Comprehensive Guide to Personal Injury Claims in Michigan

Personal Injury Claims in Michigan

Few people want to think about the chance that they could get in a serious accident, but the truth is that an accident can happen to anyone. You could slip and fall on a wet floor, get struck by a driver who decided to run a red light, or trip over an object someone carelessly left out on the floor. Any of these could lead to a life-changing injury.

What can you do to get compensation for your injuries and for the pain and suffering you’ve experienced? How can you recover lost wages, medical expenses, and other costs?

Michigan law allows you to file a claim or personal injury lawsuit for injuries or death caused by the negligence or wrongdoing of others. Many different situations can lead to a personal injury claim, including:

To make a successful personal injury claim based on negligence in Michigan, you must prove:

The defendant owed you a duty of care, meaning they were legally obligated to act with caution to prevent you from being injured.
The defendant breached their duty through irresponsible behavior.
This breach caused your injuries.
You suffered quantifiable damages.

For example, Michigan courts have found that a landowner can be held liable for an injury to a visitor if the landowner negligently fails to take reasonable steps to protect the visitor from injury. Similarly, a doctor could be liable when they fail to provide a patient with appropriate medical treatment given the circumstances, and a dog owner can be found liable for not preventing their dog from biting a passerby.

Personal injury law in Michigan is a bit different when it comes to automobile accidents, as Michigan’s no-fault law provides for “reasonable and necessary” medical expenses and lost wages without assessing fault. However, if the accident was caused by the negligence of another driver, you can file a lawsuit against him or her which could help you secure additional damages, including for pain and suffering.

One thing is sure. You’re unlikely ever to receive the full compensation you’re entitled to if you don’t understand your legal rights. Insurance companies are not in the business of paying out more money than they have to. That’s why they frequently try to downplay the seriousness of injuries and the significance of the pain and suffering that victims experience.

If you’ve been injured and someone else is to blame, there’s a good chance that their insurance provider will try to get you to accept a settlement. Doing so would free the insurer and their policyholder of further liability, so if the settlement proves insufficient, there’s no going back for more later. Don’t accept any settlement offer from an insurance company without making sure you understand your rights and the options available to you, ideally by consulting an experienced personal injury lawyer in Michigan.

Steps to Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Michigan

If you’ve been hurt in an accident, you may consider filing a personal injury lawsuit. Even if you end up agreeing to a negotiated settlement, understanding how to file suit will help you approach any negotiations with confidence. The process of getting ready for a potential lawsuit begins immediately after the accident itself.

Initial Steps to Take After an Injury

After you’ve been injured in an accident, you need to take a series of steps that will help you file a personal injury lawsuit if you decide to do so:

Take photographs of your injuries and the scene of the accident
Seek medical treatment as soon as possible and obtain statements from your doctors about your injuries and the causes of those injuries
Obtain copies of any police reports about the accident or incident
Interview witnesses and collect statements about the accident or incident
Obtain any video evidence, such as video from security cameras or traffic cameras
File insurance claims asking for compensation for your injuries

You can take some of these steps on your own, such as taking photographs, but others would be challenging for most people to do without help. For instance, most people wouldn’t know how to interview witnesses effectively or how to obtain video footage of an accident.

Luckily, a personal injury attorney can take care of these steps for you, making it much easier for you to prepare for your personal injury case.

How to Officially File a Lawsuit

Before you can file a lawsuit in Michigan, you must first determine which court to file your complaint with:

If you’re asking for no more than $7,000 in damages, you can choose whether to file in small claims court or the district court. You cannot use a lawyer if you file in small claims court.
If you’re asking for less than $25,000, you should file your complaint in district court.
If you’re asking for more than $25,000, you should file your complaint in the circuit court. Usually, you would choose the district where the accident occurred and where the Defendant resides. In other instances, you would need to consult the Michigan Tort Venue Statute, MCL 600.1629.

You can file your lawsuit by filling out a complaint form. The complaint form specifies your name, address, and phone number as well as the defendant’s name, address, and phone number, and then details your complaint and what remedy you seek from the court.

When you file your complaint form, you must also pay fees to the court, although if you have legal representation, your lawyer will initially pay these fees if you use a personal injury attorney who works on a contingency fee basis. In that situation, your lawyer will deduct the court fees from the damages you eventually receive.

