Expert personal injury lawyer Steven M. Gursten says with new Michigan Supreme Court justice, thousands of people who were seriously injured in auto accidents throughout Michigan and subsequently told they have no cases by Michigan lawyers, will likely have a second chance. And a badly broken law that has turned countless seriously injured people away could finally be changed.

Southfield, MI (PRWEB) November 12, 2008 — On Election Day, Michigan residents ousted Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor in favor of his Democratic challenger, Judge Diane Marie Hathaway. Hathaway’s seat on the bench has wonderful implications for people who are seriously injured in auto accidents throughout the state, says Steven M. Gursten, managing partner of Southfield-based Michigan Auto Law, which exclusively handles car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases.

Gursten says that Hathaway’s elevation will put a halt to the extreme grip on the Court by the Republican four-block majority, which for a decade, has devastated Michigan accident victims while favoring powerful insurance companies. That’s why Gursten is confident the new Court could soon overrule one of its most notorious decisions regarding car accident victims, Kreiner v. Fischer (471 Mich 109; 683 NW2d 611; 2004).

Hathaway’s election to the Supreme Court is an absolutely extraordinary development. If you read the dissent in Kreiner, that’s the law we’re going to be following in the future.

“If Kreiner is overturned when the Court revisits pending cases, thousands of people who were seriously injured in car accidents throughout Michigan, and subsequently told they have no case by Michigan lawyers, would have a second chance,” Gursten said. “Additionally, those injured in future auto accidents would have an easier time under Michigan law obtaining pain and suffering benefits.”

In 2004, the four-block majority anchored by deposed Cliff Taylor, overwhelmed auto accident victims with Kreiner. Kreiner interpreted the Michigan No-Fault Act ‘’serious impairment of body function” statute, raising additional obstacles for car accident victims to meet in order to sue for non-economic damages.

Since then, many people who sustained severe personal injuries in auto accidents have been told they do not have cases. Most had tried returning to work with pain, but were punished by Kreiner, which focuses only on impairment, Gursten explained. For example, people who returned to work within months of an automobile accident, even with fractures, herniated discs and surgeries, were considered not to be ‘’seriously impaired” according to Kreiner.

”Kreiner has been criticized for making it too difficult for plaintiffs to successfully sue for non-economic damages,” Gursten said, noting data gathered by Michigan Lawyers Weekly: Since Kreiner was released, plaintiffs have never won before the Michigan Supreme Court, and they’ve won only 10 percent of the time in the Michigan Court of Appeals.

In a pre-election interview with Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Hathaway said she agreed with the dissent opinion in Kreiner. ”Kreiner is an example of how Taylor and the other conservative justices on the Court change the law and don’t follow precedent,” she said.

Come January, when Hathaway takes the Michigan Supreme Court bench, the Court will consist of three Democrats, three Republicans and one moderate Republican who is considered the crucial swing vote, Justice Elizabeth Weaver. In published reports, Justice Weaver has been an outspoken critic of the extreme agenda and judicial activism that the former four-block majority had taken for years.

And since 2004, Justice Weaver has made her opinion on the Kreiner decision very clear. For instance, in Brashers v. Vanderroest (2008), Justice Weaver wrote, ”I dissent from the majority of four’s denial of plaintiff’s application for leave to appeal requesting that this Court reconsider its decision in Kreiner v. Fischer, because this Court needs to reexamine the misinterpretation of MCL 500.3135 contained in the majority of four’s opinion in Kreiner… The Kreiner interpretation of MCL 500.3135 is an unrestrained misuse and abuse of the power of interpretation, masquerading as an exercise in following the Legislature’s intent, which needs to be corrected to comport with the actual text of MCL 500.3135.”

Meanwhile, Gursten, quoted as a ’serious impairment specialist in this week’s Michigan Lawyers Weekly story said, “Hathaway’s election to the Supreme Court is an absolutely extraordinary development. If you read the dissent in Kreiner, that’s the law we’re going to be following in the future.”

The Michigan Lawyers Weekly article also predicted Kreiner could very likely be reversed, based on the opinions of several Michigan lawyers who are seasoned in Michigan auto accident law, no-fault law and insurance law.

About Michigan Auto Law:
Michigan Auto Law is a third-generation law firm with 16 lawyers specializing in helping people who have been seriously injured or killed in car, truck and motorcycle accidents throughout Michigan. The firm has received the top reported jury verdict for automobile accident cases in Michigan for four of the past seven years. Michigan Auto Law is headquartered in Southfield at 26555 Evergreen Road, Suite 1530, (800)777-0028. The firm also has offices in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights. For more information, visit michiganautolaw.com.

About Steven M. Gursten:
Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. In addition to achieving some of the highest car and truck accident settlements each year for injury victims in Michigan, Gursten has received the largest jury verdict in car accident cases for three of the past six years. He is a Michigan Lawyers Weekly ”Lawyer of the Year,” a Michigan ”Super Lawyer” and is listed in ”Best Lawyers in America.” Gursten has been selected as an AV-rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest lawyer rating available for legal ability and ethics. He is also recognized as a ”Top 100 Trial Lawyer” by the American Trial Lawyers Association. Most recently, Gursten was named in DBusiness magazine as one of the ”Best Lawyers in Metro Detroit.” Gursten serves on the executive board of the American Association for Justice Traumatic Brain Injury Group and is on the board of governors for the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. For more information about Steve, read his blog on Michigan auto accident law.

Contact:
Natalie Marie Lombardo
Public Relations Director
Gursten, Koltonow, Gursten, Christensen & Raitt, PC
26555 Evergreen Road, Suite 1530
Southfield, MI
Phone: (248) 353-7575, Ext. 269
Fax: (248) 353-4504
michiganautolaw.com