Our Michigan Auto Law auto accident 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 2023
Thank you to our clients and to our friends for helping to make 2023 such a tremendous year and making it possible for us to help so many wonderful people this year. Below I’ve written an update of the past year for our annual Michigan Auto Law Year In Review blog post.
To our clients and friends, we thank you for putting your trust in us and allowing us to make a real difference for you and your family.
You are the reason we do what we do.
For over 50 years, Michigan Auto Law has specialized only in car accident law. Unlike other law firms who claim to handle a dozen or more different areas of personal injury law, our auto accident attorneys have devoted their careers and practices to focusing exclusively on helping people who have been injured in car, truck or motorcycle accidents.
Unlike other law firms, we don’t have to make up clearly fictitious and absurd settlement numbers. We don’t have to claim “a billion dollars recovered!” or other such silliness because every year our attorneys actually recover real results for the people we are honored to help. And these auto accident results, year in and year out, are better than any other law firm in Michigan.
In 2023, this included:
- We recovered a nearly $15 million dollar record out-of-state settlement for a very seriously injured client.
- We recovered an $8.5 million settlement for a catastrophically injured client.
- We obtained a $5.2 million judgment for a client who suffered catastrophic injuries.
- We recovered a $2.25 million motor vehicle accident settlement for our client who suffered a traumatic brain injury.
- We recovered a $2.1 million settlement for a public transportation passenger who suffered a cervical spine injury and post-concussion syndrome.
- We recovered a $2 million truck accident settlement. Notably, the settlement was $1 million over the defendant’s insurance policy limits.
- We recovered a $1.95 million wrongful death settlement in a case where our lawyers were brought in by another Michigan personal injury law firm that does extensive advertising to try to find more insurance coverage after the referring law firm was told there was only $1 million dollars in insurance coverage. We took the case and doubled the total settlement for the widow and her children.
- We won a $1.5 million wrongful death verdict where State Farm’s final settlement offer was only $50,000.
Results like these ensure that our clients get the help and compensation for their injuries that they deserve.
But these results also send an important message to insurance companies who have grown too accustomed to getting away with making low-ball settlement offers to other law firms.
This is an important reason why overall our auto accident attorneys are able to settle cases faster and for significantly more money than other lawyers and law firms in Michigan.
Below are some of our Michigan Auto Law attorneys’ other accomplishments from 2023.
Big Win in the Michigan Court of Appeals
In 2022, attorneys Chris Hunter and Jordan Barkey won a $1.3 million verdict for their client in a case where the insurance company’s highest settlement offer at any time was only $100,000. On August 24, 2023, a unanimous Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict. The case is an important ruling for all Michigan lawyers as it affirms that innocent third parties who are injured in a car crash in this state are entitled to No-Fault benefits under Michigan law.
A Commitment to Client Service
Our entire law firm is fully committed to providing truly exceptional client service for our clients. That’s why we again received the prestigious “Client’s Choice” award from AVVO for extraordinary client service in the legal field for 2023.
Our commitment to caring and excellent communication is the reason why we have so many outstanding reviews from our clients, now numbering more than 2,000 reviews from real people we’ve helped throughout Michigan.
Top Auto Accident Settlements and Trial Verdicts Year after Year
We believe there’s a good reason why more lawyers and law firms in Michigan and throughout the country refer auto accident injury cases to our law firm than to any other in the state. We’ve not only recovered the highest ever reported trucking settlement and auto accident settlement of any Michigan lawyer or law firm, but we’ve also recovered more million-dollar settlements and trial verdicts for automobile accidents than any Michigan law firm. We’ve also recovered the highest trial verdicts on record for people hurt in automobile accidents in multiple counties throughout the state.
Why is this so important? Proven trial results lead to car accident settlements that are significantly higher and faster for our clients.
But what we do for our clients is not just about settlements and verdicts. Most of the time, we are devoting our expertise, resources, and energies to just ensuring that the people we help have the help – the lifeline they need – whether that means insisting they get the wage loss benefits they are due because their injuries have disabled them from working to earn their paycheck or helping them secure transportation to get them to the doctor for needed medical treatment and care when insurance companies are busy erecting roadblocks.
Our auto accident attorneys work tirelessly to protect people injured in car accidents and to push back against insurance company abuses. We always have and we always will.
2023 Legal Leadership
Our commitment to being leaders in the legal field continued in 2023:
- Steven Gursten served his fourth year as President of the American Association for Justice’s Distracted Driving Litigation Group, teaching lawyers throughout America how to litigate automobile accidents caused by distracted driving and people using cell phones while driving.
- Our attorneys also volunteer and speak at high schools and to parent groups throughout Michigan on teaching teens and parents about the dangers of texting while driving. Michigan Auto Law also sponsors an annual college scholarship in honor of Kelsey Raffaele, the young teen driver who lost her life due to distracted driving and for whom Michigan’s teen distracted driving law, Kelsey’s Law, is named.