After you file your lawsuit, the court will issue a summons to the defendant. The summons and complaint must then be served upon the defendant. Once served, the defendant will then file an answer to your complaint. The case then moves into the discovery phase, in which both sides take statements from witnesses and exchange all relevant information. The two sides then hold pretrial procedures, such as conferences and mediation, to attempt to reach a settlement and reduce the workload on the courts. If this doesn’t work, the case proceeds to trial.

This process is much easier with the help of a personal injury lawyer. A trained attorney will know how to word your complaint properly, handle negotiations and mediation, and present your case compellingly at trial. In addition, it’s convenient not to have to pay court fees out of pocket, which could be difficult for some plaintiffs.

The Role of Personal Injury Attorneys

You can file a lawsuit without hiring a personal injury attorney, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Personal injury attorneys are familiar not only with the law but with every aspect of how to conduct a lawsuit effectively.

For instance, you probably aren’t familiar with the phrasing lawyers typically use in a complaint. This phrasing may not be obligatory, but it’s what judges and lawyers expect to see. The language attorneys use is also carefully chosen to be clear and specific.

You probably aren’t familiar with the negotiating strategies insurance companies use to mitigate possible damages. A personal injury attorney will have experience with these strategies and know how to counter them effectively.

Hiring a personal injury attorney can help you avoid common mistakes that weaken many personal injury cases before they even get started. An attorney can help you by:

Filing all paperwork correctly and on time
Conducting a thorough investigation
Interviewing witnesses
Determining the value of your personal injury claim
Negotiating with the insurance company on your behalf
Representing you in court if your case goes to trial

Perhaps most importantly, a personal injury attorney can give you invaluable advice by telling you whether something is a good idea or not. Too many people make mistakes that undermine their own cases, such as answering the insurance company’s questions and inadvertently divulging too much or posting comments about their injuries on social media. The insurance company’s lawyers can use these mistakes against you by making it seem like you have already admitted that your injuries were not that severe.

Crucially, most personal injury lawyers will do this work without charging any upfront fees. Instead, they collect payment on a contingency basis, which means you only pay them if they win your case. That way, you can assert your rights and demand fair compensation without worrying about your own ability to finance the case as it proceeds through the courts.

When is the best time to contact a personal injury attorney? Right away! Your memories of the accident will never be as clear as they are right afterward. As time goes by, you can forget details that could make a difference to your case. You also run the risk of making a mistake if you’re not getting the advice of an attorney. Before you select an attorney, though, you should know what qualities to look for.

What to Look for in a Personal Injury Attorney

Here are the qualities to look for in a personal injury attorney:

Experience
Listening skills
Investigative skills
Negotiation skills
Willingness to go to trial

Experience is probably the most important of these qualities. You want a lawyer with plenty of experience in handling personal injury cases, not one who merely treats personal injury as one of many categories of law they handle. Ideally, you should look for a lawyer who works exclusively on personal injury cases.

Listening skills are also very important. When you’re telling your lawyer about the accident, your injuries, and the effects they have had on your life, you want to know that they are paying close attention to everything you say. Your lawyer is supposed to fight for you and your interests, and empathy is essential for that.

Investigative skills are important because these are what will provide your lawyer with the information needed to represent you effectively. When you’re deciding whether to hire a particular lawyer, ask them for the details of how they intend to conduct an investigation of your case. They should tell you how they will interview witnesses, request police and medical reports, and track down any video of the accident.

Many personal injury cases are settled out of court, so negotiation skills are essential for a personal injury lawyer. A skilled attorney will know how to counter the strategies used by the opposing side while convincing them to agree to a reasonable settlement.

Finally, a personal injury lawyer must be willing to go to trial if the insurance company will not agree to settle for a fair and reasonable amount. Negotiation without the willingness to go to trial is only a bluff, and you don’t want a lawyer who will bluff with your future.

Financial Considerations of Personal Injury Cases

What sort of compensation can you receive in a Michigan personal injury case? That depends on the details of your case, but compensation can include:

Medical expenses
Recovery of lost wages
Compensation for pain and suffering

Your goal is to receive compensation for your losses and your suffering as a result of the accident, but of course, a lawsuit includes a variety of expenses. You may be wondering how these expenses are paid and if you will be billed for them before winning any compensation in your lawsuit.

Understanding Contingency Fees

Many personal injury law firms operate on a contingency fee basis. This means that they get paid only if you receive damages from the other party. You pay nothing out of pocket, so you don’t need to have money in the bank to pursue your case.

