Author: Steven M. Gursten

Accident Attorneys Urge Drivers to Take “No-Texting” Pledge

Our car accident attorneys have seen far too many preventable car accidents resulting from distracted drivers texting and talking on cell phones. Research shows that talking on a cell phone while driving can have the same effect on perception and reaction timing as driving with four drinks in your system, while texting can have the same effect as driving with eight drinks in your system.

Now I’d like to jump on the Oprah bandwagon after her show this week showed millions of Americans just how dangerous this is. Oprah cited a survey finding that 71 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 49 admit they text or talk on the phone while driving. Her show then put young drivers who felt they could text and drive safely, on a  course, showing just how impaired driving becomes when texting. The results are eye-opening.

I’ve said this before and it bears repeating: Texting while driving is a thoughtless act.  But it is also very dangerous and needlessly puts lives at risk. Our message is simple, you can wait until your car is at a stop to send that text or make that phone call.

I’m asking you to take Oprah’s pledge that you will not text and drive. To make it official, take Oprah’s “No Phone Zone” pledge. This means no cell phone use or texting whatsoever in your vehicle. I hope you will become part of preventing needless tragedies from occurring.

Victims of Distracted Driving: The Numbers Don’t Lie

In September 2008, I blogged about a Los Angeles commuter train that crashed into an oncoming freight engine. The accident killed two dozen people and injured 135 — and it was caused because the engineer was texting. After Oprah’s show on distracted driving, her web site had in in-depth article featuring the commuter crash atrocity.

This accident made national headlines, and is an extreme example that distracting driving is claiming lives and destroying families. Sadly, such carnage is a part of our jobs as car accident attorneys. We see people killed and severely injured like this in our own metro Detroit communities. For example, in one of my cases, a trucker was texting and caused a catastrophic truck accident that resulted in my client losing both his legs when his Saturn was literally split in half. The crash occurred in Harrison Township, in Macomb County.

As part of a law firm specializing in auto accidents, I’m extremely pleased Oprah has taken on this important issue. With her following and clout, it can only help spread the word and hopefully resonate with people throughout the country. Trust me, my wife (a big Oprah fan) was waiting for me when I got home after Oprah’s texting show. Most likely, that was repeated hundreds of thousands of times throughout the country.

As Oprah said, “It is my prayer that this show, this day will be a seminal day in your life. Let it be the end, the end of you using a cell phone or sending a text message when you are behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. And until we as a nation decide we’re going to change that, those numbers are only going to go up.”

Sadly, the accident statistics are going up. Latest numbers from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (Summer 2009) prove the act of writing a text message while behind the wheel is one of the most dangerous things a driver can do. That “How R U?” can make a car crash 23 times more likely for truck drivers and six times more likely for most motorists.

Please re-think your actions while driving in Michigan. You could literally save lives, and save yourself.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.

– Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by nayrb7

Related information:

Recent Car Accidents: FAQs

Safe Driving Around Trucks

Tip for Car Accident Lawyers: Prove Texting Caused Accident

10 Foods to Avoid While Driving

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an auto accident attorney. We are always here to help.

We are happy to announce that two personal injury attorneys from Michigan Auto Law have received the largest car accident settlement and verdict in the state for 2009, according to a year-end compilation of trial verdicts and settlements by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Steve Gursten’s settlement was for a serious traumatic brain injury accident in Roseville, which is in Macomb County, Mich. In this case, the metal leg of a traffic sign that was not properly secured, blew through the windshield of the plaintiff’s vehicle, striking her in the head.

David Christensen’s jury verdict was in Lenawee County, where he received a record-breaking verdict for that jurisdiction. His client was hit by a negligent teenage driver and suffered serious injuries, including TBI and a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Top Auto Accident Verdict and Settlement for Second Year in a Row

In 2008, Steve received the highest overall settlement in Michigan, based upon a tragic truck accident wrongful death case in Detroit. He also received the highest reported auto negligence jury verdict that was tried in Macomb County Circuit Court. This case involved a pedestrian who was run over by a pick-up truck.

Read here for more details on Michigan Auto Law’s record-breaking 2008 cases.

