Personal injury lawyer Steven Gursten teaches what McCormick v. Carrier means for accident victims and lawyers at Michigan Association for Justice legal seminar in Southfield

Michigan has an important new auto accident law that will result in enormous changes in the months ahead for car accident victims, personal injury lawyers for both the plaintiff and defense of these accident claims, and the auto insurance companies in this state. The new law was released by the Michigan Supreme Court on August 1, 2010, and the case is McCormick v. Carrier.

Michigan Auto Law thanks Justice Elizabeth Weaver for her dedication, service to Michigan

A momentous sea change has just occurred on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver resigned. And a short time later, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Alton Davis to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Justice Weaver was an excellent justice.  A Republican from Northern Michigan, she stood up for the integrity of the Court. This caused her to come increasingly into conflict with the three remaining arch-conservative and activist justices – Young, Markman and Corrigan.

Dr. Mary Kneiser’s IME lawsuit is strong example of independent medical examiner abuse

This is the last post in my mini series of blogs on independent medical examiners. Mary Kneiser is a busy IME doctor, and has been for many years. Dr. Kneiser has been hired by auto insurance companies and personal injury defense law firms to do one time “examinations” of injured plaintiffs, write reports and testify. Ask any experienced personal injury attorney about her, and you will get an earful.

No-fault insurance lawyer breaks down the proposed independent medical exam rule 500.2252

This is the third post in my mini-series of blogs about independent medical examinations (IMEs) and how many notorious IME doctors make a great living claiming people with serious personal injuries are able to return to work and no longer need medical treatment. After all, there is little downside for them. The money is great, and in a state without many of the protections that exist in other states, insurance companies can select the nastiest “cut-off” doctors they can find to stop paying needed wage loss and medical bills to their own insured customers.

Michigan TBI attorney warns auto accident victims who have suffered traumatic brain injury about a popular insurance medical examiner

On Tuesday, I wrote about the havoc “independent” medical examiners are bringing to car accident victims and the No-Fault insurance system in Michigan. Which brings me now to John Baker, Ph.D. This man is a neuropsychologist in Oakland County (Royal Oak), who is often hired by auto insurance companies for “second opinion” defense examinations of injured car accident victims who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

No-Fault insurance lawyer explains how “independent” medical examiners devastate lives after serious car accidents and undermine our No-Fault system

When people suffer personal injury in  car accidents in Michigan, their auto insurance companies must pay No-Fault insurance benefits for all auto accident-related medical treatment that’s reasonably necessary for the injured person’s recovery and rehabilitation. By simply filing an application for No-Fault insurance benefits within one year of the car accident date with their own No-Fault insurers, auto accident victims are provided with legally mandated No-Fault insurance so they can try to heal and put their lives back together.

Personal injury attorney exposes insurance companies threats and scare tactics - and huge profits - following McCormick v. Carrier

The insurance industry in Michigan sure must think we are pretty dumb. Within hours of the monumental McCormick v. Carrier being issued by the Michigan Supreme Court on August 1, 2010, a lobbying group representing 90 Michigan insurance companies issued a press release to the media threatening to raise auto insurance premiums. They say, the McCormick case will “seriously undermine the viability of the state’s No-Fault statute.”

Personal injury attorney says Traverse City newspaper article puts Michigan Supreme Court partisan judges in their place

The Traverse City Record-Eagle ran an editorial the other day that I wish could be required reading for every Michigan voter.  Because behind the auto insurance company propaganda campaign threatening to raise insurance rates after the McCormick v. Carrier decision last week, there lies a simple truth that has been ignored by almost every newspaper in Michigan.

Attorney boils down the new 100+ page Michigan Supreme Court case McCormick v. Carrier for lawyers

One week ago, the Michigan Supreme Court restored common sense to the state’s auto accident law with its ruling on McCormick v. Carrier, an auto accident case from Flint.  McCormick v. Carrier overturned Kreiner v Fischer, and returned important legal rights to potentially hundreds of car accident victims who were told by Michigan lawyers that they did not have a case under the old auto law as interpreted - incorrectly - by the Kreiner Court. Over the past week, nearly every personal injury lawyer, insurance claims adjuster, and trial judge has been scrambling trying to figure out what this decision, weighing in at more than 100 pages, really means for people injured in car accidents in Michigan.

Personal injury lawyer’s observations based upon yesterday’s MDTC seminar for attorneys defending car accident cases in Michigan

I’ll be speaking on September 1, 2010 to the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) - formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association - and again on October 1 for the State Bar of Michigan and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education annual meeting in Grand Rapids on my thoughts on how the recent case of McCormick v. Carrier will change how car accident lawyers in Michigan practice. So, I thought it would be fun to listen in and hear what the defense bar is saying to its members and the insurance adjusters that defend auto accident claims at yesterday’s Michigan Defense Trial Counsel seminar.