3 Challenges Facing Car Accident Attorneys Today

Michigan car accident attorneys are often asked why it is so difficult to help good people that have suffered serious injuries from auto accidents in Michigan today.
There are three main reasons Michigan personal injury lawyers find the law more challenging now than ever before when seeking to help victims of car accidents.

First Challenge: Michigan is a No Fault State
The first reason is that Michigan is a “no fault” state.  This means that Michigan limits the tort liability of a negligent driver responsible for causing a car accident. So, Michigan no fault law requires injured accident victims to rely on their own no fault insurance company (first party) to receive just compensation for their accident related personal injures – not the insurance company of the person who actually caused the car accident (third party).

In comparison to most states, a negligent driver is responsible in tort for all of the injuries and damages they cause. In Michigan, if the personal injuries suffered are not considered sufficiently serious, a negligent driver will not be responsible for any of the injuries or damages they cause, except for the first $500.00 of vehicle damage under the Michigan mini tort law. As a no fault state, the insurance company of the person who causes a car accident in Michigan is only responsible for:

• Non-economic loss (pain and suffering),
• Excess economic loss over the monthly statutory maximum, and
• Economic loss after the first three years of no-fault lost wages

And, this recovery can only be made after the personal injury suffered by an automobile accident victim has been found to pass Michigan’s “threshold law”, which is being interpreted with increasing harshness, and not in favor of the injured car accident victim.

Second Challenge: Michigan has legislated a “Threshold Test”
In addition to being a no fault state, Michigan has also legislated a threshold test that an injured car accident victim must first cross over before they can recover non-economic (pain and suffering) damages from any automobile accident. This law requires that any injury: 1) is “objectively manifested”; 2) is an important body function of the person injured; 3) affect that person’s ability to lead his or her normal life.

Third Challenge: Interpretation of Law Still New for Serious Impairment
The third challenge facing the Michigan car accident lawyer is that the law defining what is required to have a successful automobile accident case is still new. In 2004, following a decision called Kreiner v. Fischer, the exact meaning of this law was interpreted for the first time by the Michigan Supreme Court. This was the first case to interpret the exact meaning of the definition of “serious impairment” after a car accident since the Michigan legislature had first defined what was necessary to suffer for a serious impairment of body function in order to recover damages following Michigan auto accidents. The new law was enacted in 1995, and took effect in Michigan on March 28, 1996.

With these recent changes to Michigan car accident law, there is a great deal of legal uncertainty for Michigan lawyers seeking to understand what is necessary to have a “good” Michigan car accident personal injury case.  There is no established and agreed upon body of case law to guide Michigan attorneys handling Michigan automobile accident cases today. This lack of an established body of case law has left many Michigan personal injury lawyers puzzled and confused by clearly conflicting appellate decisions interpreting Michigan automobile negligence laws.

The auto accident attorneys at Michigan Auto Law recognize that this has proven challenging, to say the least, for many Michigan lawyers.  For this reason, they have developed a comprehensive legal resource center for lawyers seeking to handle car accident cases, including access to a free Attorney Guide for Handling Car Accident Cases in Michigan.