In addition to achieving some of the highest car and truck accident settlements each year for injury victims in Michigan, Steve has received the largest jury verdict in four of the past seven years. Michigan Lawyers Weekly wrote about Gursten’s successful record: “…considering the fact that there are approximately 4,000 Michigan attorneys who say they handle personal injury cases as part of their practice, [and over 40,000 in the state] the odds of accomplishing this feat are astronomical.”

With the latest year-end compilation, the attorneys of Michigan Auto Law have received the largest auto negligence jury verdict in the past seven years. Here’s a list of our top verdicts and settlements.

Michigan Auto Law Attorneys Are Here to Protect You

Our greatest satisfaction is obtaining justice for our clients who have been seriously injured or for families who have lost loved ones in auto accidents. Sadly, we realize that lawyers must bring lawsuits to obtain full justice, because often it’s only the threat of litigation that will force some insurance companies and large trucking companies to take full responsibility and change their practices.

We’re proud that we have worked very hard to make Michigan a safer place to live and drive, and that we have been recognized as Leaders in the Law for our efforts to promote truck safety.

Michigan Auto Law  is the largest law firm in the state that practices exclusively in car accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents. Our attorneys want to help you, and will treat you with dignity, caring and respect during these difficult times. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free case evaluation.

Related information:

Choosing the Best Truck Accident Attorney

Top 10 Auto Accident Guide

17 Mistakes that Can Kill Your Auto Accident Case

The long-awaited Michigan Supreme Court hearing on McCormick v. Carrier was Tuesday.  McCormick is the case that will hopefully change Michigan’s long-broken auto threshold law, Kreiner v. Fischer — and restore the rights of injured auto accident victims.

Kreiner is a 2004 Michigan Supreme Court decision that interpreted the no-fault act’s “serious impairment of body function” statute. It establishes the precondition plaintiffs must meet before they can sue for non-economic damages in such a way that many people who suffer serious injuries and who miss months from work, lose their right to bring car accident claims.

Here are some of my thoughts as a personal injury lawyer, based on the hearing and how it will affect our law.

Duration of Impairment from Auto Accidents

If the Republican Michigan Legislature in 1995 had wanted there to be “additional factors” as were judicially created in the Kreiner opinion, they certainly could have done so themselves when drafting the No-Fault Act. It was not for four justices on the Michigan Supreme Court to add hurdles and obstacles to recovery when plaintiffs suffer injuries in car accidents, such as:

* “Course or trajectory”
* “ Most but not all”
* “Self-imposed v. physician-imposed restrictions”
* Added language regarding duration, etc.

The issue of  duration of an impairment was a big part of the discussion in Tuesday’s hearing. However, what the proponents of adding duration as a factor fail to acknowledge, is that a durational requirement is not present in the statute. Rather, duration should be but one of many considerations by a judge or jury when deciding if the serious impairment definition is met.

As I discussed in my blog about Plaggemeyer v. Lee, if an injury occurs for a very short period of duration, a judge should consider this in evaluating whether there was a threshold injury.  Even Justice Cavanaugh got this part wrong in his dissent when he first wrote that there should not be an “added durational requirement,” but then went on to say that “most but not all” of Mr. Kreiner’s life was affected.

Kreiner Erodes Rights Guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution

One thing was missing from Tuesday’s hearing, but it’s an extremely important point: The Kreiner threshold erodes the right to a jury trial by adding to the statutory threshold.  It does so by making a judge decide if a plaintiff meets this judicially-created, ridiculously high standard, and dismissing plaintiffs’ cases inappropriately without allowing a plaintiff to argue before a jury how his or her life was affected.

There is still clearly a role for the trial court judge if an injury is trivial or clearly frivolous (“de minimus,” as our Legislature wrote when creating our no-fault law).  In other words, where no reasonable mind could differ. But in all other cases, a jury can do just as good of a job and should be given the opportunity to do so.

How Bad Has Kreiner v. Fischer Been?

It is worth noting that in the 30 years before Kreiner, there were 150  Michigan appellate court opinions regarding the threshold. In the five years since Kreiner, there have been 246 appellate court decisions.  Of these, the plaintiff has lost 196 times.

The defense argument that changing our current law would add uncertainly, chaos or more appeals, is ludicrous.

