Michigan has had “tort reform” coming out of our ears and it has failed to deliver on a single one of its promises

Robert Raitt

This viewpoint was written by my partner, Robert Raitt, a past-president of the Michigan Association for Justice. It was written in response to the insurance industry’s campaign for ever more “tort reform” (ie. how to have politicians increase insurance industry profits), and published in several news outlets.

Here’s a PDF of the viewpoint: “Tort reform” - A failed experiment in legal-social engineering.

Car accident victims, injury lawyers, dodge a bullet

Last week could have been the week that Michigan injury lawyers, insurance companies, and hundreds of others have been watching and waiting for.  Last week, McCormick v. Carrier could have been overturned.  Instead, in two auto accident cases that went up to the “new” Michigan Supreme Court — the first such cases since the November election in which the Republicans retook the highest court — the court took a pass. Those two cases were Wiedyk v. Poisson and Brown v. Blouir.

Here’s my 2 cents as to why.

Which auto law applies to cases filed under Kreiner, before McCormick v. Carrier?

As I’ve previously discussed in my blogs about McCormick v. Carrier, I believe McCormick will apply retroactively to all auto accident cases that had been filed before the decision was released by the Michigan Supreme Court on August 1, 2010. In addition to writing on McCormick, I’ve also spoken on the topic to several hundred auto accident lawyers at the No-Fault Institute seminar and to the State Bar Negligence Section seminar in Grand Rapids, Michigan, last fall.

Now it’s official.

Teaching law students at Wayne State University Law School trial class

On Wednesday, I will have the pleasure of teaching a group of very bright law school students during Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Gleicher’s advanced trial class at Wayne State University Law School.  I will be  analyzing a car accident personal injury case, discussing experts and how to approach discovery and depositions. I’ll especially focus on what Michigan’s auto accident law actually is after McCormick v. Carrier.

State Bar of Michigan Negligence Law Section President David Christensen writes article to help personal injury lawyers better understand Michigan’s new car accident threshold law

Below is an article written by my partner, David Christensen. Dave was recently inducted president of the State Bar of Michigan Negligence Law Section in Grand Rapids. He wrote this article about Michigan’s new auto accident law for members of the negligence section, which is the professional organization for all personal injury lawyers in Michigan – plaintiff and defense.  It’s excellent, and a very good synopsis of Michigan’s auto law over the past six years.

Steve Gursten of Michigan Auto Law will teach other injury attorneys and negligence lawyers at the State Bar of Michigan seminar in Grand Rapids, exactly what the new Michigan Supreme Court case McCormick v. Carrier means

Over the past two months, nearly every personal injury lawyer, insurance claims adjuster, and trial judge has been scrambling trying to figure out what McCormick v. Carrier, weighing in at more than 100 pages, really means for people injured in car accidents in Michigan, as well as the attorneys who fight for them.

“Democratic News” website talks about restoring rights of car accident victims after Michigan Supreme Court ruling McCormick v. Carrier

From time to time, I try to share the posts of real people affected by car accidents, IME doctors or No- Fault insurance. These blogs include posts from real accident victims I’ve been able to help and observations from people - some clients, some not - about how they’ve been treated by auto insurance companies or a claims adjuster, etc.

No-fault insurance lawyer adds two new members to his Shame List

I haven’t updated my shame list in a while. Here are two deserving new additions that Michigan drivers and car accident victims should be aware of.

Michigan Supreme Court ex-Justice Clifford Taylor

Ex-Justice Taylor’s reign on the Michigan Supreme Court will be remembered more for the way that four extreme justices (derisively called the “gang of four” by Justice Elizabeth Weaver), put politics before precedent, stare decisis and the rule of law. Insurance companies in Michigan won big and auto accident victims got hammered.

No-Fault insurance lawyer shares additional tips on what Michigan’s new auto accident law means for car accident victims and personal injury attorneys

This is part two on topics and ideas that I’ll be covering today and tomorrow at the No-Fault Institute Seminar for the Michigan Association for Justice in Southfield. Yesterday, I discussed the objective manifestation requirement and the need to change Michigan’s jury instruction, now that the definition of objective manifestation has been changed with McCormick v. Carrier.  I also discussed how personal injury attorneys would do well to still provide objective proof of physical injuries at trial, even if the legal requirement for doing so has changed after McCormick.

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.