With new Michigan Supreme Court case McCormick v. Carrier, auto accident victims could have a second chance to bring pain and suffering lawsuits
If you are one of hundreds of Michigan residents who has been seriously hurt in a car accident that was not your fault, but you were still told you had “no case” by a Michigan lawyer because of the state’s difficult auto accident threshold law, your important legal rights have now been restored with the Michigan Supreme Court’s new auto law, McCormick v. Carrier.
Check out Michigan Auto Law’s video on why you may have a car accident case now:
Who are these car accident victims in Michigan that were told (before August 1, 2010) that they had no case?
These are people who have suffered very real and very significant injuries. Many of these car accident victims suffered personal injuries such as fractures, bulging and herniated disks, even surgeries to the ankle, knee, and spine surgeries to the back and neck. These are people who were completely innocent and did not cause their car accidents. These are people who have missed weeks, even months, from work after being injured. Many could only go back to work with constant pain and medical restrictions. These are people, in short, who have continued to suffer pain and physical limitations for years after their crashes.
Why car accident victims were told, “You don’t have a case.”
And before August 1, 2010, these were people who were told they had “no case” by Michigan personal injury lawyers.
That was because before McCormick came down on August 1, 2010, Michigan personal injury lawyers were concerned about their ability to meet Michigan’s auto accident threshold law of serious impairment of body function. Back then, Michigan had the worst auto accident threshold law in the country, embodied by a case called Kreiner v. Fischer. Kreiner required peoples’ entire lives be altered by personal injury from a car accident before they could recover compensation.
Literally thousands of people with serious injuries, but who made good recoveries, had their meritorious cases dismissed from the courts. Two hundred more lost in the Michigan appellate courts. People in this state were literally punished in the most extreme way – having their cases thrown out of court by a judge – for trying to go back to work while still in pain and on restrictions. After all, the judges said, “Pain doesn’t count. If you were going back to work within months of a car accident, how could it really be a serious impairment that alters the entire course of your life?”
Important legal rights restored on August 1, 2010 with McCormick v. Carrier
But common sense has returned to Michigan. And now, for hundreds and potentially thousands of people who have suffered very real injuries from car accidents in Michigan and have been told they had “no case” by lawyers, there may be a second chance to recover compensation.
On August 1st, 2010, the Michigan Supreme Court decided Rodney McCormick’s case (a Flint car accident), McCormick v. Carrier, and in doing so, they overturned the devastating Kreiner v. Fischer, restoring important legal rights that had been stripped from Michigan residents since 2004.
McCormick v. Carrier returns Michigan law back to the way the Michigan Legislature intended when it drafted and enacted Michigan’s auto accident threshold law. No longer is someone’s life required to be completely altered to have a viable auto accident case. The law has returned to allowing people who have suffered a serious injury, and who have had a significant life effect, to be able to recover for pain and suffering from auto accidents that occur in Michigan.
If you’ve been told that you have “no case” by a Michigan lawyer after being injured in a car accident before August 1, 2010, many of your important legal rights have now been restored. We can discuss your accident case with you, and explain your No-Fault insurance benefits and what your legal rights are now.
– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top attorneys handling serious car and truck accident injury cases and auto insurance no-fault litigation. Steve speaks and writes extensively on McCormick v. Carrier and Michigan’s No-Fault laws. He is available for comment on Michigan’s new auto accident law.
Related information about McCormick v. Carrier:
McCormick v. Carrier to bring new body of Michigan car accident law
Michigan Auto Law is the leading largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state for more than 50 years. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (248) 353-7575 for a free consultation with an auto accident lawyer. We can help.