It’s also worth mentioning that the 1995 statute defining serious impairment was not simply a
“codification” of Cassidy, as Justice Corrigan inferred in her questioning. Instead, the Legislature deliberately created a more relaxed threshold. Kreiner has made the serious impairment threshold far more restrictive than either Cassidy or DiFranco. How ironic that the plaintiff in Cassidy met the threshold with a fractured leg without surgery and a relatively short duration of actual impairment. Leo Cassidy’s injury was not nearly as serious as the injury and subsequent impairment suffered by Rodney McCormick.

All this should mean that if our current Court feels this new law was a return to Cassidy, or feels the statutory threshold was anything like the serious impairment threshold under Cassidy, that Kreiner must be completely undone.

Who Wants Kreiner to Change?

It is not just plaintiffs’ attorneys who detest Kreiner. There is universal condemnation for it. Defense lawyers, and especially many trial court judges, want a change to Kreiner. And I think what makes everyone so angry about the Kreiner opinion is that it represents unacceptable, agenda-driven judicial activism of the worst kind.

It has come to highlight for both the bench and Michigan bar so much of what is glaringly wrong with our judicial system today. Again, the Michigan Legislature could have added additional factors or more wording to the definition of serious impairment of body function, but deliberately chose not to.  That did not stop the Court in Kreiner from disregarding the plain, unambiguous wording of the statutory definition when it ruled.

We all lose under this politically motivated ruling. It’s worth noting that the independent State Bar of Michigan Negligence Law Section, a neutral group composed of well-respected plaintiff and defense lawyers, came out strongly against Kreiner in its own amicus brief filed in McCormick, as did a number of consumer organizations such as CPAN (Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault), which is made up of dozens of medical groups.

Frankly, anyone who reads this 64-page opinion based upon a clear, unambiguous, plainly-worded and quite short legislative definition of serious impairment of body function knows Kreiner is a bad decision.  If the judges and even the defense lawyers hate Kreiner and what it stands for, it seems the only entity that truly likes the Kreiner decision is the insurance industry.

This is because it effectively gives them immunity that goes far, far beyond what the Michigan Legislature ever intended when they created the Michigan No-Fault Act and then again when they enacted the amendment, 1995 PA 222.  The insurance industry argued years ago that with less third-party claims, Michigan residents would save substantial money on insurance premiums.

Since Kreiner, insurance premiums in Michigan have gone up. Even the Michigan Insurance Commissioner has filed an amicus brief arguing Kreiner was wrongly decided.

Kreiner has caused cynicism and disgust amongst lawyers and judges.  It has deprived hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of completely innocent people who have been seriously injured through no fault of their own.

It has not lowered insurance rates for Michigan drivers.

It’s time for a change.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.

Related information:

Michigan Car Accident Legal Resource Center

A Flowchart Guide to Kreiner

10 Lessons for Michigan Attorneys Handling Car Accidents

Help for Michigan Truck Accident Lawyers

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an auto accident attorney. We can help.

When Susan Al-Maliki was seriously injured in a rear-end car accident, she never thought it would be a Wayne County Circuit Court judge in Detroit who would pose the greatest obstacle to her pain and suffering claim reaching a jury.

Without warning – and without providing her an opportunity to respond – Judge Warfield Moore Jr. dismissed Ms. Al-Maliki’s auto-tort lawsuit for a reason that he alone chose to focus on.

Even though the defense lawyer for the at-fault driver’s insurance company had limited her arguments in her motion to whether Ms. Al-Maliki had satisfied the “serious impairment of body function” threshold (for suing for non-economic damages under Michigan’s no-fault insurance law), Judge Moore took it upon himself to attack the causation element of the case. In other words, he instead focused on whether the car accident caused the plaintiff’s personal injuries.

Judge Moore’s Attack

First, the circuit court judge invited the insurance defense lawyer – who had essentially conceded the causation issue for summary disposition purposes – to pontificate about whether she thought the collision in question caused Ms. Al-Maliki’s injuries. Not surprisingly, after that type of judicial prompting, the  defense lawyer chose to dispute causation.

Second, Judge Moore chose to ignore Ms. Al-Maliki’s improvised rebuttal to the insurance defense lawyer’s remarks. Ms. Al-Maliki’s lawyer pointed out that an IME doctor thought the collision may have led to or exacerbated her injuries.

