Accidents
Experienced Michigan Accident Attorney
You just had an accident. Now what?
Talk with Michigan accident attorney, Jon Frank - Free.
Jon knows insurance companies' secrets & how they try to wear you down.
You need an accident lawyer on your side - Who has worked for insurance companies & knows their secrets
You are a responsible person, but someone who wasn’t, just rear-ended you in traffic, and now you can neither walk, nor work. Maybe there was a death, or a catastrophic injury. Then, to make matters worse, your insurance company no longer acts “like a good neighbor”, and decides to not provide you the insurance coverage, that you paid for.
You keep a good and inviting home, and a good inviting place of work, but when you went to someone else’s home or business, they were not as careful as you. The result? You were injured, and you now cannot work, or function in your normal daily life. Michigan law has become increasingly restricted on premises/slip & fall claims, and you need someone who keeps up on these ever-changing rules.
Perhaps the neighbor down the street, who does not care for their dog, in the way that you do, allowed their animal to get loose, and it attacked you. Do you care whether the law considers the injury one of “strict liability”, or “negligence”? You might, if it makes the difference between collecting substantial compensation, or collecting nothing at all.
There are a myriad of scenarios under which you might be injured, and you need a lawyer WHO KNOWS HOW THE INSURANCE COMPANY ADVERSARY THINKS.
Jon Frank has practiced law since 1987 in California, Illinois, and since 1995, Michigan. He has worked for insurance companies, and knows how they use their power and money, and procedural tricks, to wear you down.
DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN. Give Attorney Jon Frank a text/call, at 877-FRANK-LAW (372-6552).
Frequently Asked Questions. Honest Answers.
Most people are aware that the State Legislature proposes laws, and if acceptable to the Governor, they are signed into law. This is also true at the Federal level; Congress proposes laws, and if acceptable to the President, those laws are signed into law, at the Federal level. We are just going to talk here about Michigan law.
So, most people are aware of the laws passed by the State Legislature, and that when signed into law, they are called “statutes”, kept in compiled form, called “Michigan Compiled Laws”. You can use this link here, to search Michigan statutory law, either by statute number or by key words.
However, when your case is on trial, whether it is a criminal or even a civil matter, what is really important, is the law that the judge instructs the jury on. Juries are made up of folks who do not really know the law, and therefore, they must be instructed on the law.
Most of the time, jury instructions are “pattern”, meaning that they are devised ahead of time, by panels of accomplished, seasoned, knowledgeable professionals, based on statutory law, and based on Appellate Court decisions interpreting that law. Most cases can be tried properly, using these “pattern” jury instructions, although judges will at least consider using jury instructions, specially drafted by one of the trial lawyers, if the facts and the law require it.
Thus, no matter how much people talk about this law and that law, what often matters the most, is what the jury thinks the law is, and that is what the judge tells them the law is. Everything we do, in both civil and criminal cases, is leveraged against what the jury might do with this case, in the event the matter gets that far. That is why some lawyers, myself included, will often cite to jury instructions, to support whatever legal proposition they want to make before a court.
In criminal cases, you can find the Michigan Criminal Jury Instructions at this hyperlink, and the Michigan Civil Jury Instructions at this hyperlink.
If you have any questions about your rights in a matter that might require input of an experienced trial lawyer, give Jon Frank a call at (586) 727-1900, or email at jon@jonfranklaw.com.
I have been a lawyer for just about 30 years. I think of myself as a decent conscientious person, who puts my clients’ needs first. While there are a few jerks among us lawyers, the vast majority of us lawyers are the same as me; they are Moms & Dads, Rotary members, church-goers, and decent people who do right by the clients.
So why do we have such lousy press? Some say it is a deep dark sinister plot by insurance companies, big corporations, and folks suspicious of “legal technicalities” in criminal cases.
We know why “lawyer-bashers” bash lawyers. Insurance companies and big corporations have a financial interest in making people ashamed to even talk to a lawyer. The “lock up all the criminals” crowd are sold on fear that may or may not have a basis in reality; we are told by some (especially, some politicians) that crime rates are going up, even though state, local and FBI statistics show that crime rates might actually be going down.
This is an anxious time for you, or you would not be calling a lawyer. You are calling a lawyer, only because you have to. Therefore, you need to be able to figure out if the lawyer knows what they are doing, and if so, whether they can help you. You are going to have to rely on this lawyer, so yes, you will need to develop some trust, and hopefully, some level of comfort, talking with this lawyer. Thus, the lawyer is going to ask you about the facts of your case, and you should be ready to answer his/her questions, even though they seem intrusive, or even irrelevant.
You also want to know about price and terms (is it hourly? How much? How much down, initially? Contingent fee, etc). However, you also want to know if you can work with this lawyer. In short, you are “feeling out” the situation, and indeed, the lawyer, to see if he/she is the one to hire.
Frank Law Accident is your source for accurate legal information and representation regarding Motor Vehicle Accidents, No-Fault Insurance, Premises/Slip & Fall, and Dog Attack matters.
Be it an auto/truck accident, a slip/fall, a dog bite, or other accident, you might as well be asked to attend an insurance medical examination, or IME. Do you have to attend? You might, particularly if it is a no-fault case with your own auto insurance company, and if they are still paying your bills, as required.
