Last week, I wrote a blog about the one thing personal injury attorneys are not allowed to tell jurors in car accident trials: that the wrongdoer’s auto insurance pays the verdict toward the injured plaintiff – not the actual individual defendant.
Juries are deliberately misled every day by defense lawyers aiming to minimize pain and suffering verdicts for car accident victims because of this Michigan evidentiary rule – which was intended as a shield but is now being used as a sword by the deep-pocked auto insurance companies.
This issue was on my mind after watching “Hot Coffee” on HBO. Hot Coffee is the documentary about the true facts behind the infamous McDonald’s coffee case, but it is also so much more. Hot Coffee will be played during the Traverse City Film Festival at 9 p.m. tonight, in the Old Town Playhouse. Here are some event details and information on Traverse City auto accidents.
Hot Coffee is a story about America’s system of justice being exploited by insurance companies that have created fake “tort reform” movements to raise profits by denying citizens and the injured access to the legal system.
I would encourage anyone sitting for jury service to watch this story.
Our system of justice exists to protect the rights of all of us, including the right to recover from harms and losses from personal injuries caused by another person’s carelessness or negligence. Our civil justice system works best when all of the people involved take it seriously. Plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers, judges, juries, and yes, even the insurance companies that are spending millions to elect slanted judges intent on dismantling the civil justice system.
You should also know that the vast majority of personal injury and auto accident cases are settled out of court. It has been my experience (and I think any personal injury attorney will tell you this), that most people who come to court do so as a last resort. They’ve waited years to get there and may have spent thousands of dollars on medical bills and living expenses; often too injured to work. These injured people are responsible for thousands of dollars in case costs because of the delay tactics used by insurance companies and how these lawsuits are aggressively defended.
If you are selected as a juror in a civil case, please take it seriously. The decisions you make will affect people’s lives and recovery for years to come.
- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top personal injury attorneys. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict or settlement in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
- Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by MG/TR
Related Information:
Tort “reform”: A failed experiment in legal-social engineering
Filing an auto accident lawsuit in Michigan - What does it take?
Do you enjoy driving a safe car? Thank a personal injury attorney
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys.
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