I’m Bob Raitt, a partner of Michigan Auto Law. Recently, I moderated a seminar on traumatic brain injury for the Michigan Association for Justice. Steve Gursten and I agreed to sponsor this seminar for Michigan personal injury lawyers, as our law firm handles so many car accident cases that have caused traumatic brain injuries and devastated lives. The lawyers at our firm are experts on the subject, because we deeply care about helping people with brain injuries.

As a member of the American Association for Justice Traumatic Brain Injury Group, it bothers me that so many lawyers turn away traumatic brain injury cases, believing that representing the victims is too difficult.

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms that lawyers hear from clients who have suffered traumatic brain injury after an accident. In fact, 50-75 percent of people with traumatic brain injury report fatigue, and more than half of these people report fatigue as their worst symptom, according to the Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2008).

Still, many personal injury attorneys fail to adequately convey fatigue to insurance companies, defense attorneys and juries. That’s because fatigue can be so difficult for lawyers to prove. In this respect, fatigue is very similar to traumatic headaches, which are also quite common, and yet often completely ignored.

On Sunday, the Macomb Daily newspaper published a front-page story about Steven Gursten’s recent jury trial in Macomb County, Michigan; which resulted in a $5.65 million verdict for his clients, Tony and Lisa Broeren of Bruce Township. Tony was seriously injured in a truck accident after a friend accidentally ran him over and propelled him head-first into a log cabin.

The seven-day trial in Macomb County Circuit Court had more than 20 witnesses. The verdict is one of the largest Macomb County has ever seen for an auto accident. Doctors say Tony — who suffered crushing injuries to his leg that have required many surgeries and a traumatic brain injury for starters — will never be able to return to competitive employment. Prior to the November 2006 accident, he was an electro-mechanical engineer.

Last Wednesday, a Macomb County jury returned a verdict of $5.65 million for my client, Tony Broeren. Tony was seriously injured when he was literally run-over by a pick-up truck. For starters, he suffered crush injuries to his leg that have required many surgeries and a traumatic brain injury.

The person responsible for the accident, Roy Bates, was a Chrysler engineer who was driving a Chrysler test vehicle at the time. Under Michigan law, Chrysler was financially responsible for the jury verdict. But due to a quirk in Michigan law, Chrysler was not allowed to be named a defendant in the case.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has clarified the test for medical causation under the no fault act in a recent published opinion, Scott v. State Farm. Our team of Michigan personal injury attorneys believes the test might make Michigan insurance companies think twice before denying payment to victims of serious auto accidents.

How Can All lawyers in Michigan be The Best?
As a lawyer myself, I have always been bothered by how many lawyers advertise.  And the internet seems to make most of these problems worse.  When it comes to selecting a lawyer to help you, there are very few rules to protect the public from false or misleading advertising.  This lack of rules is the reason why so many personal injury lawyers have websites and advertisements calling themselves the “best lawyer in Michigan” or “Michigan’s top personal injury lawyer.”  

I was surprised by the recent editorial by Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan that appeared in the Detroit Free Press on December 19, 2007.  Justice Corrigan wrote about her efforts in protecting children.  I note Justice Corrigan chose to ignore her own role in the Cameron case from last year in her article.   For Michigan lawyers already familiar with Cameron, and for those lawyers representing children injured in car accidents throughout Michigan, it seems that Justice Corrigan’s notion of protecting children does not extend to protecting children who suffer serious injury in automobile accidents in this state.   The Cameron decision has and will continue to negatively impact the lives of thousands of children.    
 
Justice Corrigan helped write, and signed onto, the majority opinion in Cameron v. ACIA, 476 Mich 55 (2006).  In Cameron, the Michigan Supreme Court stripped away critical legal protections for children injured in accidents.  Justice Corrigan ruled that Michigan’s no fault “one year back rule” cannot be tolled for both minor children and for the legally incompetent, such as people incapacitated due to traumatic brain injury.  As a result of Corrigan’s decision, a four year old child injured in a car accident in Michigan is now treated the same way as an adult when complying with the one year back rule of the Michigan No Fault Act.   A person rendered legally incompetent due to a traumatic brain injury or other incapacity has the same obligation, even if they cannot understand the legal requirements.   It is an insane opinion that changed 26 years of Michigan law and now holds young injured children to the same legal standard as competent adults. 

Dealing with a “Normal MRI” is a common problem that many lawyers face when helping traumatic brain injury accident victims. A normal MRI is something that doctors who treat brain injuries actually expect will be normal in most brain injury cases. The misconception that many people have is that if a person truly has suffered a serious traumatic brain injury, an MRI scan of the brain will detect the injury.