Practice Area Category: Personal Injury

A 32 year old single mother of three was rear-ended on an expressway on-ramp. She suffered a minor whiplash injury, but developed PTSD and a severe anxiety disorder leading to panic attacks. The defense argued the anxiety was a result of extensive sexual abuse she experienced as a young girl, but the jury disagreed. The jury awarded her the largest verdict in Michigan for a purely psychiatric injury from an accident. (Barry v L & M Hardwood)

A quadriplegic man was denied his right to home modifications by his insurance company. We hired a team of architects, occupational therapists and contractor to design a home exactly as his therapists ordered. The insurance company relented in the face of the strong case we built and agreed to pay for the entire design. (DM v State Farm)

A 17-year-old girl became wheelchair bound after a rollover accident. Her insurance company refused to pay her benefits for home modifications, and left her living in a motel room. We went to trial and the jury awarded her a house and ordered the insurance company to pay for all the modifications necessary to make it wheelchair accessible. (Nickell v Auto Owners Insurance Co)

A healthy mother suffered a relatively minor fracture in a car accident. The fracture led to Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (a/k/a reflex sympathetic dystrophy). CRPS can develop after relatively minor injuries and causes intense debilitating pain. It is a neurologic condition, and challenging to prove. Her case settled confidentially for a seven figure amount. (Confidential)

A 59-year-old single woman was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer. She suffered a concussion that caused ringing in her ears (tinnitus) and headaches. The jury awarded her $1.4 million. (Amos v Keller Lines)

A doctor on his way home from work was struck by concrete falling from a dilapidated freeway overpass. The injuries caused chronic intractable pain requiring pain medications, which led to severe problems with his colon. His case against the Michigan Department of Transportation settled for $2.25 million. (Adeleye v MDOT)