- Steven Gursten also serves on the Michigan Association for Justice Auto No-Fault Committee, advising the MAJ on insurance issues and Michigan’s No-Fault law.
- Brandon Hewitt continues to serve on the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice.
- Brandon also serves as the Chair of the MAJ committee on Autonomous Vehicles.
- Jordan Jones continues to serve on the Executive Board of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Trucking Litigation Group and the AAJ Bus Litigation Group.
- Jordan was elected Treasurer of American Association for Justice (AAJ) Trucking Litigation Group and the Bus Litigation Group.
- Steven Gursten is a past-President of the AAJ Trucking Litigation Group and the AAJ Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group. Steve is also a past-President of the Melvin Belli Society and the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association.
Legal Honors and Awards
- For the 12th 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’s attorneys were again selected among the top 5% of attorneys in the U.S. — for the 15th year in a row — in the annual Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
- Ten Michigan Auto Law attorneys were selected in 2023 as Super Lawyers – more than any other personal injury law firm in Michigan.
- Steven Gursten, Larry Gursten, Kevin Seiferheld, and Tom James were again named to “The Best Lawyers in America.”
- Jeff Bussell, Josh Terebelo, Chris Hunter, Richard Moore, and Jeremy Tiedt were named to “The Best Lawyers in America” for the first time in the 2024 edition.
- Jordan Jones and Jordan Barkey were both recognized again in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, and Jordan Ewald was recognized for the first time this year. This award recognizes “the most elite rising legal talent in the country.”
- For 12 straight years, Steven Gursten has been voted among the top 50 lawyers in the entire state of Michigan, out of over 65,000 Michigan lawyers, according to Super Lawyers.
- Attorney Jordan Jones has earned Board-Certification in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (an ABA Accredited Lawyer Certification Program), making Jordan and Michigan Auto Law the only law firm in Michigan Board-Certified in Truck Accident Law.
- Steven Gursten was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the American Association for Justice’s Trucking Litigation Group. Steve is one of only three lawyers in the nation to receive this honor.
- Jordan Jones received the “Chair Special Recognition Award” from the American Association for Justice Trucking Litigation Group for his “tireless work, dedicated service, and many contributions to advance” highway safety.
- Steven Gursten, Larry Gursten, Kevin Seiferheld, Tom James, Josh Terebelo, Jeff Bussell, Jordan Jones, Jordan Barkey, Alex Kemp and Richard Moore were selected by DBusiness Magazine as 2024 Metro Detroit Top Lawyers.
- Steven Gursten, Larry Gursten, Kevin Seiferheld, Tom James, Josh Terebelo, Jordan Jones, Chris Hunter, and Alex Kemp were selected by DBusiness Magazine as Metro Detroit Top Lawyers for 2024.
- Brandon Hewitt, Rick Houghton, Tom Baker, Tim Holland, Jeremy Tiedt and Jason Hodge were selected as Top Lawyers by Grand Rapids Magazine for 2023.
- Brandon Hewitt was recognized as a “Notable West Michigan Lawyer” by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business Journal.
In The News
Steven Gursten’s Op-Ed, “No-fault insurance needs more reforms to save drivers real money,” was published in Crain’s Detroit Business. Steve urged lawmakers “to empower Michigan’s insurance commissioner to regulate excessive profit margins” and to help car crash victims “stand up to the abuse they routinely suffer at the hands of a virtually completely unregulated auto insurance industry in Michigan.”
Michigan Auto Law is now accepting auto accident cases in California
We recently settled a case in California for nearly $4 million dollars and we currently have several more very serious auto and truck accident cases ongoing in the Golden State.
We have two attorneys who are fully licensed and admitted to the California State Bar, including Jordan Jones who is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Jordan is one of only five lawyers in the entire state of California who is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law.
Additionally, several of our attorneys, including Steven Gursten and Jeff Feldman have been brought in on catastrophic personal injury cases in the past by California lawyers and have considerable experience in the Golden State.
If you or someone you know needs our help, we’d be honored to try to help them in the Golden State.
Legal Seminars and Education
Our attorneys speak at legal seminars and legal conferences throughout the U.S. every year. Check out our Seminars and Speaking Engagements page for a full list of the over 400 seminars, speaking engagements, presentations and legal conferences that our attorneys have taught.
Michigan Auto Law thanks you!
All of us at Michigan Auto Law want to thank you and let you know we take great pride 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 2024.
Need help finding the right lawyer? Call Michigan Auto Law first
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident and you have questions about your legal rights to pain and suffering compensation, economic damages and auto No-Fault insurance benefits, you can call us toll free anytime 24/7 at (866) 323-2546 for a free consultation with one of our experienced auto accident attorneys. There is absolutely no cost or obligation. You can also get help from an experienced injury attorney by visiting our contact page or chat feature on our website.
