Photo of Michael R. Vogt

Michael R. Vogt Member

Areas of Practice

Industries

Bar Admissions

  • Michigan
  • Illinois

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

Education

John Marshall Law School, J.D., 2010

  • Dean's List Spring, 2009 and 2010

Michigan State University, B.A., 2006

  • Psi Chi  National Honor Society  in Psychology
  • Dean's List recognition for six terms

Michael R. Vogt is a member of the Real Estate Group in Dykema's Bloomfield Hills, Michigan office. Mr. Vogt’s practice touches many aspects of the commercial real estate industry, including land use and zoning, landlord/tenant, commercial foreclosures, eminent domain, and a variety of business disputes and litigation/ADR related to the purchase, sale, leasing, and management of commercial real estate.  He also frequently represents clients at the municipal level to secure (or oppose) permits and zoning approvals for a variety of commercial uses. In addition to his real estate practice, he also has significant experience representing clients in commercial disputes, including contractual claims against borrowers and guarantors and post-judgment collection actions.

While in law school, he clerked for the Honorable Lisa Gorcyca, 6th Circuit Court, Oakland County Michigan. Prior to attending law school, he served as a legislative aide to State Representative David Law in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Mr. Vogt graduated from the John Marshall Law School where he was twice named to the Dean's List and was a CALI Award recipient for Real Estate Transactions.

Experience

  • Representation of owners, property managers, landlords, and tenants in commercial lease disputes involving all types of commercial uses, including office, restaurant, big-box retail, industrial, religious, and parking garage.  Mr. Vogt has extensive experience litigating complex lease disputes for both landlords and tenants, including numerous bifurcated cases involving both eviction procedures (in Michigan District Court) and high-exposure claims for damages (in Michigan Circuit Court or Federal District Court).
  • Appears regularly before planning commissions, city councils, and zoning boards on behalf of clients seeking (or opposing) zoning approvals including special land uses, variances, zoning interpretations, rezonings, and others.
  • Years of representing national landlords and tenants in lease disputes throughout the country.

  • Collected $375,000 for a landlord by seizing the former tenant/judgment debtor’s assets (after completing the eviction and securing a large six-figure money judgment against the tenant in Circuit Court).

  • Secured special land use approval for plasma donation center through litigation in Wayne County Circuit Court after client was originally denied by City Council.

  • Secured conditional use permit for electric vehicle gallery in the State of New York.

  • Obtained summary judgment for office tenant in a Circuit Court lawsuit resulting in dismissal of landlord’s claim seeking nearly $100,000 in alleged maintenance charges.
  • Defended a national restaurant chain in an eviction lawsuit seeking $100,000 in unpaid rent and obtained a favorable settlement which included full forgiveness of the past-due rent and a lease amendment that saved our client $1,000,000 over the term of the lease.
  • Obtained large six-figure settlement for an international telecommunications company seeking damages for a tenant’s breach of seventeen tower lease agreements
  • Successfully represented a large Detroit-based non-profit agency before the Detroit Zoning Board of Appeals (and Wayne County Circuit Court in related appeal) in its opposition to the construction of a concrete-crushing facility on an adjacent parcel.
  • Defended a school district (landlord) in a Circuit Court lawsuit and obtained summary disposition of the tenant’s claim that the school district breached a lease and option to purchase.

Memberships & Involvement

State Bar of Michigan, Real Property Law Section, Land Use & Zoning Committee, Co-Chairperson, 2018 – present

Oakland County Bar Association, Real Estate Committee, Member

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Litigation, 2021. Copyright 2015 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC

Recognized in Michigan Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star for Real Estate: Business, 2013-Present