4 of our Michigan personal injury attorneys named Best Lawyers in America

It’s a nice honor to announce that four of our partners at Michigan Auto Law have been named Best Lawyers in America. Last week, Super Lawyers listed nine of our attorneys as Michigan Super Lawyers in the personal injury category.

It’s especially pleasing because our firm does almost no marketing whatsoever. We have no billboards (anyone else amazed by how many there are these days?), bus ads, TV or Yellow Pages. Our entire marketing campaign is simply to try to have the very best car accident and truck accident verdicts and settlements in Michigan every year - and business will come.

Fortunately, with the top auto verdict in seven of the past 10 years in Michigan, and the top Michigan auto accident settlements every year, it has proved a sound strategy. And it keeps me off of billboards!

Now four of our Michigan personal injury attorneys were recently selected by their peers - other attorneys from across the country - for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012— in the personal injury litigation specialty.

Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey of nearly 41,000 leading attorneys, who cast 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers. Those selected for Best Lawyers in America don’t pay a fee to be listed.

Our Best Lawyers include:

Lawrence Gursten: Larry is the founding partner of our law firm, and he has been one of the top car accident lawyers in the U.S. for more than 40 years.

Steven Gursten (me): I’ve been handling auto accident lawsuits for nearly two decades. I’m a Michigan Lawyers Weekly Lawyer of the Year, and a Leader in the Law for my work promoting truck safety. I’m also president of the  Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association, and past-president of the American Association for Justice Truck Accident Litigation Group.

David Christensen – Dave is a partner of Michigan Auto Law, and President of the Negligence Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan (the organization of all personal injury attorneys in the state). Dave is known for for his expertise in brain injury lawsuits.

Robert Raitt: Bob is also a partner of Michigan Auto Law. He’s past-president of the Michigan Association for Justice – a victims’ rights organization comprised of more than 2,000 injury attorneys across the state. Bob is a tenacious trial lawyer who has multiple million-dollar verdicts and settlements.

Best Lawyers in America is considered the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. For more than 25 years, it has helped lawyers and clients find legal counsel in unfamiliar jurisdictions or specialties.

The lawyers listed in Best Lawyers in America don’t choose which practice areas they’re included in; they are voted into the practice areas from the votes they receive from their lawyer peers. Michigan Auto Law has been listed in the Personal Injury Litigation section this year and for the past several years.

Congratulations to our Michigan Auto Law Best Lawyers 2012.

- The Best Lawyers in America® 2012  is copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.

Related information:

What to do after a car accident in Michigan

Our clients and their stories

Michigan Auto Law in the news

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

Teaching voir dire for Michigan personal injury attorneys

Next week, I will be moderating and speaking to my fellow personal injury attorneys at a Michigan Association for Justice seminar. The topic is voir dire, or the questioning of prospective jurors.

Voir dire is conducted by lawyers and by a judge in court. It’s a process that’s used to determine if any juror is biased in a way that would tend to favor one side over another in a trial. Voir dire can be as simple as finding out if a juror already knows one of the parties or lawyers or it can be more complicated, like the insurance company executive who is asked to serve on a No-Fault insurance trial on overdue and owing insurance benefits.

In my opinion, voir dire is the most important part of trial.  It is far more important than the opening statement or closing argument. In this world today, with polarized opinions and strongly held views, if you cannot find six or eight people who can be fair to both sides equally, you’ve already failed your client.

For example, according to one study I read, as many as 25 percent of the population doesn’t believe that a person injured due to another person’s negligence should receive compensation for pain and suffering.  But in a car accident case, where medical bills and the first three years of wage loss are paid by a person’s own No-Fault insurance company, pain and suffering is the reason you are there in court.  If 25 percent of your jury doesn’t even believe the person should get this, despite what the court instructs (or for that matter the Constitution of the United States), you have a real problem.

Voir dire is where so many otherwise well-intentioned injury lawyers fail in court, because they never get a jury who can be fair to both sides.  It doesn’t matter if your case is just, or you present a stronger case in each phase of trial; if the people sitting on the jury are fundamentally predisposed before they hear any of the evidence to side against you, you are in big trouble.

And that makes this seminar so important for Michigan personal injury attorneys. If we can’t get a feel for the personalities and likely views of the people on the jury panel, than how can we properly protect our clients after they’ve been injured in auto accidents?

The topics of the seminar, which will be held in Redford, Michigan, as are follows:
•    What tools today can  assist you in jury selection?
•    Tips and strategies to de-select the anti-plaintiff juror
•    A helpful panel discussion with several well-respected Michigan  judges.

The Michigan Association for Justice (formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association) is a state organization of more than 2,000 personal  injury attorneys who are dedicated to helping accident victims. Our lawyers are strong supporters of the Michigan Association for Justice, as past-presidents and current members of the MAJ Board.

I know this seminar will be a valuable resource to help our Michigan personal injury attorneys  protect their clients, and get fair results in car accident and truck accident cases.

Don’t forget to visit Facebook.com/MichiganAutoLaw this week to enter to win a $1,032 check as part of our distracted driving awareness campaign.

- Steve Gursten is one of the top personal injury attorneys in Michigan. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict or pain and suffering settlement in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Steve is past chair of the Michigan Association for Justice executive board.

