federal districts. The Eastern District of Michigan holds court in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Bay City, and Port Huron. The Western District of Michigan holds court in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Marquette. A lawsuit in either building looks different from one in a county circuit court, and the difference starts before the first filing lands.

A case belongs in federal court, rather than the Michigan courts, only when a specific rule opens the door. Two doors carry most of the traffic. The first is federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331, which reaches claims arising under the Constitution, a federal statute, or a treaty. A civil rights suit under Section 1983, an employment claim under Title VII, a patent dispute, an ERISA benefits fight: each raises a federal question and can be filed in the district court from the start. The plaintiff does not need the defendant's consent to be there. Federal law also gives the district courts exclusive authority over certain subjects, such as bankruptcy and most patent claims, so those never belong in the state trial courts at all.

The second door is diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332. It opens when the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy climbs above a threshold set by statute. A Michigan plaintiff suing an Ohio company over a highway crash may qualify, because the two sit on opposite sides of a state line. Diversity must be complete, meaning no plaintiff shares a home state with any defendant. Business entities carry the citizenship of their members, and a corporation carries both its state of incorporation and its principal place of business, a point the Supreme Court settled in Hertz Corp. v. Friend. Read that analysis wrong and the case bounces back to the state trial courts.

Many disputes reach the federal building through removal. A defendant sued in one of the Michigan courts may remove the matter to the matching district under 28 U.S.C. 1441, following the procedure in 28 U.S.C. 1446. The defendant files a notice, attaches the state pleadings, and the window for that step is short, so a summons served in a county circuit court can force a quick decision. A plaintiff who wants to stay in the state system can move to remand when the federal ground is missing. These fights over forum happen early, and they shape discovery, motion practice, and the pool the jury is drawn from.

Venue narrows the picture further. Within each district, a case is assigned to a division tied to where the events happened or where a party resides. A dispute rooted in Marquette belongs to the Western District's northern seat, not to Grand Rapids, and a Wayne County injury sits in the Eastern District at Detroit. This mirrors the county based assignment you saw in the state trial system, where a circuit court's reach follows geography. The federal map is coarser, two districts instead of dozens of counties, yet the instinct holds: the forum tracks the facts and the people involved.

Bankruptcy runs on its own track. Each district holds a bankruptcy court, a unit of the district court staffed by bankruptcy judges under 28 U.S.C. 157. A Chapter 7 liquidation, a Chapter 13 repayment plan, a Chapter 11 reorganization, a Chapter 12 farm case: all of these are filed there, not in the Michigan courts that handle ordinary debt collection. The line matters for a creditor too, because once a debtor files, the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 362 halts collection actions pending in state court until the bankruptcy judge lifts it or the case closes.

Appeals from both districts do not return to any state bench. They go to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which sits in Cincinnati and also hears appeals from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. That path is separate from the appellate route inside the state system, where a losing party moves from a trial division to the Court of Appeals and then asks the Michigan Supreme Court to take the case. A federal judgment and a state judgment travel on parallel rails that rarely cross. Getting the deadline for a federal appeal right matters, since the clock differs from the one that governs an appeal inside the state courts.

Some claims can sit in either system. A plaintiff with a federal claim plus related state law claims may bring the whole package to the district court under supplemental jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. 1367, or peel the state pieces off and file them in state court. Concurrent jurisdiction hands the plaintiff a choice, and lawyers weigh it with care. Federal juries are drawn from a wider geographic area, deadlines run tighter, and the summary judgment culture differs from what you meet in many county courtrooms. None of that ranks one forum above the other. The choice stays specific to the claim and the county.

Admission is the practical catch. A lawyer licensed by the State Bar of Michigan is not automatically cleared to appear in the Eastern or Western District. Each district keeps its own bar and its own admission process, and some matters require local counsel even for an out of state attorney admitted pro hac vice. When you interview a lawyer for a case that might land in federal court, ask whether they are admitted to the specific district and how many trials or evidentiary hearings they have run there. A practitioner who lives in the Michigan courts every week may still be a stranger to the federal clerk's office across the street. The reverse happens as well. Match the lawyer to the forum the case will actually occupy. Fees, availability, and the physical distance to the courthouse all follow from that match.

Every earlier section pointed at one task: match the lawyer to the room. The court map from the opening section is the tool for that. If your dispute sits in a district court, you want someone who tries cases in that division. If it belongs in circuit court, probate, the Court of Claims, or one of the federal districts, the short list changes. The Michigan courts are not interchangeable, and the lawyers who practice in them are not either. Start from the box your case falls into, then work outward toward names. A referral that ignores the map, sending an estate matter to a personal injury shop, wastes everyone's time.

