Legal Question in Personal Injury in Michigan

Re: ''Laws regarding personal injury in a no-fault state''

Hello, I have received a copy of your post regarding the kidney injuries received by your husband. Michigan does allow you to recover from a negligent driver when you have suffered a "serious impairment of a body function." Therefore you husband does have the right to pursue an action against the other driver if his injury has effected his ability to perform his normal daily activities. Please contact my office if you would like to discuss this, My office has handled other cases involving clients being struck by unusually extended rear view mirrors. John C. Talpos (http://www.Mich-Lawyer.com)

Re: ''Laws regarding personal injury in a no-fault state''

Michigan is a no fault state so your husband would collect his lost wages and medical benefits, mileage to doctors and maintainence from his own insurance company. It is always more difficult to collect wages when the injured person is self-employed. However, more difficult does not mean impossible.

Your husband may have a "third party" case against the at-fault drivers insurance company if he meets the "serious impairment" thresshold. This mean he must have an injury that is diagnosible and that impacts his normal daily activities. From your description, it is worth looking into this but too early to determine if the thresshold is met since we do not know how may times he has treated with a doctor, his physical therapy regimine etc.

Another factor must be examined and that is whether the at-fault drivers has insurance. If not, your husband may have a UM (uninsured motorist) claim against his insurance company. Take a look at your insurance declaration sheet to determine how much uninsured motorist coverage you and your husband have. Most policies are 20,000/40,000 but many people have more than that coverage.

We are very interested in speaking with you about your (husband's) matter. Please contact us at (800) 209-4000 or on my direct line at 248-626-5100

Re: ''Laws regarding personal injury in a no-fault state''

As you mentioned, Michigan is a no-fault state. Under the Michigan No-Fault statute, you would pursue a claim against your insurance company for economic damages. This is called a first-party claim. Economic damages are out-of-pocket expenses suffered because of the accident. Economic damages include (1) medical expenses, (2) mileage to and from the hospital, doctors, clinics, pharmacy, etc. (3) lost wages, and (4) replacement services. At this point I won't go into detail on each one.

To collect Non-economic damages you would pursue a claim against the at-fault driver and possibly a merchant, if they sold him alcohol while he was visibly intoxicate. Michigan No-Fault law has established a threshold that you as a plaintiff must show to collect Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, etc. This threshold (serious impairment) is difficult to prove. It is hard to evaluate your claims without talking to you further.

Please contact my office to set up a free initial consultation. You can call 24 hours at (800) LAW-6685. I look forward to talking to both of you. Best wishes!