What THC limit proves marijuana-impaired driving?
With more people turning to marijuana instead of dangerous opiates, how do you protect people who use medical marijuana from criminal charges for impaired driving? Is it possible to set a THC blood concentration limit that constitutes “per se” evidence that the driver who meets or exceeds the limit is engaged in marijuana-impaired driving? Several states think so. But an important new traffic safety study says “no, you can’t.” The AAA/FTS’s May 2016 study concludes that a “quantitative threshold for per se laws for THC following cannabis (marijuana) use cannot be scientifically supported. Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio, Montana and Washington have all enacted “per se” laws that set THC (the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) limits that equate with marijuana-impaired driving. Colorado has enacted …
Should a Canadian citizen injured in a Michigan car accident call a MI lawyer or a Canadian lawyer?
How a Michigan lawyer can sometimes add tremendous value to cases – that even competent Canadian lawyers wouldn’t know about With Windsor just over the border from Detroit and only 35 minutes away from our main law offices in Farmington Hills, there are a number of common and recurring legal issues I see arise over and over when a Canadian citizen crosses the border into Michigan for shopping or business and unfortunately becomes involved in an auto accident. There’s one particular land mine that I see many Canadian lawyers make when these cases occur and a person who lives in Canada contacts a Canadian lawyer instead of a lawyer in Michigan. That mistake is not advising the accident victim that he will normally have a better …
The ‘warning’ nearly says it all about Sen. Virgil Smith’s ‘low-cost automobile insurance’ plan
Fails to mention how much consumers will save; no provision that medical benefits are provided on No Fault basis; no coverage if health or disability is available; can’t sue for medical expenses over $50,000; pain and suffering damages limited to $20,000; loss of right to a jury trial The “warning” nearly says it all about Sen. Virgil Smith (D-Detroit)’s proposed “low-cost automobile insurance” plan. Under Sen. Smith’s “low-cost automobile insurance pilot program,” which he introduced on April 22, 2015, in Senate Bill 288 (co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Hune (R-Fowlerville), auto insurance companies that provide low-cost policies must warn their low-cost insureds about what the policies do and don’t cover. In SB 288, this is called the “Warning” and it warns “low-cost” …
Duggan’s ‘D-Insurance’ plan is bad deal for Detroiters
The mayor’s plan fails to achieve stated goals and is terrible for Detroit residents. Here are the details. I really do like Mayor Mike Duggan. I think he’s doing a pretty good job so far. And the idea of trying to make auto insurance less expensive for Detroiters is an important one. As I’ve written before, the consequences of driving without auto insurance in Michigan are catastrophic – and with estimates of over 50{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872} of drivers in Detroit driving without insurance, this hits Detroiters especially hard. The problem is, Duggan is proposing to do this all wrong with his “D-Insurance” plan, a low-cost auto insurance proposal for Motor City drivers. How bad is D-Insurance for Detroit? Well, answer these questions: What …
Auto insurers strike it rich with No Fault ‘price controls’
$550 million profit windfall for auto insurance companies could increase to $1.2 billion per year after expiration of SB 248’s two-year moratorium on price increases For an industry that’s so deathly averse to price controls being imposed on what it charges auto insurance consumers, the auto insurance industry is plenty gung-ho when it comes to imposing price controls on what doctors and hospitals can charge for treating Michigan car crash victims. Why? Because price controls on doctors and hospitals will make Michigan’s auto insurance industry rich. Under the price controls proposed in the House Insurance Committee’s version of the Senate No Fault plan, Senate Bill 248, the auto insurance industry will: Pocket approximately $550 million in savings (read: profits) for each of the next two …
BREAKING NEWS: Senate Republicans streamline No Fault strategy with new proposed law
SB 313 focuses on ‘price controls’ on what doctors and hospital charge for treating car accident victims; no changes/restrictions on PIP benefits Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy) Trial and error has made Senate Republicans smarter about how they try to change Michigan’s No Fault insurance law. After ramming their No Fault plan (Senate Bill 248) through the Senate only to see it founder before the full House of Representatives, the Senate Republicans are refining their approach. Case in point is Senate Bill 313, the Senate Republicans’ second-round No Fault plan, which was introduced by Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy) on May 5, 2015. The new bill has none of the ugliness associated with its predecessor, SB 248. SB 313 is a streamlined No Fault plan, which uses surgery-like precision …
Teaching attorneys how to depose a truck driver
Michigan Auto Law attorney Tom James speaking today at New Jersey Boardwalk Seminar Today, attorney Tom James will be speaking to personal injury lawyers from New York and New Jersey during the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar. His topic is “How to depose a truck driver” and he will be speaking at the Truck Accident Litigation Track. The biggest problem with these depositions is that lawyers aren’t taught how to depose truck drivers in law school, and most lawyers will only have one truck accident case every year or every couple of years. So it’s difficult to gain the experience and the base knowledge necessary to take an effective deposition. There are also many critical issues that can significantly aggravate liability and add …
4 Michigan Auto Law attorneys named Top 1{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872} of lawyers in U.S
Four Michigan Auto Law trial attorneys have been designated in the top 1{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872} of the nation’s lawyers. The legal honor comes from the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, designating the following in the top 1{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872}: Steven Gursten Kevin Seiferheld Thomas James Ian Freed This comes after 11 of our attorneys were named Super Lawyers (top 5{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872}) for the past several years, and five of our attorneys were named Best Lawyers in America (limited to the top 2.4{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872} of all lawyers). But what do these legal awards and honors really mean? I believe they’re a reflection of the way our attorneys treat the people we serve. We don’t do every area of law, but we do one area of law and we aim to do it better than…
Will SB 248 make No Fault attendant care retroactive?
Or will current attendant care rates and hours no longer be grandfathered? Here’s how SB 248 may affect your No Fault benefits if it’s passed into law I’ve received a number of frantic emails these past two weeks on the various proposed changes to Michigan’s No Fault laws. I’ve been an outspoken critic against these proposed changes. I believe the amendments to our No Fault law, which I will refer to as Senate Bill 248 for this blog even as it’s racing toward a possible vote later this week in the Michigan House, are a gift to the auto insurance companies at the expense of catastrophically injured auto accident victims that require critical No Fault benefits such as attendant care. The question that most people want …
Car crash victim loses $50,000 for not doing ‘risky’ & ‘unpredictable’ shoulder surgery
Accident victim’s so-called ‘failure to mitigate damages’ reduces $150,000 pain and suffering verdict for a car accident by $50,000 What did car crash victim Richard Brehmer do that was so bad that it cost him $50,000? Well … First, he had the “audacity” to opt out – with his doctor’s full knowledge and agreement – of a “‘somewhat risky’” and “unpredictable” second shoulder surgery that “could lead to a different pain and instability …” Second, without the benefit of any actual medical proof, Mr. Brehmer was suspected – by a physical therapist and a doctor who never treated or actually examined Mr. Brehmer – of questionable compliance with his in-home physical therapy exercises. Not exactly “crimes of the century,” right? In fact, I believe …