If you receive damages in a settlement or after winning your case in court, a contingency fee law firm will deduct its expenses and fees and then pass the rest on to you. Expenses may include:

Filing fees
Subpoena fees
Court reporter fees
Other court fees

The contingency fee varies from one law firm to another. At the Davis Law Center, we charge a fee of one-third of the net recovery. This means that if we take on your case and win damages for you, we would deduct our expenses and then receive ⅓ of the amount that remains after the deduction. You would then receive the remaining two-thirds. We believe that this contingency fee arrangement is the best way to ensure that you can afford to file suit without worrying about the results while ensuring that our expenses are covered in the event that we succeed.

Other possible expenses in a personal injury case include:

Expert witness fees
Administrative costs
Costs of conducting the investigation
Deposition costs, such as the cost of hiring a stenographer and getting copies of transcripts

If you have any questions about possible expenses, ask your personal injury attorney for more details.

Navigating Michigan’s No-Fault Laws

Michigan law requires all drivers to purchase no-fault automobile insurance, which is meant to cover many of the basic expenses of an automobile accident regardless of who was at fault.

An automobile insurance policy in Michigan will include Personal Injury Protection, Property Protection, and Residual Liability Insurance – Bodily Injury and Property Damage.

Personal Injury Protection covers your “reasonable and necessary” medical expenses. You can select from several levels of coverage, each of which is per person, per accident:

Unlimited
$500,000
$250,000
$50,000
No Personal Injury Protection

There are eligibility requirements for the $50,000, and No PIP options however. For instance, you cannot refuse Personal Injury Protection unless you, your spouse and resident relatives have the requisite health coverage. You cannot select $50,000 in coverage unless you are on Medicaid and your spouse and resident relative(s) also have Medicaid or other requisite health coverage.

Your Personal Injury Protection policy will cover certain expenses if you are hurt in an accident, including:

Medical expenses
85 percent of lost wages, up to a pre-set maximum
Medical mileage costs
Household services
Attendant care (home nursing services)

Property Protection covers up to one million dollars in damage you cause to property, such as a fence or a parked car. Residual Liability Insurance – Bodily Injury and Property Damage covers your expenses if you are found responsible for the accident and the other driver has losses not covered by their own insurance.

How No-Fault Laws Affect Your Claim

Although your own insurance will cover many of your expenses, it will not cover all of them. In addition, your insurance will not pay for your pain and suffering after an accident. These costs can only be covered by filing suit against the other driver for their negligence in causing the accident.

No-fault insurance generally protects drivers from being sued for damages after an automobile accident, but there are exceptions. According to the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver if they were responsible for the accident and:

You do not have enough insurance coverage to pay for your medical expenses
You were seriously injured or permanently disfigured in the accident

Residual Liability Insurance – Bodily Injury and Property Damage will cover these expenses up to the limit selected by the policyholder. If damages, including pain and suffering, exceed the amount the other driver selected, they will be personally responsible for the difference.

Determining Liability in Personal Injury Cases

Despite Michigan’s no-fault insurance laws, the question of who can successfully sue whom still depends on liability for the accident. Michigan determines liability in personal injury cases on the basis of “comparative negligence.” This means a court will apportion fault between all parties involved in an accident, with each being responsible for their share of a victim’s injuries.

You can recover economic damages (which cover dollars-and-cents expenses like medical bills and lost wages) so long as you are not entirely at fault for the accident. However, you cannot recover non-economic damages (which cover subjective losses like pain and suffering) except if you are less than 50 percent at fault for the accident. In both scenarios, your damages are reduced in accordance with your degree of fault.

For example, if the court finds you 25 percent responsible for a car accident, then under Michigan law, the court will reduce your damages by 25 percent. Because your degree of fault determines your liability and affects the damages you can receive, maximizing your recovery means minimizing your share of fault.

Common Challenges in Proving Liability

It isn’t always easy to prove that the other driver is liable in a personal injury case. Common challenges in proving liability include:

Lack of evidence such as photographs, medical records, and so on
Delays in seeking medical care after the accident
Difficulty proving that the defendant had a duty of care in the situation
Difficulty proving that the defendant’s negligence caused your injuries

You can reduce these challenges for your personal injury attorney by taking photographs of the accident scene and your injuries and by seeking medical care immediately after the accident. This will not only provide your attorney with the evidence they need to support your case it will also deprive the other side’s attorneys of a potentially strong argument. If you seek medical care right away, the insurance company won’t be able to claim that you must not have been injured or you would have done so.

