Farmington Hills, MI (PRWEB) January 24, 2012
Michigan Auto Law has again made it on the Michigan Lawyers Weekly year-end list of the top-reported verdicts, says Steven M. Gursten, personal injury lawyer and head of Farmington Hills-based Michigan Auto Law.
According to the newspaper, the law firm received the second top-reported verdict for a car accident case and second top-reported verdict for a truck accident case in Michigan for 2011.
“This marks the 15th consecutive year that a personal injury lawyer from Michigan Auto Law has made the Michigan Lawyers Weekly list for earning the top auto accident verdict or settlement for one of our clients,” said Gursten, who also serves as President of the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association.
“Its an honor for the attorneys here who work so hard for our clients,” Gursten added. “And with 50,000 lawyers in Michigan, and several thousand lawyers practicing personal injury law, it’s also nice to say that no other personal injury law firm has been featured on the list 15 straight years for the highest-reported car and truck accident verdicts and settlements.”
Below is more information on Michigan Auto Law’s top auto verdicts for 2011, according to the year-end report on highest-reported trial verdicts from Michigan Lawyers Weekly:
Transportation company disputes extent of injures from truck accident (Sand v. Towles Transport, Inc., et al. (Docket. No. 09-021549 NI ): Leonard M. Koltonow received a $ 1.45 million truck accident verdict for his client in Wayne County Circuit Court.
The truck accident occurred when the defendant’s semi-truck struck a highway overpass, causing the load he was carrying to spill onto the freeway. The plaintiff Larry Sand couldn’t avoid the spilled contents, and suffered several injuries from the truck crash, such as a neck injury and shoulder injury requiring surgeries, and mild traumatic brain injury.
The defense tried to argue that the plaintiff Sand, who was a longtime tradesman, had preexisting conditions and injuries. The jury rejected these arguments and testimony from seven defense experts at trial and found the plaintiff will never work again due to his serious personal injuries.
The highest defense offer before trial was $ 400,000.
Auto accident victim’s future as dental hygienist is disputed (Hannay v. Michigan Department of Transportation (Docket No. 09-1360-NI): David E. Christensen and Sarah S. Stempky received a $ 1.4 million verdict on behalf of their client in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Plaintiff Heather Hannay was driving and was hit by a salt truck driven by an MDOT employee who ran a stop sign. Hannay sustained serious shoulder and neck injuries that prevented her from working in her planned career as a dental hygienist.
The defense lawyers contended that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover lost wages and work loss damages based upon a full dental hygienist salary, as she was not yet working in that capacity. Hannay was going to school to be a hygienist and also training at the dentist’s office where she was employed.
The court concluded that the plaintiff proved that she could only work part time and awarded a $ 1.4 million verdict.
About Steven M. Gursten: Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nations top personal injury lawyers handling serious auto accident lawsuits and truck accident cases. He is president of the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association and lectures to attorneys across the country about various legal topics, such as traumatic brain injury.
About Michigan Auto Law: Michigan Auto Law has 18 lawyers exclusively handling auto accident and No-Fault insurance litigation throughout the state. The firm has offices in Farmington Hills, Sterling Heights, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. For more information, call Michigan Auto Law at (800) 777-0028.
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