Most of us don’t like to think that we may be involved in a car accident, and no one wants to believe that they might end up in an emergency room. Unfortunately, automobile accidents can occur at any time.  While emergency situations are unpredictable, that doesn’t mean you can’t be better prepared when an accident occurs.

A recent article on CNN.com, “If You Get Hit by a Bus Tomorrow,” gives readers 5 helpful steps to be better prepared for an automobile accident.  The article includes potential life-saving suggestions, such as keeping medical information in your wallet and glove box and storing emergency numbers in your cell phone where paramedics can easily find them.

On June 12th, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a decision in Stokes v. Chrysler which will have a devastating effect on injured workers and Michigan workers compensation lawyers.  Workers injured on the job in Michigan will be the biggest losers, as the 4 activist justices on the Michigan Supreme Court (Justices Taylor, Corrigan, Young and Markman) have handed Michigan workers compensation insurance companies a stunning victory.

Today Michigan has the worst automobile accident law in the country.  But last week, Republican Senator Bruce Patterson, with the help of Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, took an important step to change that by moving a bill to the Michigan Senate floor to finally fix the terrible Kreiner v. Fisher case.   For the past 4years, thousands of Michigan citizens who have been injured in car accidents have been denied the right to a jury trial and fair treatment in the courts.   For example, as of June 16, 2008, 189 out of 208 Michigan citizens injured in automobile accidents have lost their case in the Michigan Court of Appeals, according to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly. 

Truck accident lawyers have grown increasingly frustrated with this trend of unfit truck drivers coming to Michigan and causing serious crashes.  Why Michigan?  Dangerous truck drivers find work more easily here in comparison to other states.  There are no punitive damages for trucking companies who knowingly hire drivers with a negligent history.  However, there may be another source of additional compensation for victims and family members harmed by unfit Michigan truck drivers. 

An important theme from the No-Fault Law Institute Seminar this past week was to encourage Michigan trial lawyers to take on smaller cases against auto insurance companies when they deliberately refuse to pay out on small first-party auto claims that they are clearly obligated to pay.    If there are enough Michigan lawyers willing to take on these bad faith insurance companies over smaller cases, perhaps as a profession lawyers can start to make these insurance companies behave better and honor claims that should be paid.  And if you heed the following lesson from a fellow Michigan trial lawyer, you can make a decent living while protecting the public. 

On Friday, June 6, 2008, Michigan Auto Law lawyers Steven Gursten and David Christensen will be speaking at the Michigan No-Fault Institute Seminar in Southfield, Michigan.   This seminar is presented through the Michigan Association for Justice, for lawyers who handle car accident injury cases, truck accident cases, and attendant care and other no fault first party cases stemming from motor vehicle accidents.
 
Steve will be performing a live closing argument demonstration in a sample motor vehicle accident case where the plaintiff has suffered a traumatic brain injury.   The defense will claim the car accident did not cause a brain injury and that the plaintiff is malingering. 
 
David will be lecturing and performing a live jury selection demonstration in a “PIP case” involving a claim for Michigan attendant care benefits.  Attendant care no-fault benefits are available under Michigan’s No-Fault laws for people who suffer severe or catastrophic injury from automobile accidents.
 
Finally, Steve will also be presenting this week at the Association of Interstate Truck Lawyers of America on May 30, 31 and June 1st in St. Louis, Missouri.  Steve and Larry Gursten are both on the Board of Governors, representing the State of Michigan, in the AITLA.  Steve is also the chair of the American Association for Justice Interstate Truck Litigation Group.  The seminar will cover important topics for lawyers throughout the United States who handle serious truck accident injury cases, including “expanding theories of liability” and “damages” in truck accident litigation. 
 

A recent case shows how dangerous it is when anyone injured in a car accident with a US postal truck, or any car or truck owned and operated by the federal government (DEA, ATF, FBI, etc) does not comply with the requirements of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).  Unlike all other car accidents and truck accidents in Michigan, which have a 3 year statute of limitations to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit, with no required period to give notice of the injury and accident, claims against federal government vehicles must adhere to a more stringent set of rules.

We have frequently discussed many of the simply outrageous legal decisions that have been issued in recent years by four justices of the Michigan Supreme Court.  Decisions such as Kreiner, Cameron, and Devillers have essentially destroyed the fundamental principles underlying Michigan’s no fault auto insurance system over the past decade.

Earlier this month, we posted “Do I Have a Good Case?”, illustrating 8 inconsistent examples of how Michigan’s car accident injury laws unfairly impact real people, with identical injuries from car accidents.   All examples were based on actual cases, although one example (Gagne v. Schulte) stands out as so extreme, it has been questioned by our readers as “unrealistic”.

Sadly, that case was all too real.  Krista Gagne was 21 years old when her car was hit by a drunk driver.   Krista suffered very serious injuries, including a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus that ultimately required reconstructive knee replacement surgery.  She lost over a year from work, had extensive physical therapy, and ultimately lost her job. 

On April 1st, 2008 the New York Times reported on the practice of automobile and disability insurance companies overloading the Social Security Administration by forcing people to apply for Social Security Disability.  It is a practice that Michigan social security disability lawyers and lawyers who specialize in helping people injured in car accidents already know too well. 

If someone is injured in a car crash in Michigan, the first party no fault insurer (the insurance company responsible for paying your no fault PIP insurance benefits) can literally force a person to repeatedly apply for social security disability (SSD), and they can suspend and even terminate no fault insurance benefits if that person refuses to apply or refuses to continually appeal the disability determination.