Dealing with Insurance Companies

the effect they’ve had on the claimant’s life. The insurance company may try to say that you were not as badly injured as you say you are, or they may try to place the lowest possible estimate on your losses. Other common tactics of insurance companies include:

Contacting you immediately after the accident to catch you unprepared
Asking you to sign a Medical Authorization Waiver that gives them sweeping permission to access all your medical records
Asking permission to record phone calls with you or asking you to give a recorded statement they can later use against you
Convincing you it is expensive and unnecessary to hire a lawyer
Making a lowball settlement offer, often early in the process
Telling you that you have less coverage available than you really do
Delaying the process in hopes of running out the statute of limitations

You should never agree to any settlement offered by an insurance company without the guidance of an experienced personal injury attorney. In fact, you should never agree to anything the insurance company asks you to do without the advice of an attorney. That’s the most effective way to protect your rights against the tactics used by insurance companies.

Understanding the Statute of Limitations

If you’ve suffered an injury due to the negligence of another, don’t wait too long to file a lawsuit, or you could run out of time under the statute of limitations. In Michigan, the statute of limitations is three years in most personal injury cases. Medical malpractice and intentional tort cases have shorter statute of limitations for instance.

In other words, for most personal injury cases, you must file a lawsuit within three years of suffering an injury, or the court will probably dismiss your suit. While there are occasional exceptions, they are rare. That’s why you cannot afford to let the insurance company get away with unnecessary delays in processing your claim.

Settlements and Court Trials

Most successful personal injury cases are settled without going to trial. That’s why a lawyer needs to have a lot of negotiation skills. However, your lawyer must also be ready and willing to take a case to trial when necessary.

The Process of Negotiating a Settlement

The process of negotiating a settlement in a personal injury case begins with an initial offer, either from the insurance company or your lawyer. If the initial offer comes from the insurance company, it will probably be much lower than your actual damages because the insurance company hopes to get you to accept a settlement without talking to a lawyer. If the initial offer comes from your attorney, the process will look like this:

Your attorney will send a demand letter to the insurance company, specifying your injuries and demanding a specific amount in compensation. This is your initial offer.
The insurance company will either accept the offer or reject it.
If the insurance company rejects the offer, they may make a counteroffer.
Your attorney will ask whether you want to accept or reject the new offer. Your lawyer will also advise you on whether you should accept the offer.
If you accept the offer, the insurance company will pay your attorney, and your attorney will pay you after subtracting their expenses and contingency fee.
If you reject the offer, your attorney may make another offer or may proceed to trial.

What to Expect If Your Case Goes to Trial

If your case goes to trial, either a judge or a jury will make the final decision. In a jury trial, the first step is for the court to select jurors who will decide the case.

According to the Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center, the next step is an opening statement by your attorney, who will explain what they intend to prove and what evidence they intend to present. Then, the defendant’s attorney will make an opening statement laying out their approach to the case.

Your attorney will then present all the evidence that supports your case, including any witnesses or experts testifying on your behalf. The defendant then does the same. Both sides will also be able to challenge each other’s evidence and cross-examine each other’s witnesses.

After both sides have presented their version of events, your lawyer will make a closing statement. The opposing attorney will then make a closing statement. Finally, the judge or the jury will announce their verdict in the case.

Why Choose Davis Law Center

For over 30 years, Davis Law Center has been helping residents of Michigan recover the compensation they need to move on with their lives. Owner Neil Davis and his team focus exclusively on personal injury cases and have a long track record of winning substantial verdicts and settlements for our clients.

When Neil Davis was just beginning his career as an attorney, he was shocked to discover how insurance companies typically treat accident victims. That’s why he decided to become a personal injury attorney. At Davis Law Center, we only represent people who suffered severe injuries due to another person’s negligence and who might otherwise have their claims denied or lowballed by insurance companies.

Neil Davis practices in the Michigan state courts, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice and the American Association for Justice.

Contact Our Experienced Farmington Hills Personal Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation

If you’ve suffered a severe injury in an accident in Farmington Hills or Detroit, Michigan, Davis Law Center can help. We will listen to your story with empathy and determine whether you have a strong case for a lawsuit.

How much can you expect to receive if you collect damages in your lawsuit? A case with serious injuries is worth more than a case with only minor injuries, and a case where the defendant is clearly liable is worth more than one in which liability is ambiguous. There’s no way to know how much your case may be worth until we know the details of the accident and the injuries you suffered, but we charge no fees for your initial consultation or unless we win your case—which means there’s no risk in learning more.

We look forward to being your compassionate ally in your fight for justice. Contact Davis Law Center today for your free consultation.