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Michigan Auto Law’s 2020 Year in Review

December 30, 2020 by Steven M. Gursten

Our Michigan Auto Law attorneys want to thank our clients for the honor of helping you and for placing your trust in us; We accomplished so much together in 2020

Michigan Auto Law’s 2020 Year in Review

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 2020 without the people we are entrusted with helping: You, our clients.

As a very specialized Michigan personal injury law firm, we have chosen a different path from the dozens of injury law firms in Michigan who you constantly see advertising on television, hear on the radio, and see on billboards. The cornerstone of our law firm is based first on specialization. That means focusing on only one area of law – helping people seriously injured in automobile accidents- and doing it better than anyone else year after year. This is accompanied by a very different philosophy in how we practice law. Our focus is on taking fewer cases so we can focus more time and more attention on each case. Clients are not case numbers and our law firm is not a giant advertising mill that takes every case that contacts us. Our attorneys return every phone call and we work hard to prioritize communication and service for our clients. We know that keeping our attorney caseloads lower translates into better results for our clients. Every year Michigan Auto Law attorneys are listed in Michigan Lawyers Weekly and the Verdict Reporter for recovering many of the top auto accident settlements and verdict results every year in Michigan. We have also recovered the highest reported auto accident settlement and the largest reported auto accident trial verdict in Michigan more times than any other personal injury law firm in the state.

It is a formula that works.

Below are some of Michigan Auto Law’s accomplishments from 2020.

You can’t start a review of 2020 without recognizing how Covid changed nearly everything. To call it a challenging year would certainly be an understatement. And yet even with these challenges, our attorneys still were able to help so many people and accomplish so much on behalf of our clients. For that, I am extremely proud and grateful.

Meeting the challenges of 2020 started with the unprecedented shutdown orders and the sudden and unexpected challenge of providing uninterrupted service and communication for our clients. Fortunately, years of planning and investing in technology paid off, and the transition was accomplished seamlessly. But the accomplishment I am most grateful for in 2020 was working so hard to keep everyone in our Michigan Auto Law family, including our clients safe and healthy and free from harm.

2020 was another special year for the people we are entrusted with helping.

A Commitment to Client Service

Our commitment to client service is always first on our list of priorities so it is at the top of our Year in Review blog.

As COVID-19 forced many businesses to close or work remotely in early 2020, we at Michigan Auto Law are proud that our investments in technology have allowed our attorneys and legal professionals to continue to provide support with clients throughout Michigan’s Stay-at-Home orders with no disruptions.

Everyone at Michigan Auto Law is fully committed to providing truly exceptional client service for our clients. That is why we once again received the prestigious “Client’s Choice” award from Avvo for extraordinary client service and client communication.

Our commitment to service and excellent communication is also a big reason behind the outstanding reviews we have from our clients, now numbering nearly 2,000 reviews from real people we have been able to help throughout Michigan.

Top Auto Accident Settlements and Trial Verdicts Year after Year

There is 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 law firm in the state. We have not only recovered the highest ever reported trucking settlement and auto settlement of any Michigan lawyer, but we have also recovered the highest recorded auto accident trial verdicts in multiple counties throughout the state (and the highest on record now in 2 other states as well where out-of-state lawyers ask us to help co-counsel on significant auto cases they have). These proven trial results lead to Michigan car accident settlements that are significantly higher and faster for our clients.

But it wasn’t just settlements and verdicts. Sometimes it’s just providing a lifeline for people who need help, whether it’s a paycheck or getting to a doctor for needed medical treatment and care when insurance companies are busy erecting roadblocks. Our auto accident attorneys worked tirelessly to protect people injured in car accidents and to push back against insurance company abuses, whether it be adjusters capriciously cutting off No-Fault PIP benefits to people in need or refusing to pay the full measure of a person’s harms and losses after a crash.

The legal leadership and giving back that our auto accident attorneys have demonstrated consistently for years continued in 2020 for Michigan Auto Law:

  • Steve became President of the Belli Society, an invitation-only group comprised of some of the nation’s top trial lawyers throughout the U.S.
  • Steve served his second year as President of the American Association for Justice’s Distracted Driving Litigation Group. We care about protecting the public from the dangers of distracted driving, and our attorneys speak at high schools and to parent groups throughout Michigan. Michigan Auto Law also sponsors an annual college scholarship – “Kelsey’s Law Distracted Driving 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. Steve also spoke at a National AAJ webinar in November to thousands of lawyers throughout the nation, teaching them how to find, litigate, and use evidence of distracted driving in the auto accident cases they have.
  • Brandon Hewitt was elected to the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice. He joins MAJ past-President Bobby Raitt, and past board member Tom James.
  • Jordan Jones was elected to the Executive Board of the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group. Steve is a past-President of the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group and an honorary member of the Executive Board. Jordan also has served as the chair of the broker-shipper task force for the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group.

We are grateful for the honors and awards bestowed on Michigan Auto Law and our attorneys in 2020:

  • For the tenth 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 12th year in a row — in the annual Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
  • Twelve Michigan Auto Law attorneys were selected in 2020 as Super Lawyers – more than any other personal injury law firm in Michigan!
  • Steve Gursten, Larry Gursten, Lenny Koltonow, Bobby Raitt, and Kevin Seiferheld were again named to “The Best Lawyers in America.”
  • Jordan M. Jones was recognized in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs. This award recognizes “the most promising younger lawyers in the U.S.” for their “outstanding professional excellence.”
  • This marks the tenth straight year that Steve Gursten was voted among the top 50 lawyers in the entire state of Michigan, out of over 65,000 lawyers, according to Super Lawyers.

Helping Drivers Understand Michigan’s New Auto No-Fault Law

In July of this year, many of the drastic, unprecedented changes brought about by Michigan’s new No-Fault Law legislation took effect.

Our lawyers took a leading role in helping to educate car accident victims, drivers, the legal community and judges as to how these changes enacted in 2019 will be affecting the legal rights of car accident victims for decades to come:

  • 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
  • Robert Raitt spoke about “Litigating Tort Claims for Non-Economic Loss” at the No-Fault Institute XVII in October
  • Chris Hunter was invited by the Rotary Club of West Bloomfield to speak at its September meeting about “Navigating the New No-Fault Law Changes”
  • Josh Terebelo presented on “Tort Claims for Out of State Residents” at the No-Fault Institute XVII in October and he spoke about “How Changes to Michigan’s No-Fault Law Could Impact Workers’ Compensation Claimants” at the December meeting of the State Bar of Michigan’s Workers’ Compensation Law Section
  • Brandon Hewitt was interviewed several times by WZZM TV in Grand Rapids about the new No-Fault law’s changes and our attorney’s car insurance recommendations to best protect drivers and their families.

Our attorneys continue speaking at legal seminars and conferences throughout the U.S.

Michigan Auto Law thanks you!

All of us at Michigan Auto Law want to thank you and let you know how much pride we take in helping and 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 are always here for you.

May you and your families have a happy, productive and safe 2021.

Need help finding the right lawyer? Call Michigan Auto Law first

If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a car or truck accident and would like to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney, call toll free anytime 24/7 at (800) 968-1001 for a free consultation with one of our attorneys. Contact us here to get help from an experienced attorney or you can use the chat feature on our website.

Michigan Auto Law’s 2020 Year in Review

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