Most Michigan automobile insurance companies should be ashamed of themselves. Since they are making record-breaking profits from personal injury protection (PIP) cases while Michigan struggles through a financial crisis, Gov. Jennifer Granholm asked local insurance companies in her 2009 State of the State Address on Feb. 3 to cap their rates just for a year, while the Legislature works to enact comprehensive insurance reform. Sadly, the no-fault insurance attorneys of Michigan Auto Law are not surprised by the response. Most large insurance companies, including AAA, State Farm, Farm Bureau, and Allstate, WOULD NOT abide by Granholm’s request. The “bad list” of Michigan auto insurance companies includes:

On Wednesday, truck accident lawyer Steven M. Gursten was honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly among the state’s top 25 attorneys. The group of elite lawyers includes Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer, director of the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office James Neuhard and Norman Fell, founder of the Cooley Law School Innocence Project.

Steve was chosen for his efforts in making dangerous truck companies safer, and for receiving both the top Michigan settlement and personal injury auto accident jury verdict in 2008, according to a year-end verdicts and settlements report by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

If Drunk Driver is Uninsured, Grieving Families Could be Unable to Collect Damages

Last week, the promising lives of four teenagers were abruptly taken when a drunk driver barreled into their car on Gratiot Ave. in Roseville. As if losing their children to an untimely, senseless death isn’t enough, the families of the four St. Clair Shores teenagers may not receive a financial recovery for personal injury/wrongful death damages, Michigan auto accident lawyers say, because the drunk driver may not have been covered by automobile insurance.

The shocking death of Natasha Richardson has certainly struck a chord with the TBI lawyers of Michigan Auto Law, our clients and friends. Yesterday I posted a blog about the reality of “Talk and Die Syndrome.” For further  information, check out this story from ABC News. It includes some great basic questions and answers for people who are concerned and confused about traumatic brain injury, such as: How soon after a head injury can you tell whether you’re looking at a mild concussion or something life-threatening?

The tragic loss of actress Natasha Richardson illustrates something that lawyers who help people with traumatic brain injury from auto accidents see all of the time: People can appear deceptively normal following a car accident — but still suffer severe brain injury.

According to Dr. Carmelo Graffagnino, director of Duke University Medical Center’s Neurosciences Critical Care Unit: “It’s very common for someone who’s had a fall or been in a car accident to appear perfectly lucid just after the impact but then to suddenly, rapidly deteriorate.”

Robert M. Raitt, a Michigan Auto Law partner, obtained a $1.15 million settlement for a client who sustained a traumatic brain injury and hand injuries when he was hit by a truck’s wayward crane arm.  Bob’s recent settlement is one of the top 2008 Michigan truck accident settlements (Steven Gursten’s Nunez settlement was the largest reported settlement in Michigan in 2008, involving a fatal truck crash). Bob’s award shows how a truck accident lawyer’s specialized knowledge of trucking laws can lead to better settlements to protect people when truck companies break safety laws.

I recently attended the American Bar Association’s Transportation Megaconference in New Orleans, LA. Regulation updates and legislative proposals were discussed in great detail by insurance claims executives for trucking companies and insurance companies, mostly for defense lawyers. But the greatest lesson I brought home to our Michigan truck accident lawyers is a scary one for victims of catastrophic truck accidents: Following a truck crash, victims immediately become targets for seemingly unethical settlement attempts by trucking  companies and their insurers.

Steve Gursten was recently interviewed by ABC News for its nationally syndicated radio show, The Law Business Insider. The show is hosted by Steve Murphy and features America’s premier lawyers. Here is a link to the radio interview with Steve, where he spoke extensively about egregious truck driver negligence that occurred in Michigan’s largest reported settlement case, Nunez v. Utica Transit Mix et. al.

In addition to achieving some of the highest car and truck accident settlements each year for injury victims in Michigan, Steve Gursten has received the largest reported jury verdict for four of the past seven years.

Last week I received an excellent blog comment from a local trucker following a post about a wrongful death truck accident I handled. He wrote that too may truckers get a bad rap because of a minority of unfit or careless truck drivers. But our truck accident lawyers realize that the majority of semi-truck drivers are good people, who care about safety and follow the rules. Sadly, good truckers are sometimes put under a lot of pressure from bad truck companies or safety directors who put profit over public safety. The concerned trucker’s remarks epitomize my point.

The truck accident lawyers of Michigan Auto Law and the American Association for Justice are pushing to raise the insurance requirements of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which sets minimum insurance standards for interstate trucks. We want economic regulations to reflect economic reality, as the standards haven’t been adjusted in nearly 30 years, and are now completely incapable of compensating truck accident victims with serious personal injuries.

According to the act, the minimum insurance standards for interstate trucks range from $750,000 for a basic truck to $5 million for trucks carrying hazardous materials. Keep in mind that $750,000 in 1980 equals just under $2 million when adjusted for inflation in 2009 — and is worth only $292,000 in today’s dollars.