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Nichols Law Firm client receives least amount of prison time of all co-defendants in a drug conspiracy case in West Michigan.

Mike Nichols presents lecture to Ingham County Bar Association.

 A Nichols Law Firm client was shown leniency by an East Lansing Judge despite the request of prosecutors for extensive jail time and a ban from campus. 

 An Ingham County Judge ordered a plea agreement modified after the Nichols Law Firm uncovered the fact that the defendant was misled by his prior attorney.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers seminar on DUI defense gave Mike Nichols a chance to further hone is skills and extensive knowledge of defending drunk driving cases. 

The Nichols Law Firm is sponsoring the annual "Pumpkin Trot" October 19th, 2008 in East Lansing. 

The Nichols Law Firm has added two new locations to serve the public in Michigan.

The Nichols Law Firm's effort to exonorate a client ended successfully after an extremely long and unbelievable fight. The client was charged last summer with minor in possession and transporting alcohol by a minor but a district judge in Mason, Michigan dismissed the case.

The Nichols Law Firm filed pleadings on August 4th based on testimony and evidence that shows a client was misinformed by his former attorney.  The attorney admitted on the witness stand last June that he told the client that he would have a specific plea agreement but never put the plea agreement on the record during the client's plea hearing in front of an Ingham County Judge. Mike Nichols has been fighting for this client's right to have his plea re-visited and said "this has been an extremely hard fight. I am disappointed that the client was also subjected to accusations by his former lawyer in the newspaper."

Nichols Law defends student in charge related to riot.

I think that I have a duty to respond to a misstatement of the law or an impertinent statement:

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Husband’s former lawyer has turned this into a competition over who can dump on whom and it’s made a difficult situation between the attorney and his former client and the circumstances surrounding this plea even worse. The rules of professional conduct are very specific about what a lawyer can say in such a circumstance and it limits the lawyer to only disclosure of that information necessary to defend against an accusation of wrongful conduct. The commentary to rule 1.6 states: ‘A fundamental principle in the client-lawyer relationship is that the lawyer maintain confidentiality of information relating to the representation. The client is thereby encouraged to communicate fully and frankly with the lawyer even as to embarrassing or legally damaging subject matter.’”

The Nichols Law Firm successfully defended one of several clients who were charged as a result of the so-called "riot" near Michigan State University's campus in April, 2008.  Attorney Karen Phillips argued to the jury that none of the police officers who testified were able to accurately identify her client as the person who threw a bottle during the melee.  The jury acquitted the defendant of all three counts, including assembling to riot, in less than an hour.  The full story is available in the Lansing State Journal article below with additional coverage at lsj.com.

The Nichols Law Firm represents a number of people charged with crimes as a result of an incident off campus at Michigan State University on April 5th and 6th, 2008. The so-called “Cedarfest riot” led to thousands of charges.

Mike Nichols has agreed to participate in the 2008 retreat for the Ingham County Bar Association (ICBA) Board of Directors. Mike chose not to seek re-election for a new term on the ICBA Board this year and the retreat will be one of his final opportunities to dedicate time to the Board in a formal setting. “We have some major client matters and also overall goals that we hope to attain for the Nichols Law Firm and I need to devote time to those efforts,” Nichols said. He added: “on the other hand if I can spend an afternoon on some critical issues to make Lansing even better than it is now for our legal community then I am happy to dedicate some energy there.”

Complex Case Resolved Thanks to Hours and Hours of Preparation and Research

Amazing Result Was Due to Hard Work

A 55th District Court Judge in Ingham County dismissed charges of Minor In Possession (MIP) and Transporting Alcohol by a Minor after granting a suppression motion filed by the Nichols Law Firm.  NLF filed a motion based on an improper search and seizure of the client's vehicle. The client was stopped by a Williamston Police Officer in downtown Williamston, approximately 15 miles east of Lansing.  The police officer approached the client to tell him that the officer observed him blocking traffic improperly earlier in the night and to ask him to stop doing that.  The encounter turned into a full blown seizure and a search of the client's vehicle. The client was charged with minor in possession (MIP) and Transporting Alcohol by a Minor...

After fighting for what was right for her client in a personal injury case involving a horrific auto accident, Ms. Wendy Schiller-Nichols was able reach a 1.35 million-dollar settlement with the Defendants.   Ms. Schiller-Nichols sued three defendants, the drunk driver, the employer (under a legal principle known as respondeat superior), and an action against the bar that served the drunk driver (known as a “dram shop” action). The driver of the vehicle had at least a .12 blood alcohol level at the time of the accident: 11:30 a.m.

Mike Nichols will lecture attorneys from around Michigan about drunk driving defense.  Mike Nichols will speak about jury selection; opening statements and closing arguments for the Lohrmann continuing education seminars. The lecture will be held in February, 2008.

Mike Nichols became the first lawyer to use a new law successfully in Newaygo County. The law allows a 1st time minor in possession (MIP) offender to keep his record clean. The Judge indicated on the record that the Court there never granted such a motion, but felt that the case was appropriate for the request made by Mike Nichols on behalf of his client. Nichols said: “the prosecutor warned me that the judge just did not grant MIP deferral requests but I knew that I needed to go for it for this client”. 

Robin Mahal successfully suppressed a 0.23 B.A.C. (breath alcohol content) test result.  She relied on the datamaster manual and an expert witness to introduce evidence that the datamaster test results were not reliable.  She introduced evidence that the datamaster was not stable based on the test results of the simulations and on the client’s test results themselves.  She also used the procedures and rules stated in the datamaster manual to argue that the test results were not reliable.  The expert witness testified that the test results were "out of control" and the datamaster should have been taken out of use until it was repaired.  The Judge ruled that the test results were not reliable and therefore were suppressed.

Mike Nichols negotiated a non-compete contract for a physician joining a well-known physical therapy clinic in Petoskey, Michigan.

The Michigan Supreme Court has just reversed the Michigan Court of Appeals in a way that gives hope to people who are injured in Michigan. The trend toward creating needless roadblocks to justice may be over. Attorney Wendy M. Schiller-Nichols, a leading advocate for injured people in this state and President of the Nichols Law Firm said:  “Apsey V Apsey was a hurdle that too many people could not overcome in seeking justice.” Schiller-Nichols said, “The Court of Appeals had ruled that an affidavit from a doctor regarding the malpractice of a Michigan doctor had to be certified – it created hurdles that were unnecessary for people hurt by the malpractice of doctors.”

If you are interested in reading the text of the case, you can find it at www.michbar.org

For further details, please visit www.lansingstatejournal.com .

Wendy M. Schiller-Nichols, who has been representing people with traumatic brain injuries for almost seven years, accepted an...

Twenty minute interview featured discussion about toils of Holland case...

Mike Nichols was appointed to serve on the Board of the Ingham County Bar Association.  He accepted the appointment October 13, 2006 and will serve a term ending on June 30, 2008.

Mike Nichols, recognized for his knowledge on covenants against competition (no competes) delivered the October Luncheon Lecture to the Ingham County Bar Association. The lecture, entitled: "What do you mean that guy you fired for sexual harassment is now suing you for writing a letter to his new employer about the no compete with you that he signed?

“Hard work was key to unusual victory” says defense counsel Mike Nichols...

“Theory is that her statements to investigators are based on stolen police reports” says defense counsel Mike Nichols..

Wendy Schiller-Nichols represented the estate and family of a young man ....

"Hard work and getting the jurors to understand the law were the keys" says defense counsel Mike Nichols