Finally, Judge Moore announced he had heard enough. He declared there was no evidence of causation and, if there was, it was the plaintiff’s fault for not presenting it to the court. Then Moore threw out the case.

Michigan Court of Appeals Brings Back Common Sense

Outraged, Ms. Al-Maliki appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals. In a tempered, but critical, unanimous published, per curiam opinion in Al-Maliki v. LaGrant, a three-judge panel reversed Judge Moore’s dismissal order, saying:

“The basic requirements of due process in a civil case include notice of the proceeding and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Our review of the record reveals that the basic requirements of notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard have not been satisfied in this case.”

The appellate judges, which included Judges Pat M. Donofrio, David H. Sawyer, and Donald S. Owens, noted the “trial court decided the matter on an issue not before the court at that juncture because defendant clearly conceded causation for purposes of [her] Kreiner [v. Fischer] motion.”

The judges added: By being “dismissive of plaintiff’s counsel” and ignoring his efforts to bring favorable causation evidence to the court’s attention, Judge Moore failed to live up to his “responsibility to provide plaintiff with the opportunity to be heard” on the causation issue, which the “trial court decided to bring up …”

Many Trial Court Judges Replace Precedent

I’ve tried cases in front of Judge Moore.  I like him on a personal level and I should point out that he has always treated me and the other auto accident lawyers in my law firm fairly.  A few years back, Judge Moore did let in triple level hearsay based upon an insurance adjuster’s impressions of medical records from a decade before my client’s crash, but he isn’t the only judge or lawyer in America who sometimes struggles with hearsay evidence.

I hope this case was just a bad day for him.

The far more interesting factor in this case, and the reason I chose to blog about it today, is the judicial warning shot that the Court of Appeals gives loud and clear to all the pro-Kreiner activist judges in Michigan. The greatest tragedy of Kreiner v. Fischer has been the thousands of innocent, injured car accident victims who have lost their day in court due to Michigan’s harsh auto accident injury threshold. But an additional aspect that’s at least as troubling is the feeling that respect for law and precedent has been replaced by political ideology amongst trial court judges — as Kreiner has served as an excuse for some judges to clear their dockets of personal injury cases.

As I said, one bad day in court for Judge Warfield Moore aside, I think this decision was aimed at the pro-Kreiner activist judges throughout Michigan, warning them that the basic elements of fairness and due process must still be followed.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.

– Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by dreamsjung

Related information:

13 Ways to Meet Serious Impairment of Body Function

17 Mistakes that Can Kill Your Auto Accident Case

What is Kreiner v. Fischer?

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an auto accident attorney. We can help.

Michigan Auto Law attorneys warn Ingham Country drivers to beware when driving on high-crash streets

As another bone-chilling winter brings more treacherous driving conditions, our Lansing auto accident lawyers want to make mid-Michigan drivers aware of crash statistics in Ingham County. The Michigan State Police recently published 2008 data for the state’s top 100 high-crash roads – and two stretches of Ingham County made the list. These problem roads are based on the number of car accidents reported to police in Ingham County:

1.    East Grand River Ave. Between North Clippert Street and Saginaw/Grand River cutoff
Not even a quarter-mile in length, this stretch of Grand River was home to 45 auto accidents in 2008, making it No. 13 on the list of Michigan’s top 100 high crash roads.  With the US-127 exit ramps and the Saginaw Street intersection, this area is a busy corridor between Lansing and East Lansing’s Michigan State University campus.

2.    West Grand River Ave. Between Okemos and Marsh Roads
Located in Meridian Township, this stretch of Grand River had 34 car crashes in 2008, making it No. 69 on the list.  With Meridian Mall and numerous restaurants and retail shopping condensed in this area, it’s no surprise this road was one of the worst.

When reviewing the two dangerous roads listed above, keep in mind the sheer volume of crashes doesn’t tell the whole story. There are many risk factors that contribute to car accidents on each road in the Lansing area. For example, a road can have a high number of crashes, yet all of them could result vehicle damage with no injuries.  Another road with a minimal amount of reported crashes could yield more personal injuries – another indicator of how dangerous a street truly is.

Highlights of Lansing Crash Statistics

Michigan State Police data shows that 72 percent of the 316,057 crashes statewide in 2008 happened on road segments. The remainder occurred at intersections. Read here for Michigan’s most dangerous intersections.

