The legal profession encompasses a wide range of disciplines, but few areas are as fact-intensive and consequential as real estate and property rights law. Within that space, disputes involving land use, riparian rights, and water access present unique challenges that often require a combination of legal analysis, historical research, and strategic litigation.
Attorney Dane Carey has built his practice around these issues. A northern Michigan native, Carey is a partner at Carey Jaskowski PLC, a Grayling-based law firm. His practice focuses on complex property disputes, real estate law, riparian rights, and general civil litigation matters.
Carey represents clients throughout Michigan in both state and federal courts. His practice is particularly concentrated on disputes involving ownership rights, access issues, and competing uses of land—matters that are often highly fact-dependent and require a detailed understanding of Michigan-specific legal doctrines.
A Practical Foundation in Property and Water Law
Dane Carey knew from a young age that a law career would be a natural fit, and his focus on property and water law in particular is rooted in both professional experience and personal background. Growing up on an inland lake in northern Michigan, he was exposed early to the types of conflicts that frequently arise between neighboring property owners, municipalities, and associations.
While he was always personally drawn to law, his specific legal focus was driven by firsthand personal experiences growing up on an inland lake in northern Michigan, where his family has maintained a homestead for over half a century. Carey’s father took an active role in local issues affecting the lake, which gave the young lawyer-to-be a front row seat to how legal principles can directly shape the way people use and enjoy their property. This is particularly true for water law.
“Water law is not just something I studied—it’s something I’ve seen play out in real-world situations for years,” Carey explains. “That perspective helps in identifying not just the legal issues, but the practical realities that often drive these disputes.”
This background informs his approach to cases involving riparian rights, road-end access, dock placement, easements, and boundary disputes—areas where small factual distinctions can significantly affect legal outcomes.
Carey’s dedicated and successful work led to his selection as a “Rising Star” in Michigan’s Super Lawyers publication over the last decade, an award for attorneys younger than 40 years old who have been practicing less than ten years. Only 2.5 percent of the state’s lawyers are named to the list every year.
A Litigation-Focused Approach to Complex Disputes
Real estate, riparian rights, and water law are the core pillars of Dane Carey’s legal practice, and the cases found in this niche are highly fact-specific—even more so than many other legal subfields. Real estate and property disputes in Michigan often involve overlapping legal doctrines, historical land use patterns, and incomplete or ambiguous records. Carey’s work frequently requires integrating title analysis, survey data, historical documentation, and witness testimony into a cohesive legal strategy.
His experience includes handling disputes involving adverse possession, prescriptive easements, boundary lines, and access rights, as well as conflicts involving public road ends and inland lake use—issues that are particularly prevalent in northern Michigan. “These cases are rarely straightforward,” he says. “They often require building a clear narrative from fragmented information and positioning that narrative effectively in litigation or negotiation.” Dane Carey and his law partners are some of the few attorneys in the state specializing in this field.
“Our office has developed deep experience in these matters, which brings both efficiency and credibility,” he says. “Judges recognize the issues we handle, and we have established relationships with local and state officials, as well as surveyors and other experts who are often critical to these cases. That combination allows us to move quickly, frame issues effectively, and position cases for the best possible outcome.”
Strategic Guidance for Property Owners
Given the complexity of these matters, Carey emphasizes early legal involvement as a critical factor in protecting property rights. Carey’s advice is simple: Act early, and act strategically.
Delaying legal guidance is one of the most common and costly mistakes a property owner can make, as it can (and frequently does) lead to the loss of valuable rights. Carey advises property owners and businesses to proactively document permissions, clarify access rights, and address ambiguities in title or use before they develop into larger conflicts.
Focused Experience in a Complex Area of Law
Michigan’s extensive network of inland lakes, rivers, and Great Lakes frontage makes water-related property issues a recurring and significant area of legal dispute. These matters often involve not only private property rights, but also regulatory frameworks and public access considerations.
Carey’s practice is centered on navigating these complexities with a focus on clarity, efficiency, and strategic positioning.
“Ultimately, these cases come down to identifying the facts that matter most and applying the law in a way that aligns with how courts actually analyze these issues,” he says. “That requires both technical knowledge and practical experience.”