Local admission is the floor. A lawyer must be licensed by the State Bar of Michigan to appear in the state trial divisions, and admitted separately to a federal district to appear there. Above that floor sits court-specific experience, which no license records. A family lawyer who appears before the same Friend of the Court referee most weeks knows how that office reads a parenting time dispute. A probate lawyer who files in one county reads the register's local habits. Because the Michigan courts run on local administrative orders and judge by judge preferences, the attorney who works a courthouse regularly carries knowledge the printed rules leave out.

A few questions surface that experience quickly. Ask how often the lawyer appears in the exact court and county where your case will sit. Ask who in the office will stand up at the hearing, because the name on the letterhead is not always the person at counsel table. Ask about recent results in that division, not statewide totals. A practitioner who cannot describe the local judge's motion practice or the clerk's filing quirks probably does not live in that courthouse. Those answers separate the lawyers who know the courtroom you are headed into from the ones who market broadly.

Treat the consultation as a two way interview. Bring the documents that define the case: the complaint or the summons, any court notices, and the deadline printed on them. A lawyer who reads those and tells you plainly which court the matter sits in, and what the next several weeks look like, is showing command of the process. Vague reassurance is a warning sign. A promise about the outcome is a bigger one, since no honest lawyer guarantees what a judge or jury will do.

Fee structure comes next, and it turns on the case type. Personal injury and some consumer claims run on contingency, where the lawyer takes a percentage of any recovery and fronts the costs. Family, probate, and business matters usually bill hourly against a retainer, replenished as the work continues. Some criminal defense and simple civil matters go for a flat fee. Fee practice differs across the Michigan courts too, since a contested probate accounting eats different hours than a district court eviction. Ask what the fee covers, whether costs like filing charges, deposition transcripts, and expert witnesses land on top, and how unused retainer money comes back to you. Get the arrangement in writing before work begins.

This directory adds a layer of confirmation on top of your own questions. Firms that earn verification show exactly what was checked, with dates. An editor confirmed the firm's licensure and standing on a specific date rather than trusting a self-description, and you can see when the check ran and what it covered. That does not replace the interview, and it will not tell you whether a given lawyer fits your temperament or your budget. It confirms that the firm is real, licensed to appear in the Michigan courts, and in good standing as of a printed date. That is the baseline before you spend time on everything else.

Ordering here is transparent by design. When this directory ranks firms, the plan tier a firm holds can affect placement, and that fact is disclosed rather than buried inside an algorithm you cannot inspect. A higher tier buys position, not a cleaner verification result, and the checks read the same regardless of what a firm pays. Keep the two ideas apart as you browse the listings. Placement shows you who paid for visibility. The dated verification check shows you what an editor confirmed about a firm's standing.

Interview more than one firm when the stakes justify it. Two lawyers looking at the same summons will often frame the case differently, one seeing a quick settlement and the other a fight worth taking to trial, and the gap between them tells you something. Ask each how they would handle the first motion, what discovery they expect, and how the local courts tend to move a case of this kind. Compare the answers, not the confidence. A lawyer who has stood before that judge can predict the rhythm of the docket, and that prediction shapes your costs and your calendar more than any brochure.

Return to the map one last time before you sign a retainer. The Michigan Supreme Court sits at the top, the Court of Appeals reviews the trial divisions, and the Court of Claims hears suits against the state from inside that appellate building. Below them, circuit courts handle serious civil matters and felonies, district courts handle smaller civil cases and the early stages of criminal ones, and probate courts handle estates, guardianships, and conservatorships. The two federal districts and the Sixth Circuit run alongside the whole structure. Find the box your case occupies, then find the lawyer who works that box in your county. The Michigan courts reward that kind of matching, and this directory is built to help you make it before any money changes hands.

Michigan courts operate on a tiered structure where district courts handle misdemeanors and civil disputes under twenty five thousand dollars, while circuit courts address felonies and larger claims. Understanding which of the Michigan courts holds jurisdiction over your matter helps you retain an attorney whose practice aligns with that specific forum and its procedures. Probate matters involving estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships fall to specialized divisions within the Michigan courts, so counsel experienced in these proceedings will protect your interests effectively. Appeals from trial decisions proceed to the Court of Appeals and then potentially to the Supreme Court, the highest of the Michigan courts, which reviews select cases. When hiring representation, verify that your prospective lawyer regularly appears before the relevant Michigan courts and maintains familiarity with the presiding judges and local filing rules.