Additionally, of the 915 fatal crashes in Michigan last year, more than half involved just one vehicle. These statistics remind us that driving on a quiet stretch of a local road can be just as dangerous as navigating through a packed intersection during rush hour.

The lawyers of Michigan Auto Law have compared 2008 traffic crash facts for Ingham County to 2007 and while overall the number of crashes decreased by 4 percent, the number of fatal crashes slightly increased.  The percentage of crashes on Interstate, US route, state and local streets remained the same as 2007, with more than half (57 percent) of crashes continuing to occur on local streets.

For further statistics on 2008 accidents, visit the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts web site.

How to Protect Yourself

Please exercise more caution than usual when driving around these areas in Lansing. Stay alert, follow traffic signals and maintain a safe distance between you and the car ahead. And exercise extreme caution while driving on East Grand River near US-127.

With so many auto accidents happening in and around Lansing and with Michigan’s notorious no-fault law and time limits to file auto accident lawsuits, it’s wise to keep this accident scene checklist in your glove box. Actions you should take in case of a car accident or truck accident include staying calm and assisting injured passengers, documenting ALL injuries, and writing down as much detailed information as possible such as license plates, location, weather factors and witnesses.

Our auto accident lawyers help many people who have been seriously injured in the Lansing area. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an attorney. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.

–    Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Steve has received the largest jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in four of the past seven years, including 2008, according to a published, year-end verdicts and settlements report.

– Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by Alex E. Priomos

Related information:

17 Mistakes that Can Kill your Car Accident Case

Safe Driving Tips to Prevent Car Accidents

Safe Driving Tips to Prevent Truck Accidents

Michigan Car Accident Attorneys Give Safety Tips That Can Save Your Life

As attorneys specializing in auto accidents for more than 50 years, we have seen countless accidents occur at the hands of negligent drivers.  While all of these cases are tragic, some of the most heartbreaking are car accidents caused by drunk drivers. These crashes are completely preventable, and it’s never an “accident” when someone gets behind the wheel while impaired.

According to MADD, in 2007 12,998 people were killed by drunk drivers who had BAC of .08 or greater. And during the holidays, the percentage of drunk-driving incidents jumps. Drinking and driving should never be an option.  Remember, one careless moment behind the wheel can change lives forever.

On this New Year, Michigan Auto Law would like to give you a handful of important safety tips:

1. Plan ahead: When planning your New Year’s Eve festivities, be sure to include the ride home during the preparation. You can choose a designated driver, have someone who hasn’t been drinking pick you up, or reserve a cab.

2. Drive home a friend who’s had too much to drink: If you have not been drinking, do not let an intoxicated friend get behind the wheel. That way you’ll know your friend didn’t accept a ride from a stranger, drive himself or risk his life and the lives of others.

3. Invite a friend who has had too much to drink to spend the night: He won’t have to return for his car until the next day, and everyone remains safe.

4. Take the keys: Be calm and firm, but be certain to take away the keys from a friend who drinks too much and intends to drive. You can be proactive and take the keys early in the evening.

5. If you don’t know the person well, enlist help: Ask a bartender for help obtaining a drunk person’s keys. Many bars have plans to deal with drivers who drink too much, especially on New Year’s Eve. Don’t hesitate to ask a friend, a host or a family member for assistance.

6. Be aware of drunk drivers: Drunk drivers may weave within their lane, wander from one lane to another, run off the pavement, stop too quickly or slowly, drive too quickly or slowly, disregard traffic signals and signs or drive on the wrong side of the road.

7. Be prepared to drive around intoxicated drivers: When you see a suspected drunk driver, put as much distance as possible between yourself and the suspected drunk driver, advises the State of Michigan. Avoid passing a suspected drunk driver. Let the suspected drunk driver pass you, especially when approaching rapidly. Avoid his uncertain actions. Stay alert. (Here are more safe driving tips.)

8. Don’t become personally involved: If you encounter a suspected drunk driver on the road, get an accurate description of the vehicle and license plate number. Call 911 or an operator for police help. You are most likely to encounter other drivers who have been drinking or using drugs at night or early morning, particularly from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.; on the weekends, especially on holidays.

