I had a deposition this week that raised a recurring issue in many of my more serious truck accident cases, and I would like to share it with my fellow truck accident lawyers. After any serious truck accident, where the trucking company has seriously injured or killed someone, it is now common for the truck company’s insurance carrier to send rapid response teams to the scene of the accident. These rapid response teams will usually include accident reconstructionists, adjusters and even the defense lawyer for the truck company.

A Flow Chart Guide to Michigan’s Car Accident Threshold Law

Last week, when I blogged about the Michigan Supreme Court’s 2004 Kreiner v. Fischer decision — the case that has ravaged the rights of car accident and truck accident victims in Michigan — I received a request asking if I could specifically explain Kreiner, which sets forth Michigan’s auto accident threshold law. Here’s a flow chart I use when leading seminars for Michigan lawyers on the state’s automobile accident threshold law, and when teaching the third-party no-fault class at Cooley Law School every year with Professor Borin. You can click on it to view an enlarged version.

As personal injury lawyers who handle automobile negligence lawsuits, we normally write about car accidents and truck accidents in Michigan. But given the recent headlines regarding the national outbreak of swine flu, our lawyers wanted to pass along these important tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s our most sincere hope that our clients and friends are protected from this new strain of influenza.

On February 5, Steve Gursten was interviewed by ABC News, for its nationally syndicated radio show, The Law Business Insider. Hosted by Steve Murphy, the show features America’s premier lawyers and business executives. Steve Gursten was chosen for the interview because he received the largest 2008 settlement and auto negligence verdict in Michigan, according to a year-end verdicts and settlements report by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

A new Court of Appeals ruling says family members providing attendant care to injured must be compensated what agencies pay their employees for comparable services — instead of what agencies charge

Michigan attendant care lawyers are predicting a drastic setback for families providing attendant care to loved ones who have suffered catastrophic injuries in car accidents. Specifically, we are expecting Michigan auto insurance companies to aggressively reduce the hourly rates they compensate people providing attendant care to injured family members.

The car accident lawyers of Michigan Auto Law wish our treasured readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Our blog will resume December 2.

We’ve received a lot of feedback after Wednesday’s post on the Ten Worst Automobile Insurance Companies in Michigan, which highlights Allstate Insurance Company as the absolute worst. Here are some additional thoughts, compliments of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ).

The MAJ stresses that families must consider choosing an automobile insurance company that has a record of taking care of policy holders when shopping for insurance coverage, or when deciding whether to renew an existing policy. “It is tragic to pay for a policy with an insurance company (that) has a record of cheating its own policyholders,” says MAJ President Judith Susskind. “Those who file a claim for coverage after an accident or disaster are the ones who are in dire need of help…”

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. 

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 3rd, 2008, the conservative, 4-justice majority of the Michigan Supreme Court, referred to as the “Gang of Four” by many Michigan personal injury lawyers, wiped out all lawsuits and legal claims based on consortium in any car accident caused by government employees.  Parents, children and spouses are now barred from making any claim for loss of society, companionship, or consortium for the injury or death to a loved one if the car accident has been caused by a governmental employee.   This terrible decision is still limited to lawsuits against a governmental entity based upon the negligence of a governmental employee in causing a motor vehicle accident.  Michigan lawyers can still bring a loss of consortium claim for personal injury or death to a parent, spouse or child after car accidents not been caused by a governmental employee.
 
Wesche v. Mecosta County Road Commission:
The decision, Wesche v. Mecosta County Road Commission was authored by Justice Corrigan, the same justice who has ironically called herself a “champion of children,” despite authoring such previous travesties as Cameron v. ACIA.  Justice Corrigan ruled in Wesche that the parents of an unborn child killed in a car accident caused by a negligent driver employed by the government, cannot recover anything for the loss of society and companionship of their child.