Injured in a car accident?

We take car accident cases on a contingency fee, so there is no upfront fee or cost to you and no charge for the initial consultation. We are paid a percentage of the recovery, and if we do not recover money for you, you owe us no attorney fee. The specific percentage and how case costs are handled are set out in a written fee agreement that you read and sign before we represent you.

Honestly, nobody can tell you over the phone. It depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, your medical expenses and lost income, how clear fault is, your own share of fault, and the single biggest limiter, how much insurance coverage actually exists. A claim worth a million dollars against a driver carrying only the state-minimum coverage may only reach the available policies. We look at all of it before we give you a range.

Michigan runs two separate deadlines on two different clocks. Missing either one can end that part of your claim for good.

One year for No-Fault benefits. To collect Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, which cover your medical bills, rehabilitation and 85% of your lost wages, you must file a formal application for benefits with the correct auto insurance company within one year of the date of the crash. If the insurer refuses to pay a specific medical bill, a lawsuit for that unpaid expense must be filed within one year of the date that expense was incurred.

Three years to sue the at-fault driver. If you are suing the driver who caused the crash for pain and suffering, emotional distress and excess economic losses, you have three years from the date of the accident to file.

MCL 500.3145 (No-Fault benefits); MCL 600.5805 (third-party lawsuit).

Usually yes. Michigan is a No-Fault state, so your own medical bills and lost wages are paid first through PIP benefits, no matter who caused the crash. You are required to formally notify your auto insurance provider within one year of the crash to protect that right.

Which company pays follows a set order of priority: your own policy if you are the named insured, then a spouse's policy, then the policy of a resident relative who lives in your household.

If you were injured in an auto accident and had no insurance of your own, you may still have a claim through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP), run by the Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility (MAIPF).

MCL 500.3114 (order of priority); MCL 500.3145 (one-year notice).

You can still recover. In Michigan a victim's compensation is reduced according to their degree of fault, so being partly to blame lowers what you receive rather than barring you outright.

Fault is also rarely as clear as the other driver's insurer first claims. How fault is apportioned is one of the things worth having a lawyer look at before you accept any offer.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage lets you claim against your own insurance company instead of depending on a negligent driver who has no policy or not enough of one to cover your damages. Whether you carry it, and how much, depends on the terms of your policy.

If you had no insurance of your own, you may still have a claim through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP) and the Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility (MAIPF).

Talk to a lawyer first. An early offer often arrives before anyone knows whether your injury is permanent, and accepting it typically requires signing a release that ends your claim for good, including for treatment you have not had yet. There is no cost to having us look at the offer before you sign anything.

Yes. People look for a car wreck lawyer, an auto accident attorney and a car crash lawyer, and they all mean the same thing. Whatever you call it, if another driver hurt you in Michigan the claim works the same way and we handle it. Use whichever word feels right when you call.

The firm has thirteen offices across Michigan: Southfield, two in Detroit, Sterling Heights, Flint, Ypsilanti, Wayne, Lake Orion, Waterford, Monroe, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Mount Clemens. Every address is listed on this page. You do not have to come to an office to start, because the first conversation is free and happens by phone, but there is almost certainly one within reach when you want to sit down with someone.