Quarterly Compass 10/1/2026
Welcome back to “The Quarterly Compass,” the email newsletter of True North Legal Group. This resource is designed for entrepreneurs, small business owners, executives, and business-minded professionals in Northern Michigan.
Every quarter, we’ll head in four directions. First, the “East” section (directly below) will be dedicated to legal updates from TNLG that may be relevant to your venture. Then head “South,” where we’ll highlight a local business or entrepreneur doing great things in Northern Michigan. Out “West,” you’ll find information about future events or developments that may soon impact you, your business, or your employees. Finally, True “North” will include a short, actionable insight for personal or business growth.
No matter your bearing, we hope you’ll find “The Quarterly Compass” to be a helpful resource along the way.
The Slip-and-Fall Season
Why "they should have seen it" no longer ends the case
In Northern Michigan, October is the last quiet month before the parking lot starts to turn to ice. For businesses that welcome customers onto their property, that makes it a good time to understand a change in the law that many owners still haven’t heard about.
For three decades, Michigan brick-and-mortar businesses could rely on the “open and obvious” doctrine. If a hazard was one an ordinary person would notice — a snowy sidewalk, an icy step, a visible curb — the business generally owed no duty to protect visitors from it, and many injury claims were dismissed early.
That changed in July 2023. In Kandil-Elsayed v. F & E Oil, Inc., the Michigan Supreme Court held that whether a hazard was open and obvious is no longer a question of duty. Instead, it is weighed when deciding whether the business acted reasonably and how much fault belongs to the injured person. A visitor’s own carelessness can still reduce what they recover. But an obvious hazard no longer absolves the business owner of responsibility — and more of these cases now go to a jury.
The state legislature has noticed. House Bill 4582, which would restore the old rule and reduce a business owner’s perceived duty, passed the Michigan House in March 2026. It has been sitting in a Senate committee since. Until something changes, the current standard is the one that applies.
Why this matters: An injury claim that once would have been dismissed early can now take longer and cost more to resolve, with plaintiff’s attorneys on the hunt. When liability is decided by weighing reasonableness rather than by a clear rule, what you did to prevent the fall — and what you can prove you did — matters more than ever.
A simple check for this winter: If a customer slipped at your entrance tomorrow, could you show when your walkways were last cleared and salted, and who did it?
What smart owners are doing now: They’re putting snow and ice removal in writing — who is responsible, how often, and how it’s logged. They’re reviewing contracts with their plow and salting vendors and with landlords to confirm who is responsible for what, and that insurance and indemnity terms line up. And, if they carry insurance, they’re calling their agent before the first snowfall, not after the first claim.
M&M Garage Doors: Building People
I connected with Matt Lockemy, owner of M&M Garage Doors, earlier this year, and I’ve been impressed ever since — both by how intentionally he builds his business and by his commitment to his own personal growth. His answers below show why his team is growing so quickly.
M&M Garage Doors installs, repairs, and maintains residential garage doors across Michigan, including from its office and showroom here in Traverse City.
Learn more about Matt and his business in the following Q&A:
Q: What inspired you to build your life and business in Northern Michigan?
Northern Michigan is home. My wife and I are raising our three daughters here, and I’ve always believed you shouldn’t have to leave a place you love to build something meaningful.
Q: What characteristics of our community have helped you launch and grow?
Trust and relationships. Northern Michigan is still a place where your reputation matters. People talk. If you do great work, treat people right, and consistently do what you say you’re going to do, people remember it and tell others.
Q: What excites you about the next twelve months of your business?
The people.
We’re growing quickly, but what excites me most isn’t just getting bigger. It’s watching people inside M&M grow with the company. I want someone to be able to come into M&M without a traditional four-year degree, master a craft, earn a six-figure income, become a leader, and completely change the trajectory of their family.
We have big goals, but the mission is pretty simple: build great people, serve customers exceptionally well, and prove that something special can be built right here in Northern Michigan.
Need a new garage door, a repair, or a team that does what they say they're going to do? Learn more about Matt and M&M at mandmdoors247.com.
The Tax Cliff That Didn't Come
In July 2025, we warned that several small-business tax breaks were set to expire at the end of that year. Three days after that issue went out, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law — and most of those breaks are now permanent. For the first time in years, owners can plan around them without a sunset date.
The headlines for small business: the 20% deduction for pass-through business income (the “QBI” deduction used by many LLCs, S corporations, and sole proprietors) is now permanent. Businesses can again immediately deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying equipment and other short-lived property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. And the Section 179 expensing limit has risen to $2.5 million, adjusted for inflation going forward.
One change will show up this winter. For payments made in 2026, the threshold for issuing Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC rises from $600 — where it had sat for decades — to $2,000. The forms for 2026 are due February 1, 2027, and this will be the first filing season under the new number.
Bottom line for small business: Year-end equipment and vehicle purchases, entity structure, and contractor reporting all look different than they did two years ago. Before December 31, sit down with your CPA to decide what to buy and when to place it in service. And keep collecting a W-9 from every vendor before you pay them — a higher reporting threshold doesn’t mean you’ll know at the start of the year who will cross it.
The Courage to Ask
Most business owners got where they are by figuring things out on their own. We solve problems, carry the weight, and keep moving. Over time, that strength can quietly turn into a habit of never asking for help — as if needing it means we aren’t up to the job.
The research says we have it backwards. In a well-known series of studies, social psychologists found that people underestimated by as much as 50% how likely others would be to say yes if someone made a direct request for help. We focus on the burden of asking. The people we’d ask are more than willing to say yes.
In our work, the hardest problems are rarely the ones people bring to us early. They’re the ones that sat too long because asking felt harder than waiting. Asking isn’t a sign that you’ve lost control of your business. It’s often the moment you take control back.
What’s one thing you’ve been carrying alone this year — and who is the one person you could ask for help this week?
Thank you for reading “The Quarterly Compass,” the email newsletter of True North Legal Group designed to help small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and business-minded professionals in Northern Michigan.