Michigan TBI attorney warns auto accident victims who have suffered traumatic brain injury about a popular insurance medical examiner
On Tuesday, I wrote about the havoc “independent” medical examiners are bringing to car accident victims and the No-Fault insurance system in Michigan. Which brings me now to John Baker, Ph.D. This man is a neuropsychologist in Oakland County (Royal Oak), who is often hired by auto insurance companies for “second opinion” defense examinations of injured car accident victims who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.
I’ve previously blogged about my experiences with his partner, Dr. Manfred Greiffenstein. And I don’t want Dr. Baker to feel ignored. According to public documents filed recently in United States District Court, Dr. Baker has testified on behalf of auto insurance companies and car accident defense lawyers more than 115 times from 2006 to 2009.
That’s one deposition every nine days.
Sadly, as any car accident lawyer or judge knows, this number is only the tip of the iceberg. After all, depositions aren’t taken in the vast majority of cases. Most accident victims still settle for a compromised amount during the litigation process and before trial. A deposition normally only happens when a victim actually hires a personal injury attorney, and the case is litigated past case evaluation and to the point where trial depositions are being taken by the lawyers for an upcoming trial date. So this number likely excludes entirely all the cases that settled before the point of trial.
Sadly, this number also does not encompass all those frustrated auto accident victims who simply gave up and chose not to pursue a case. Unfortunately, when dealing with auto accident victims who have suffered TBI, and the accompanying brain injury symptoms such as depression and frontal lobe emotional injuries, I can only imagine this is quite a large number of damaged people who walked away from pursuing needed medical care.
This brings me now to the great importance of the new proposed IME Rule. It’s now tabled in Michigan, but hopefully, it will restore some fairness to Michigan’s No-Fault insurance system. I will discuss this proposed IME Rule in my next blog.
– Steven M. Gursten received a trial verdict of $5.65 million for a TBI victim in 2008; the largest reported auto negligence verdict in Michigan for the year. He frequently speaks on traumatic brain injury for attorneys across the country. Steve is a member of the American Association for Justice Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and several foundations devoted to helping brain injury victims, including the Brain Injury Association of Michigan and the Sara Jane Brain Project.
Related information:
Help for traumatic brain injury attorneys
Steps TBI victims must take following a car accident
Michigan car insurance claims adjuster tactics
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling auto accident cases and No-Fault insurance law throughout the entire state. We have helped countless traumatic brain injury victims, and we can do the same for you. Call (248) 353-7575 for a free consultation with a TBI attorney.