In a nationwide effort to discourage drunken driving, highway safety agencies will be stepping up law enforcement on the roadways until January 3. For more information on substance abuse and driving, including drunk driving laws, penalties, charges and sentences, visit the State of Michigan Web site.

Please, do not get behind the wheel if you’ve had something to drink, it’s simply not worth it. The lawyers of Michigan Auto Law wish you a very happy, and safe New Year. If you have been in a car accident at the hands of a drunk driver, call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an auto accident lawyer.

— Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Steve has received the largest jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in four of the past seven years, including 2008, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

– Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by Jesse 757

Related Information:

Michigan’s Auto Accident Law Protects Drunk Drivers

Mother of Boy Injured by Drunk Driver Speaks Out

Drug Abuse Among Truckers

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you.

Just Say No: Lawyers Should NOT Take Fees on Voluntarily Paid No-Fault Benefits Like Wage Loss, Replacement Services and Medical Bills

Let me be clear: There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for a Michigan personal injury lawyer to try to take an attorney fee when an auto insurance company is voluntarily paying a crash victim wage loss and replacement services.

This practice by some lawyers who handle car accident cases in Michigan makes me cringe. It represents the worst excesses of my profession; and these personal injury lawyers have no excuse for doing this  They are literally taking thousands of dollars that rightfully belongs to their injured clients for no reason.

If you have been in a car accident, and this is happening to you, this is my advice: Run (don’t walk) away.  Find a respected lawyer who truly really cares about you and is trying to maximize the dollars in your pocket — not his or her own.

But… Attorney Fees on Attendant Care

Ok, I’m a lawyer, so sometimes I have to talk like one.  Here’s one important exception to this black and white issue. It lies with attendant care (AC), also called nursing care services.

Attendant care is so complicated in Michigan, and the insurance abuse and outright fraud by insurance companies is so great, that when it comes to attendant care, it does makes sense to hire a lawyer right away to help you collect these important benefits — even if the insurance company is willing to pay an amount voluntarily.

Here’s the rub: Even with an attorney fee being taken, an experienced attendant care lawyer in Michigan can normally double or triple the hourly rate that an insurance company would otherwise voluntarily pay for attendant care.  Also, an attendant care lawyer can also normally negotiate a higher number of hours per day that attendant care services should be paid.

Finally, after the string of cases allowing an insurance company to avoid paying attendant care, hiring an experienced no-fault insurance lawyer can stop insurance companies from later trying to evade paying the full value of attendant care services.

The legal pitfalls and obstacles are mind boggling in the area of attendant care law.  Cases in Michigan have literally allowed insurance claims adjusters to lie to their own insureds about their right to collect attendant care.  And there are many hyper-technical traps that allow an insurance company to get out of paying for attendant care, even when they have already made a promise to pay.

In the next in my series of blogs on insurance company abuse in Michigan (and the resulting excesses and abuses that has caused lawyers and doctors to “stare into the abyss”), I’d like to discuss the false Internet advertising and outright fraud committed by some personal injury lawyers both in Michigan and throughout the country.  It’s important for accident victims to know that lawyer advertising on the web today is truly the wild west, with very little oversight and regulation.

Now, it’s more important than ever to look for trusted, independent third-party reviews of lawyers.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Steve has received the largest jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in four of the past seven years, including 2008, according to a published, year-end verdicts and settlements report.

Related information:

For Michigan Lawyers: Pursuing Auto Injury Claims in Michigan

Michigan No-Fault Benefits

Car Accident Victim Testimonial

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 to speak with a lawyer. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.

We at Michigan Auto Law wish our clients, friends and families happy holidays!   We are truly honored to be able to help so many good people who have been seriously injured through no fault of their own.  We know our clients are depending on us, whether it be with an excellent settlement for a car accident, or with an insurance company that is improperly suspending wage loss and medical bills. We are always here for you and we will continue to fight for you and provide the best possible legal representation.

Should you or a loved one need help in the event of an auto accident, feel free to call our specialized personal injury law firm 24/7 over the holidays with any questions or concerns.

Please, drive safely and enjoy this special time of the year.

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with a lawyer. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.

