Sexual Assault Attorneys in Michigan: Your Complete Legal Guide

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A Michigan survivor of criminal sexual conduct as a minor can sue until age 28, or within three years of discovering both the injury and its link to the abuse, whichever is later, and an adult has ten years for a claim based on criminal sexual conduct. Michigan’s only revival window, opened in 2018, lasted 90 days and was written for survivors of a convicted physician. On the criminal side, a 2024 law gave second and third degree criminal sexual conduct a 15-year period or until the victim turns 42. Below are those rules, points to raise with a lawyer, and three firms that represent survivors in Michigan.

In an emergency, call 911. The Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence lists a 24/7 VOICES4 hotline at 1-855-863-2374, with text at 1-866-238-1454.

MCL 600.5851b and 767.24 are quoted from CHILD USA’s review of the official text, read in October 2026, and MCL 600.5805 from FindLaw’s text dated January 1, 2025. They are general information, not advice on any one claim.

Abuse as a Minor: Age 28 or Three Years From Discovery

MCL 600.5851b(1), added by 2018 PA 183, provides: “Notwithstanding sections 5805 and 5851, an individual who, while a minor, is the victim of criminal sexual conduct may commence an action to recover damages sustained because of the criminal sexual conduct at any time before whichever of the following is later: (a) The individual reaches the age of 28 years. (b) Three years after the date the individual discovers, or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, both the individual’s injury and the causal relationship between the injury and the criminal sexual conduct.”

The rest of the section adds three points:

  • No prosecution needed (§ 600.5851b(2)): “it is not necessary that a criminal prosecution or other proceeding have been brought as a result of the conduct or, if a criminal prosecution or other proceeding was brought, that the prosecution or proceeding resulted in a conviction or adjudication.”
  • General disability tolling still available (§ 600.5851b(4)): “This section does not limit an individual’s right to bring an action under section 5851.”
  • Definitions (§ 600.5851b(5)): “criminal sexual conduct” takes its meaning from § 600.5805.

The discovery branch is the route for a survivor past 28. It starts only when the survivor knew, or reasonably should have known, both the injury and its causal connection to the abuse, and then it runs for three years. Section 600.5851b took effect June 12, 2018; for a claim that had already expired under the earlier law by then, the only revival was the narrow window described next.

The 2018 Window: 90 Days, One Set of Facts

Section 600.5851b(3) let a person who, as a minor, was a victim of criminal sexual conduct between December 31, 1996 and two years before June 12, 2018 file within 90 days after that date, but only if the abuser was convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520b and admitted acting as the victim’s physician or under the guise of medical treatment. CHILD USA reports that the window closed in September 2018. Michigan has no general revival window.

Adult Claims and MCL 600.5805

Section 600.5851b covers people who were minors at the time. For an adult, MCL 600.5805(6) provides: “The period of limitations is 10 years for an action to recover damages sustained because of criminal sexual conduct.” The same subsection adds that it “is not necessary that a criminal prosecution or other proceeding have been brought as a result of the conduct,” or, if one was brought, that it ended in a conviction. Section 600.5805(16)(b) defines “criminal sexual conduct” as conduct prohibited under MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e, or 750.520g, and § 600.5851b(5) borrows that definition.

Two points limit the ten-year rule. A claim pleaded only as assault or battery falls under § 600.5805(3), which sets two years, or five years under (4) and (5) where the assailant was a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, household member, or dating partner. And bills introduced in the 2025-2026 session would change § 600.5805; the text quoted here is the FindLaw version dated January 1, 2025, so a lawyer should confirm whether any amendment has taken effect.

Claims Against Universities, Churches, and Employers

Whether an organization is liable for abuse by an employee or volunteer depends on Michigan negligence law and on what the organization knew. The deadline in § 600.5851b is written around “an action to recover damages sustained because of the criminal sexual conduct,” not around a particular defendant. Claims against a public university, school district, or other government body raise governmental immunity questions under Michigan law that this guide does not cover and that need to be assessed early.

Criminal Deadlines Under MCL 767.24

Prosecution is the state’s decision. CHILD USA, reading MCL 767.24 as amended by 2024 PA 268 (effective April 2, 2025), reports:

  • No limit (§ 767.24(1)(a)): criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
  • Fifteen years or age 42 (§ 767.24(4)(a)): second and third degree criminal sexual conduct “may be found and filed within 15 years after the offense is committed or by the alleged victim’s forty-second birthday, whichever is later,” with a DNA route in § 767.24(4)(b).
  • Ten years or age 21 (§ 767.24(3)(a)): fourth degree criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activity or material, and assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct.
  • Everything else (§ 767.24(10)): six years.

