All 4 Michigan Auto Law partners and four trial lawyers are honored for excellence in personal injury litigation for 2011-12
I’m proud to announce that nine of our Michigan personal injury attorneys have been named Michigan Super Lawyers for 2011-12.
Our Michigan Auto Law Super Lawyers include my fellow partners Larry Gursten, Lenny Koltonow and Bob Raitt (and me). In addition, four of our very talented trial lawyers – Kevin Seiferheld, Ian Freed, Tom James and Josh Terebelo – have been added to the list.
Super Lawyers is a publication by Thomson Reuters, which lists outstanding lawyers in Michigan. The organization employs a tough selection process that combines peer nominations and evaluations with third-party research. It’s limited to the top 5 percent of Michigan lawyers.
Our attorneys have been named Super Lawyers for personal injury in Michigan since 2006. Ian, Tom and Josh are Michigan Super Lawyers – Rising Stars.
I’m really proud of our lawyers. I am also not aware of a single firm in Michigan where every partner is a Super Lawyer and where nine lawyers – half of the entire firm – are Super Lawyers.
Here’s a little more information about each of our Michigan Auto Law Super Lawyers:
Lawrence Gursten – Larry is founding partner of Michigan Auto Law, and his legal career as one of the top auto accident attorneys in the country spans more than 40 years. He started his career with the highest score on the Michigan Bar Exam, and continues to passionately advocate for auto accident victims throughout the state.
Leonard Koltonow – Lenny is a partner and has been a trial lawyer with Michigan Auto Law for 35 years. He has been named one of the top trial attorneys in the state by the Michigan Association for Justice. Lenny achieves excellent results for auto accident victims, including a verdict in Detroit a few months ago for $1.45 million on an insurance company offer of $400,000 in a strongly contested truck accident case. Lenny is also a respected court-appointed special case evaluator and arbitrator.
Steven Gursten – It’s a little awkward writing about myself. I’ve been handling car accident and truck accident injury cases for almost 20 years. I’ve been named a Michigan Lawyers Weekly Lawyer of the Year, and a Leader in the Law for my work promoting truck safety. I am the current president of the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association, and Past-President of the American Association for Justice Truck Accident Lawyer Group. This fall will mark my 200th legal seminar speaking to other personal injury lawyers on how to win auto accident injury cases.
Robert Raitt – Bob is a Michigan Auto Law partner. He is past-president of the Michigan Association for Justice – a victims’ rights organization comprised of over 2,000 Michigan personal injury attorneys. Bob received a million dollar verdict in Macomb County last year on a 0 offer from Liberty Mutual, and works tirelessly for those injured in auto accidents.
Kevin Seiferheld – Kevin has been a trial lawyer for more than 13 years. Kevin focuses on litigation involving auto negligence, wrongful death and No-Fault insurance lawsuits, bus accidents and municipal vehicle injury cases. Kevin has argued before the Michigan Court of Appeals and achieved victories for his clients every time. He has obtained millions of dollars in pain and suffering compensation for injured accident victims. Kevin is a tenacious fighter inside and out of the courtroom.
Ian Freed – Ian has been a trial attorney with Michigan Auto Law since 2003. He focuses his practice on truck accident injury cases and other commercial vehicle accident cases., Ian has extensive experience in the areas of auto accident negligence, No-Fault and insurance coverage disputes. He is one of the firm’s attendant care experts. I always joke that I had to hire Ian because when he began his career as an insurance defense lawyer, he kept no-causing plaintiff lawyers – including in his first six trials, which is unheard of. Ian is an extremely likeable and capable trial lawyer.
Thomas James – Tom has been a trial attorney at Michigan Auto Law since 2004. With more than 25 trials, Tom is very serious, and very stubborn, in fighting for all of his client’s legal rights. Tom is another of the firm’s attendant care specialists, and he is very passionate about holding insurance companies accountable when they refuse to honor their promises. Tom focuses his practice in auto negligence, first-party lawsuits, attendant care and insurance coverage disputes. He is speaking this week to the Michigan State Bar Negligence Section on Updates in Michigan’s No-Fault insurance Laws.
Joshua Terebelo – Josh works in Michigan Auto Law’s litigation division, where he focuses on helping people involved in No-Fault insurance lawsuits. He graduated from Wayne State University Law School with Cum Laude honors, and is licensed to practice in Eastern and Western District Federal Court. Josh is also active in the Oakland County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Michigan Association for Justice. Josh is very good at forcing insurance companies to pay on wrongfully denied claims, and is widely consulted on how lawyers can recover penalty interest and attorney fees in first-party No-Fault insurance lawsuits.
Super Lawyers selections are made on an annual basis for each state. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit www.superlawyers.com.
