Personal Injury

In Michigan, injured victims can pursue tort damages against an individual or company that negligently or intentionally inflicted harm upon them. A tort is a wrongful injury claim against someone for causing injury to another. The majority of torts are tried in civil courts. Torts are designed to provide compensation in the form of damages to injured victims (plaintiff) and to deter the party at fault (defendant) from repeating the injurious behavior. Lost income, medical expenses, and pain and suffering are some of the damages recoverable under personal injury claims.

Personal injuries can be both physical and mental. Physical injury may include impairments and/or disability resulting from spinal trauma, broken bones, internal injuries, loss of limb, disfigurement, and the loss of any of the senses. Mental harm may encompass emotional trauma, mental anguish, loss of love and affection loss of enjoyment of life, cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, etc.. If you were injured in an accident, you may have the right to seek damages for the harms you suffered. Personal Injury victims may file a tort based on:

• Negligence – an individual or company’s act or failure to act causing injury. Even if the act was unintentional, the defendant is still liable for damages if a person or company causes injury or fails to prevent an injury.  Common negligence claims include wrongful death claims, car crashes, truck crashes, motorcycle collisions, slip / trip and fall incidents, dog bites, boating accidents, etc.

• Intentional misconduct – Intentional acts causing injury to another. This usually involves assault and/or battery and is most usually prosecuted in criminal courts. In addition, most insurance policies do not provide coverage for these types of torts.

• Product Liability – Where a product fails to meet certain standards or is defective. If you suffered injury as a result of a defective product or even inadequate labeling, you may sue certain parties in the manufacturing chain.  In Michigan, products are generally presumed safe if, at the time it was sold or delivered, it complied with relevant federal or state agency standards.  Certain damage awards are also limited no matter how seriously a defective product injures an individual.

• Workers' Compensation - Most work-related injuries in Michigan are covered by the Workers' Compensation Act which pays a portion of an injured employee's out-of-pocket loss when injured and/or disabled from working. Recoverable benefits can include wage loss, medical expenses, medical mileage, attendant care (home nursing services) and vocational rehabilitation.  Importantly, unless the employer committed an intentional tort causing injury or was negligent and failed to purchase the requisite workers' compensation insurance, damages for pain and suffering are generally not recoverable under the workers' compensation act.

Until you or a loved one suffers injury, most people have probably never needed a personal injury lawyer and are probably unaware of the Michigan Supreme Court and Court of Appeals’ systematic dismantling of the tort system in the State of Michigan. Recent appellate decisions and legislation now protect drunk drivers that cause serious injuries and death, provide blanket immunity to pharmaceutical companies that sell drugs that kill, and condone and encourage insurance companies to deny valid claims, despite making record profits in this State.

Unless the attorney you hire has an expert understanding of these ever changing issues and knows how to prepare and pursue each and every case from start to finish, your ability to receive fair compensation for your injuries will suffer. Because of this and the individual attention that must be given to every case to maximize recovery, we only accept a limited amount of serious injury cases. If you have suffered a serious injury, we would be happy to discuss your case with you. Call (248) 865-7740 or email anytime.