Why some fix people quickly, and others scam the system in Michigan

For my latest year-end reflections on automobile insurance company abuse in Michigan, and the abuses that have sprung up on both sides as a result, I’d like to talk about chiropractors.

Let me start by saying that I personally go see a chiropractor.  About once or twice a year, my back or neck goes “out.”  As a lawyer specializing in serious personal injury cases, I probably know or have deposed almost every top medical specialist in the state. But I see chiropractors because  peer-reviewed medical studies have repeatedly shown that for acute injuries and trauma, chiropractic care is more effective than traditional medical doctors and pills.

One great example of this is the US Olympic teams. Olympic rules allow these teams to travel with only one doctor, and yet these elite athletes choose to travel with chiropractors. Also, look to the sidelines of most professional sporting events, and you’ll see players being adjusted by chiropractors.

Chiropractic care is functional, whereas traditional medicine centers more on processes, like disease. That’s why chiropractors actually have higher success rates at treating mechanical and functional injuries, such as neck or back injuries sustained by many car accident victims.

However, there is absolutely no reason for a person to see a chiropractor every day for a year – or for years on end.

Sadly, today there is a very small group of dishonest chiropractors.  Worse yet, these dishonest chiropractors work in conjunction with a small group of crooked personal injury lawyers. These lawyers — who I personally feel tarnish the reputation of the legal profession — deliberately sacrifice the welfare of their clients and violate their most important fiduciary responsibilities. They do this by referring clients to see their chiropractor buddies – every day – for years.

Here’s the game:

* The crooked chiropractor works up a bill for $100,000 or more;

* The crooked attorney files a no-fault lawsuit so the client’s insurance company will cover the exorbitant medical bill and;

* The attorney takes one-third of the medical bills.

In turn:

* The auto insurance company rightly fights the huge chiropractic bill (I can’t believe I am typing this, since Michigan insurance companies normally refuse to pay any bills, no matter how honest and legitimate);

* The insurance company usually settles the case and ends up paying half or less;

* The crooked lawyer settles the $100,000 chiropractic bill for $50,000 and takes his one-third cut of the $50,000 and;

* The chiropractor keeps the rest.

That crooked lawyer just made more money on the chiropractor’s bill then he ever would have helping his client with his auto case. He is deliberately sacrificing his client’s case, settling for nuisance value, so he can make a fortune on referring people in volume to chiropractors.

Prevent Legal Fraud and Chiropractic Abuse

I was honored to speak two years ago to several hundred insurance company adjusters.  Although I speak regularly, this wasn’t my usual audience, but I just  couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell a room full of insurance claims adjusters all the things I think they do wrong!

But I also mentioned this during my speech, because frankly, most of these insurance companies and defense lawyers know exactly who  the small handful of lawyers and chiropractors are who are doing this – and they should do something about it.

This type of unethical activity unnecessarily tarnishes the reputations of both chiropractors and lawyers.  And this adds thousands of dollars in medical and legal fraud to our own no-fault insurance system in Michigan.

To prevent just this type of abuse from happening in our own law firm, and to eliminate even the temptation, Michigan Auto Law as a general rule does not take any attorney fees on medical bills for medical providers. Every once in a while, our lawyers make an exception, but this occurs usually, for example, when the doctor or hospital wants to hire us to collect payment for their own medical services, because it’s cheaper than it would be for the hospital to hire its own lawyer to pursue these medical bills. We’ll also take fees on medical bills when there’s only a few weeks left on the statute of limitations and the doctors are basically begging us to protect their bills so they aren’t completely time-barred by Michigan’s harsh one- year back rule.  Still, these cases are very rare.

So if your lawyer is forcing you – yes, forcing you —  to treat with a chiropractor everyday for months, even after you’ve said you’re feeling better or you are ready to go back to work, or that it isn’t helping and you want to be referred to a different medical specialist, my advice is this: Run away.  Go find an honest lawyer to represent you.  Find a real lawyer who cares about you, your car accident case and your best welfare.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Steve has received the largest jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in four of the past seven years, including 2008, according to a published, year-end verdicts and settlements report.

Related information:

17 Mistakes That Can Kill Your Auto Accident Case

Basics of Michigan No-Fault Law

Staring into the Abyss of Insurance Company Abuse in Michigan

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Southfield, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 to speak with an attorney. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.