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How I got my start: My advice for new attorneys

May 10, 2013

The question of how to differentiate yourself from the thousands of lawyers in your market is more important than ever before

Advice for young law school students

How can you possibly distinguish and differentiate yourself in an overcrowded legal market, where the supply is greater than the demand, and where the competition is more fierce than ever before?

And how can you possibly do this as a new lawyer, competing against lawyers with decades more experience than you? I was recently invited to publish a post with my advice for new lawyers on Lawyernomics, an Avvo blog that focuses more on the business of law.

This is a preview of How I got my start: My advice for new attorneys. Read the full post (468 words, 1 image, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)
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My response to Insurance Institute of Michigan director Pete Kuhnmuench on auto insurance company profits and how they affect Michigan drivers’ pocketbooks

May 9, 2013
Peter Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute Of Michigan

Peter Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute Of Michigan

I was recently featured as a guest writer for the Detroit Free Press, on the topic of No Fault reform. Here’s my article:

Steven M. Gursten: Profits, not medical claims, drive up the cost of auto insurance in Michigan

The crux of my article was that Michigan auto insurance companies collected more than $2 billion more in auto premiums in 2011 than they paid out in claims – and pocketed the difference, according to data provided to Michigan Auto Law by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation.

This is a preview of My response to Insurance Institute of Michigan director Pete Kuhnmuench on auto insurance company profits and how they affect Michigan drivers’ pocketbooks. Read the full post (1451 words, 1 image, estimated 5:48 mins reading time)
Posted in Michigan Car Accidents, Michigan No Fault Law | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

8 Steps to Better – and Safer – Street Motorcycle Riding

May 9, 2013

safe motorcycle street riding tips

As part of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, I’d like to share another guest post from Dan Petterson, president of SMARTER motorcycle safety group, which stands for Skilled Motorcyclist Association –Responsible, Trained and Educated Riders.

There have been many recent motorcycle accident deaths due to the helmet repeal, and fatal crashes due to unsafe motorcycle riding, like the recent one I read about in the news in Madison Heights, Michigan, where a motorcyclist was seen doing wheelies and going 100 miles on the highway before he crashed.

This is a preview of 8 Steps to Better – and Safer – Street Motorcycle Riding. Read the full post (2004 words, 1 image, estimated 8:01 mins reading time)
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The person who inspired L. Brooks Patterson to support No Fault

May 8, 2013

Meet Erica Nader Coulston, car accident  survivor, quadriplegic and founder of Walk the Line to Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has voiced his strong and vocal support for Michigan’s No Fault insurance system. And now we learn a little more as to why.

In this latest interview with attorney Steven Gursten of Michigan Auto Law, Mr. Patterson discusses one of the personal inspirations that caused him to become a staunch supporter of Michigan No Fault auto insurance.  Meet car accident and spinal cord injury survivor Erica Nader Coulston, and learn more about the work she’s doing for auto accident victims who are paralyzed and seriously injured at her medical rehabilitation facility in Southfield, Michigan, called Walk the Line to Spinal Cord Injury Recovery.

This is a preview of The person who inspired L. Brooks Patterson to support No Fault. Read the full post (753 words, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)
Posted in Michigan No Fault Benefits, Michigan No Fault Insurance, Michigan No Fault Law | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Driverless cars: Who’s liable in an accident?

May 7, 2013

Auto accident attorney discusses crash liability in the future world of driverless cars

Google driverless car

If you could see me now, behind my computer while typing out this post, I would raise my coffee cup to you and drink a toast to my own obsolescence.  How wonderful it will be, hopefully in my children’s lifetime, when the enormous waste of our time, our productivity and our resources, and most especially the tragic cost of human life can all be avoided.  The future world of driverless automated cars holds this promise.  It is a promise that we should all be very excited about.

This is a preview of Driverless cars: Who’s liable in an accident?. Read the full post (1193 words, 1 image, estimated 4:46 mins reading time)
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National Youth Traffic Safety Month – 2013

May 6, 2013

Michigan Auto Law attorney speaks to students as part of National Youth Traffic Safety Month – Let’s do our part to prevent teen car accidents today

I think every parent can relate to the anxiety inducing evenings of waiting for teen drivers to arrive home safely.

Summer is upon us.  And for teenage drivers, the highest numbers of car accidents (including car crashes involving injury and death) occurs in the summer. And car accidents are the leading cause of death for teen drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: In 2010 (the latest statistics available), seven teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle accident injuries.

This is a preview of National Youth Traffic Safety Month – 2013. Read the full post (390 words, 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)
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Michigan House panel votes to end unlimited medical benefits for auto accident victims

May 5, 2013

Michigan House Insurance Committee approves HB 4612

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled House Insurance Committee approved HB 4612, which would make sweeping changes to Michigan’s No Fault law and specifically, it’s currently unlimited, lifetime medical benefits for auto accident victims.

The committee approved capping No Fault medical benefits at $1 million and $250,000 for injured motorcyclists.

The committee also passed four amendments to HB 4612. All five amendments passed, making the following changes to the bill:

  • Removed the $50,000 cap on vehicle and home modifications.
  • Removed the 7 year limit on home modifications.
  • Removed the 16 hour limit on home care by agencies.
This is a preview of Michigan House panel votes to end unlimited medical benefits for auto accident victims. Read the full post (217 words, 1 image, estimated 52 secs reading time)
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Michigan among most dangerous states for truck accidents

May 4, 2013

Michigan ranks among the top 10 states with the highest number of unsafe truck drivers

The reason we have so many truck accidents in Michigan is a direct result of the numbers of unsafe truck drivers. And it is particularly sobering when one considers that these numbers likely represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Michigan is among the nation’s top 10 states with the highest percentage of trucking companies that have “unsafe driving alerts,” according to Amy Roach Partridge, Love it or Hate it, CSA is Here to Stay, InBound Logistics, September 2011.

This is a preview of Michigan among most dangerous states for truck accidents. Read the full post (707 words, 1 image, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)
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Our second Michigan Auto Law Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship Winner

May 3, 2013

Last week I wrote about the first recipient of our Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship, Jessie Winter.  Today I’d like to tell the story of our second scholarship winner.

Our attorneys decided to start our  annual Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship for students who are demonstrating the resolve and determination to rebuild sometimes shattered  lives after automobile accidents.

Michigan Auto Law awarded $500 to two scholarship applicants who were selected from many applicants. We received scholarship essays submitted by college students throughout the country.

Our second  scholarship winner this year is Sarah Gurd.

This is a preview of Our second Michigan Auto Law Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship Winner. Read the full post (361 words, 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)
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Why Michigan’s new elderly driving law does not protect the public or the elderly

May 2, 2013

How the elderly driving law really protects the doctors

Michigan elderly driving law

On Monday, I was interviewed on the Mitch Albom show on WJR 760am. The subject was the new Michigan law on elderly and unfit drivers.

You can listen to the interview here.

It’s a topic I’ve spoken and written about before, both at legal seminars on the challenges older drivers face, and with the media. It’s a topic I care very much about.

First, what is this new law?

This is a preview of Why Michigan’s new elderly driving law does not protect the public or the elderly. Read the full post (1364 words, 1 image, estimated 5:27 mins reading time)
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