As Negligence Law Section Chair, Michigan Auto Law attorney Bobby Raitt will work to preserve the right to jury trial, getting trial experience for young injury lawyers
I’m proud to congratulate my friend and fellow Michigan Auto Law attorney and principal, Robert M. Raitt, on becoming Chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Negligence Law section.
Bobby is a tremendous trial lawyer, a fact that’s attested to by his impressive track record of verdicts and settlements over $1 million and his history of legal leadership, including as a Past-President of the Michigan Association for Justice.
Bobby is a well-respected leader in Michigan’s legal community, especially among the lawyers who practice car accident, personal injury and negligence law.
Indeed, his advocacy on behalf of victims’ rights and in defense of the vital constitutional and legal protections afforded by our civil justice system is second to none.
Bobby drove this point home in his inaugural “Message From The Chair” (entitled “Trying” Times) in the Fall 2018 edition of the “Negligence Law Section Quarterly:”
“As I take over as Chair of the Negligence Section, I think about our Section’s mission of preserving the right to jury trial. As a Section we both support and fight against legislation, keeping this mission in mind. We have an active amicus committee that weighs in on cases when the right to jury trial is being affected and we focus on education through seminars to help our members more effectively represent their clients … For the last 30 years, those that practice Negligence Law have been fighting to protect their client’s rights to get to a jury. The propaganda and ad campaigns for tort reform have resulted in fewer lawsuits and, inevitably, fewer attorneys pushing their cases to trial to get just compensation for their clients … Let’s continue to further the mission of preserving the right to jury trial … and help young attorneys to get into trial and more effectively represent their clients.”
Concerned that both the right to trial by jury and the ability of victims to get justice by way of jury trial were in danger, Bobby said that as the Negligence Law Section’s Chair he and the section would be enthusiastically supporting the Summary Jury Trial Pilot Project.
He praised the idea as being uniquely designed “to allow our younger attorneys to gain trial experience,” which will go a long way toward to reversing the troubling trend of “trials [being] down significantly” across the state.
Good luck Bobby! We know the Negligence Law Section, with you as chair, can get it done.
