Michigan Auto Law attorneys want to thank our clients for the honor of helping you; We’ve accomplished so much together in 2019.
I’m proud to announce that 2019 proved to be another year full of accomplishments for Michigan Auto Law. Much more importantly, 2019 was a special year for the people we are entrusted with helping.
Our auto accident attorneys, again, worked tirelessly to protect people injured in car accidents and push back against insurance company abuses, whether it be cutting off No-Fault PIP benefits to people who are seriously injured in automobile accidents or refusing to pay the full measure of a person’s harms and losses after a crash.
The hard work paid off and the people who have come to us for help benefited greatly.
This “Year In Review” blog has become a yearly tradition. I also cannot stress enough that we could not have accomplished what we did in 2019 without the people we are entrusted with helping: Our clients.
As a Michigan personal injury law firm, we’ve chosen a very different path from the dozens of injury law firms in Michigan. The cornerstone of our law firm’s practice philosophy is in taking fewer cases than other injury law firms so we can focus more time and attention on each case. Clients are not case numbers. Clients are instead people who are treated with respect and compassion. Keeping our caseloads lower results in better results and better communication with our clients. This is reflected in Michigan Auto Law attorneys recovering some of the very top auto accident settlements and verdict results every year.
It’s a formula that works.
Below are Michigan Auto Law’s accomplishments from 2019.
A Commitment to Client Service
Client service always starts first, so it is at the top of our Year in Review blog. We know the reputation that lawyers have about being terrible when it comes to communicating with clients. That’s why receiving the prestigious “Client’s Choice” award from Avvo for extraordinary client service in the legal field is so important to us. Michigan Auto Law is fully committed to providing exceptional client service and communication for our clients.
Top Auto Accident Settlements and Trial Verdicts Year after Year
There’s a reason why more lawyers and law firms in Michigan and throughout the country refer auto accident injury cases to Michigan Auto Law than to any other in the state. We’ve not only recovered the highest ever reported trucking settlement and auto settlement of any Michigan lawyer, but we’ve also recovered the highest recorded auto accident trial verdicts in multiple counties throughout the state. These proven trial results lead to Michigan car accident settlements that are significantly higher and faster for our clients.
Michigan Auto Law Legal Leadership
The legal leadership and giving back that our auto accident attorneys have demonstrated consistently for years continued in 2019 for Michigan Auto Law:
- Steven Gursten was elected to lead two prominent national legal groups in 2019-2020.
- Steve became President of the Belli Society, an invitation-only group comprised of some of the nation’s top trial lawyers from throughout the U.S.
- Steve was also elected President of the American Association for Justice’s Distracted Driving Litigation Group. This reflects the firm’s strong commitment to public safety. The firm’s attorneys regularly speak at high schools and parent groups throughout Michigan warning young drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. The firm has also created a college scholarship in honor of Kelsey Raffaele, the young teen who lost her life because of distracted driving and for whom Michigan’s teen distracted driving law, Kelsey’s Law, is named after.
- In addition, Steve finished his term as President of the American Association for Justice Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group in July of 2019. Steve is also a past-president of the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group and a past-president of the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association.
- Robert Raitt is the immediate past-president of the Negligence Section of the State Bar of Michigan, finishing his term in July of 2019.
- Jordan Jones was elected to the Executive Board of the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group.
Legal Honors and Awards
- For the ninth straight year, Michigan Auto Law is recognized by U.S. News & Best Lawyers’ annual “Best Law Firms” list for excellent personal injury litigation in Metro Detroit.
- Michigan Auto Law attorneys are selected among the top attorneys in the U.S. — for the 11th year in a row — in the annual Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
- Twelve Michigan Auto Law attorneys were selected in 2019 as Super Lawyers – more than any other personal injury law firm in Michigan!
- Steve Gursten, Larry Gursten, Lenny Koltonow and Bobby Raitt were again named to “The Best Lawyers in America.”
- Steve Gursten was voted among the top 50 and also the top 100 lawyers in all of Michigan, out of over 65,000 lawyers according [SG5] to Super Lawyers.
- Steve was selected by DBusiness and Hour Detroit Magazine as a Top Lawyer in Metro Detroit for 2020 through a peer-review survey distributed to local lawyers. He has received this honor since 2009.
To learn more, please check out our Honors and Awards page.
A New West Michigan Office!
Michigan Auto Law continues to grow. We’ve now added a 4th full-time attorney to our West Michigan office. Our new car accident law office opened in November in downtown Grand Rapids on Grandville Avenue across from Founders Brewery. Please be sure to join us for the office’s Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 11:00 a.m.
Helping Drivers Understand Michigan’s New Auto No-Fault Law
In June of this year, Governor Whitmer signed the new Michigan No-Fault Law legislation that will drastically affect every Michigan driver’s insurance coverage beginning in July of 2020.
Steve serves on the Michigan Association for Justice Auto No-Fault committee, a special committee that was tasked with giving guidance and advice to lawmakers on the new auto law.
In addition, once the law took effect, our attorneys have taken a leading role in helping educate the legal community and judges on what the new auto law does and how it changes Michigan’s auto No-Fault system.
Josh Terebelo spoke at the Michigan Association for Justice 2019 No-Fault Institute on Collateral Sources and Protecting Clients from Liens. Steve Gursten was asked to speak on presenting life care plans in third-party auto tort case. Alison Duffy and Jordan Jones both spoke at separate ICLE seminars for Michigan lawyers, Alison on how Michigan lawyers can adapt to the new liens asserted by health insurance companies on auto accident cases going forward with changes to the no-fault law and Jordan on a case update of important new legal decisions. Jordan will also be moderating and speaking at a more extended ICLE seminar in 2020 on the new auto law.
Legal Seminars and Education
Our attorneys continue speaking at legal seminars and conferences throughout the U.S.
All of us at Michigan Auto Law want to thank you and let you know we take great pride in protecting people who have been injured in car, truck and motorcycle accidents – and doing so better than any other law firm in Michigan year in and year out.
We wish you a very happy, productive and safe 2020
