The Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) will hear oral arguments in 12 cases on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, and Thursday, November 9, 2023, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on both days in the 6th floor courtroom at the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 W. Ottawa, Lansing.  Oral arguments will be livestreamed from the MSC website. 

Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Morning Session – 9:30 a.m.

DAOUD MOUSA JANINI and FERYAL Howard Radner
JANINI,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v (Appeal from Ct of Appeals)
(Wayne CC – Hathaway, D.)

LONDON TOWNHOUSES CONDOMINIUM Nathan Scherbarth
ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Appellee,
and
JAMES PYDA,
Defendant.
_________________________________________________

The plaintiffs sued London Townhouses Condominium Association for injuries sustained by Daoud Mousa Janini when he fell on an allegedly snow- and ice-covered sidewalk in the defendant’s development. The plaintiffs own and reside in a condominium unit that is part of the defendant’s condominium complex. The defendant is an association of the co-owners of the condominiums in the complex that manages and operates the condominium complex on behalf of the owners. The defendant is responsible for the management, maintenance, and administration of the common elements of the condominium complex, including the sidewalks and parking lot. The defendant filed a motion for summary disposition, which the trial court granted in part and denied in part. The trial court dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims except their premises liability claim. The Court of Appeals, in an unpublished per curiam opinion, followed Francescutti v Fox Chase Condo Ass’n, 312 Mich App 640 (2015), and reversed the trial court’s order denying summary disposition of the plaintiffs’ premises liability claim. The Supreme Court has ordered oral argument on the application to address whether the Court of Appeals correctly held in Francescutti that a co-owner of a condominium unit, who slipped and fell on an icy, snow-covered sidewalk located in a common area of the development, was neither a licensee nor an invitee, and thus, there was no duty owed to the co-owner by the condominium association under the principles of premises liability.