Under § 767.24(13), the 2024 changes “apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date of the 2024 amendatory act” and “do not apply retroactively to an offense committed before that date.” For older offenses, the periods in force before April 2, 2025 continue to matter.

Before Meeting a Michigan Lawyer

Note the survivor’s date of birth, the dates of the conduct, when the survivor connected any injury to it, and any organization involved. The conversation can then address:

  1. What is the 28th-birthday date under § 600.5851b(1)(a), and what is the three-year discovery date under (1)(b)?
  2. Does the general disability tolling in § 5851 add time, as § 600.5851b(4) allows?
  3. For an assault as an adult, does the claim fit the ten-year criminal sexual conduct period in § 600.5805(6), and when did it accrue?
  4. Is any defendant a public university, school district, or government body, and how does immunity apply?
  5. Is a criminal case pending, and how does it affect evidence and timing?
  6. How does the firm structure fees and case expenses, and does it represent any likely defendant?

Michigan Sexual Assault Attorneys

Grewal Law PLLC

Grewal Law PLLC is Michigan’s most prominent institutional sexual abuse litigation firm and one of the leading sexual assault law practices in the country. Founded and led by Manvir “Mick” S. Grewal Sr. (University of Michigan, B.A.; Thomas M. Cooley Law School, J.D.; John Marshall Law School, LL.M. in Taxation), the firm’s trajectory was transformed in 2016 when Mick spoke with the first survivor of Larry Nassar’s abuse at Michigan State University. That conversation launched what became the largest university sexual abuse settlement in American history.

Grewal Law’s institutional sexual abuse results include representing 111 of the 333 survivors in the $500 million MSU/Larry Nassar settlement; serving as co-lead counsel for over 250 survivors in the $490 million University of Michigan/Robert Anderson settlement; representing 112 survivors in the $380 million USA Gymnastics/USOPC settlement; and representing 44 survivors in the $138.7 million DOJ settlement over the FBI’s mishandling of the Nassar investigation. Total institutional sexual abuse recovery through these cases alone exceeds $1.5 billion.

Mick Grewal holds Super Lawyers recognition, a first-tier U.S. News and World Report ranking, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished Very High Rating in legal ability and ethical standards. The firm’s sexual assault and civil rights team is led by attorney Ayanna D. Neal. Free confidential consultations. Contingency fee basis – no fees unless the firm wins.

Levy Konigsberg LLP (Michigan Practice)

Levy Konigsberg is a national institutional sexual abuse firm that has recovered over $3 billion in compensation for survivors nationally and actively pursues Michigan institutional abuse claims. The firm has handled clergy abuse cases, university abuse cases, juvenile detention facility abuse, physician abuse, and other institutional misconduct matters across Michigan. Free confidential consultation. Contingency fee basis.

Jeff Anderson & Associates

Jeff Anderson & Associates is one of the country’s longest-running institutional sexual abuse law firms, having pioneered Catholic clergy abuse litigation for over 40 years. The firm actively pursues Michigan clergy abuse claims, school abuse, and other institutional matters and has advocated for legislative reform in Michigan. Free confidential consultations. Contingency fee basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was abused at 13 and I am now 34. Is my claim barred?

Not necessarily. The age-28 branch of § 600.5851b(1) has passed, but the discovery branch gives three years from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury and its causal relationship to the abuse. That assumes your claim had not already expired under the earlier law when § 600.5851b took effect on June 12, 2018; the only revival for older claims was the narrow 2018 window, so a lawyer should confirm that point first.

Can I use the 2018 Michigan window?

No. It allowed filings for 90 days after June 12, 2018, and only for victims of a convicted physician who admitted abusing that position.

Does the abuser need to be convicted for me to sue?

No. Section 600.5851b(2) states that a criminal prosecution or conviction is not necessary.

Can second degree criminal sexual conduct still be prosecuted years later?

For offenses committed on or after April 2, 2025, § 767.24(4)(a) allows 15 years or until the victim turns 42, whichever is later. Earlier offenses keep the periods in force before that date.

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