Neil Marchand is a member of the firm, focusing his practice on mental health law, wills and trusts (probate) litigation, and insurance coverage disputes. Prior to joining Miller Johnson, Mr. Marchand served as a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Gordon J. Quist on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2009-2010.

Mental Health Provider Law

Mr. Marchand is the vice chair of Miller Johnson’s Mental Health Law Practice Group.  He works with mental health care providers and clinicians on setting up a practice, licensing, Central Registry appeals, policies and procedures, peer review privilege, document retention, mandatory reporter obligations, and aspects of compliance in litigation matters such as the disclosure of confidential health information and court-ordered testimony.  He was appointed to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Recipient Rights Appeals Committee, and is a frequent speaker and trainer on mental and behavioral healthcare providers’ obligations under Michigan’s Mental Health Code.

Wills and Trusts Litigation

Mr. Marchand represents individual and corporate personal representatives, trustees, and other fiduciaries, as well as charities and individuals seeking to remove those fiduciaries, in contested will, trust, and estate matters.  These cases often involve complex family dynamics or situations where caregivers, family members, or others have exercised undue influence to change a beneficiary’s share, absconded with estate assets, engaged in self-dealing or charged excessive fees, and/or preyed on an individual with diminished mental capacity.  As an example, in a heavily-litigated case where the drafting attorney lost the decedent’s will that disinherited her only heir and named four charities the beneficiaries of her multi-million dollar estate with assets in four states, Mr. Marchand represented the charities in their successful efforts to claim under the lost will and prevent the only heir from admitting a prior will to probate.

Insurance Coverage Disputes

Mr. Marchand also focuses on insurance coverage disputes on behalf of individuals and businesses, and has been named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in Insurance Coverage litigation.  Some of Mr. Marchand’s cases include:

• Country Entities v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co., Case No. 10-L-68 (McLean Cty. Illinois). Obtained an $8.6 million judgment for the policyholder in a case involving a Directors’ and Officers’ policy.
• Shoreline Growers, Inc. d/b/a Sawyer Nursery v. New Hampshire Ins. Co., Case No. 1:16-cv-1124 (W.D. Mich.). Obtained a summary judgment ruling finding coverage under a Commercial Property Insurance Policy for the policyholder’s plant loss where the insurer wrongfully denied coverage under an exclusion
• Successfully represented individual policyholders in the reinstatement of their long-term care policy when the insurer claimed the policy lapsed due to non-payment.
• Convinced a medical professional insurance company to reconsider its denial of coverage and defend and indemnify a local healthcare system and its doctors in an underlying malpractice case.
• Developed a litigation defense strategy for an employer in a case alleging the wrongful denial of ERISA medical insurance benefits that led to the plaintiffs dropping their case and providing a full release of all potential claims one month after the parties exchanged their initial disclosures.

Professional Affiliations, Community Service, and Honors

Mr. Marchand is the immediate past-President of the Rotary Club of Grand Rapids and helped launch the Rotary Club of Grand Rapids Charities Foundation’s annual Service Above Selfie social media contest to recognize and reward community service in the Grand Rapids area.  Mr. Marchand was the youngest person to serve as president of the Club in the organization’s 107-year history, and Rotary International awarded the Club a Silver Citation—its second highest honor—for the Club’s accomplishments during Mr. Marchand’s presidency.  Mr. Marchand currently serves on the Rotary Club of Grand Rapids Charities Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Marchand is also a Trustee of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Chair of the GRBA’s Litigation Section, and is a member of the GRBA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.  Previously, Mr. Marchand served on the Great Gardens Party Committee and Long Range Planning Committee at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.  Mr. Marchand is a 2013 graduate of Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Grand Rapids program, and served on the executive committee for the Gerald R. Ford Chapter of the American Inns of Court.  In 2020, he was the recipient of Miller Johnson’s Cummiskey Spirit of Service Award recognizing his significant and outstanding contributions to the community through volunteering.  He is an avid gardener, loves playing with his young children, and enjoys rewiring and restoring antique lamps.

Mr. Marchand has been recognized by Best Lawyers for Litigation – Trust and Estates in 2024. He has also been selected as 2023 Michigan Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

Education

Mr. Marchand is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School where he was a Thurgood Marshall Scholar and earned his J.D. with honors, and The George Washington University where he earned his B.A summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.  He also attended the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution’s Symposium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom where he received the Millennium Volunteer Award from the Under Secretary of State for Young People and Adult Skills for his service with children and adults with disabilities.  Mr. Marchand is admitted to practice in all Michigan courts and numerous federal courts.