Related Information:

What’s the No. 1 thing attorneys can’t tell jurors in trial?

Tort “reform” - A failed experiment in legal-social engineering

Free book - Protecting your legal rights after an auto accident

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

Illinois personal injury lawyer settles auto accident case for insurance policy limits

Chicago car crash attorneys have reached a settlement on behalf of a Cook County resident that was injured by an inattentive driver who rear-ended him as he was preparing to turn into a shopping mall parking lot. The victim suffered injuries to his neck and back.

On September 24, 2009, our client was traveling southbound on 25th Avenue in Bellwood, Illinois when he turned his right turn signal on and began to slow down to an appropriate turning speed. Before he could attempt the turn, a 1994 Chevy Lumina failed to yield to the victim and rear-ended his 2006 Honda Ridgeline. The Bellwood Police Department responded to the scene and after a brief investigation, they placed the driver of the Honda at fault.

Immediately following the collision, the victim had an onset of back and neck pain that required him to be taken to Loyola University Medical Center by ambulance. The hospital performed a series of diagnostic tests and initially diagnosed him with a cervical strain and thoracic spine pain. He was placed in an aspen collar, prescribed pain medication, and instructed to seek follow up treatment with an orthopaedic doctor.

Six days after the accident occurred, ongoing and worsening pain in the victim’s neck, right arm, and left arm necessitated a trip back to the hospital emergency room. After more tests, doctors found that he had tenderness in the paraspinal musculature and instructed him to begin physical therapy and seek further treatment if necessary.

After an examination by an orthopedic physician in October, the doctor ordered an MRI as he believed the plaintiff may have sustained a herniated disc in the accident. The MRI results showed plaintiff sustained a disc bulge with at C3-4 level, peripheral right sided neural foraminal encroachment and impression upon the thecal sac, a right sided posterolateral disc herniation at the C4-5 level, encroachment of the exiting nerve root zone, and proximal right neural foramen, and a disc bulge at the C7-T1 level and peripheral neural foraminal encroachment bilaterally.

The doctor recommended that he receive a cervical spine epidural injection if his radicular symptoms continued. Our client completed fifteen sessions of physical therapy, but the pain of the injury continued, limiting his ability to conduct daily life activities.

Illinois injury attorneys at our office obtained the defendant's $20,000 insurance policy limits. The case against the at fault driver resolved without having to commit to a time-consuming and expensive lawsuit. That being said, attorneys at our office believe the value of his injuries are greater than $20,000, so we are now pursuing an underinsured motorist claim against the plaintiffs own auto insurance carrier to recover an additional amount.

You may be entitled to compensation for your auto accident injuries if they were caused by the fault of another. Contact the lawyers at Abels & Annes for a free, no obligation case evaluation and see what your options are. Call (866) 99-ABELS.

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

Chicago personal injury lawyer to represent man hurt in hit-and-run accident

Illinois car crash attorneys at Abels & Annes have agreed to represent a Chicago man that was injured in a traffic collision in May, 2011. The incident occurred at Clark and Jackson in the Loop.

The plaintiff was sitting at a red light when a pickup truck slammed into the rear his car. The pickup then fled the scene, driving away going westbound on Jackson Street, which is an eastbound one-way street.

After the accident, both our client and witnesses were able to take down the hit and run driver's license plate number. The Chicago Police Department responded to the scene of the collision and ran the license plate number, identifying the owner.

The next day the plaintiff called the defendant, who surprisingly cooperated, admitted involvement and gave his auto insurance information. It is unclear if he will now face criminal charges for fleeing the scene.

In my experience, a fact pattern like this is uncommon. Typically drivers that flee the accident are uninsured.

The plaintiff sustained neck and back, shoulder, and right elbow injuries in the crash. He was treated at Stroger Hospital after the crash.

In the days following the incident his pain only increased. He is now under the care of a medical doctor in the Chicago area.

The plaintiff's vehicle sustained heavy damage in the accident and was totaled.

If you have been hurt in an Illinois car accident, contact the personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes for a free case evaluation. Call us at 312-924-7575.

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

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Chicago personal injury lawyer to represent passenger hurt in car accident

Illinois auto accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have agreed to help North Side resident that was recently injured in a collision. Our client was riding as a backseat passenger in a multiple vehicle crash.

The accident occurred in the area of Belmont and Kolmar Street in Chicago at the beginning of May, 2011. The plaintiff's car was traveling behind a truck in a line of traffic. At that time, the truck slowed and stopped for emergency vehicles immediately ahead of them.

The plaintiff's vehicle stopped in time, however her vehicle was rear-ended by the automobile directly behind them. The car that did not stop in time was then rear-ended by another vehicle, creating a second impact.

The Chicago Police Department responded to the scene and handled the crash investigation.

The plaintiff sustained back and neck injuries in the accident. She was seen shortly after the accident at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. There she was examined by ER physicians, x-rays were taken and she was prescribed a medication. She was diagnosed with neck and back sprain/strain.

Over the next several days following the collision our client's pain increased substantially. She is now under the care of an orthopedic physician in Chicago.

If you have been hurt in a traffic collision, contact the Illinois injury attorneys at Abels & Annes for a free, no obligation consultation. Call 312-924-7575 or click here to fill out a contact form. There is no attorney's fee unless a recovery is made on your behalf.

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

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