In the course of my work, I frequently get inquiries from people in a variety of subjects. While the subjects and circumstances vary, there are some common threads:
The people calling me think they can resolve their problems by means of direct face-to-face communication, or by telephone;
The people calling me think they must hire a lawyer; they might, in might be easier for them to do so, but it is not always necessary; and
Professionally drafted business-oriented correspondence, or email, could make unnecessary the delay and expense of hiring a lawyer, and “running off to court”.
The most common scenario is a disagreement between the caller, and whomever it is they are dealing with. As I am writing this article, I just got off the phone with someone with a relatively small personal injury claim, one which did not warrant them hiring me, and one which I could not justify, from a business perspective. Frequently, the issue is a business transaction, or an insurance claim. It could be anything.
In the vast majority of circumstances, you WILL DO BETTER BY HIRING A LAWYER, even after paying that lawyer their fees. If an insurance company seems eager to pay you off quickly, soon after your accident, you can bet it is because once you take your case to a lawyer, it is going to cost them a lot more money. In many circumstances, you should not handle your own case.
Even many lawyers do not know how to handle a Michigan accident case, and even if you were able to get all of the procedures and nuances down, there is a level of personal involvement, that makes it difficult to handle your matter dispassionately, and professionally. I have had situations, however, in which clients nonetheless negotiated their own settlements, and have asked me to review settlement agreements.
While I believe that clients will do better by hiring a lawyer – even if that lawyer is not me – I also believe in putting the clients’ interests first. Please let me know if you would like me to review a settlement you believe you have made with an insurance company.
In a premises/slip & fall case, or in a dog bite case, “being at fault”, means not collecting. Of course, before you give up on your rights, it is probably best to call an attorney, to make sure you are doing the right thing. I will gladly discuss your matter with you, if you want.
In an auto accident matter, “being at fault” might mean not being able to collect against the other driver. HOWEVER, THERE IS STILL A POTENTIALLY VIABLE CLAIM AGAINST YOUR OWN NO-FAULT INSURANCE COMPANY. This is why our system in Michigan is called “no-fault”, because you DO HAVE RIGHTS vs. your own insurance company, without regard to fault. Text/call Jon Frank, at 877-FRANK-LAW, to make sure your no-fault rights are being protected.
I frequently sue people on behalf of my clients. It is not my preferred method of getting justice for my clients, but I will do it if I have to. If you need someone willing to “go the extra mile” for you, following an injury, give me a call at (586) 727-1900, or email me at jon@jonfranklaw.com.
What if you are the one being sued? Before getting into the answer to that question, I will tell you that in addition to being a lawyer, I have also been a client. Whether you are in the position of suing, or being sued, you are a potential client to some lawyer out there, and I will tell you that I understand the vulnerable, heavy, sinking, unsure feeling that comes with not being the one “in control”.
If you are the one being sued, there is some potentially good news here, believe it or not.
If the “loss event” is one potentially covered by insurance, then you already have access to a lawyer (quite often, a very good lawyer), AT NO FURTHER CHARGE TO YOU.
How and why is that?
Because the insurance policy you bought, for automobile liability, or for homeowners, and yes, even for a “tenants’ insurance package”, is not just a policy, but it is also a contract that obligates the insurance company to do two things:
- Indemnify you, in the event of an insured loss (in English, this means that they will pay any settlement or verdict); and
- They will provide you with a lawyer – at their expense, not yours – who will defend you, if you do not believe you did anything wrong, and who will also work hard to keep reasonable, the “indemnity”, or the amount that must be paid to settle the claim.
How Do You Access This “Insurance Defense Attorney”?
You have just been served with the lawsuit. You have 21 days to answer that lawsuit, no matter how meritless you think it is. If you do not have a formal answer on file with the court, 21 days after being served (28 days, if you were served by mail), you could be “defaulted”, which means you will not be allowed to explain in court, why the Plaintiff’s accident was not your fault.
Take the lawsuit to your insurance agent.
He/she will know what to do with it, which means that they route the lawsuit to the relevant insurance company’s Claims Department. No matter how long you have known your insurance agent, make sure that you get a receipt from their office, for the lawsuit papers.
What I do, when I need to prove that someone else got certain papers, is that I copy them (or at least the first page), and I ask the recipient to file-stamp it as “received”, with the date/time. Make sure you get the name of the individual to whom you have given the suit papers.
What happens if you bought the insurance online, and do not have your own agent?
You should have been given instructions by your insurance company, on how to handle this. If you cannot locate those instructions, then look up your insurance company, on the internet. I would suggest you simply insert the word “claims” after the name of your insurance company, in your search engine search. You can also ask Google an English language question like, “I have just been sued. How do I contact State Farm claims”, or “I have just been sued. How do I report a claim to Progressive Insurance”
What happens if you are not insured, or if the loss is not insurable?
You may be in a situation, in which insurance coverage is in doubt; you think there is coverage, and the insurance company does not, and will not cover you.
I have handled those situations in the past, and in many of them, I have been able to force obstinate insurance companies, who do not want to do the right thing…. To do the right thing, and to provide you with a defense and indemnification (a free lawyer, and payment of insurable losses).
Then again, you may have no insurance whatsoever, or the insurance company may be correct in saying that there is no coverage. You may well need legal representation, and I would be glad to help you, if I can.
However, insurance or no insurance, you will need to give me a call, so that we can figure this out. If it looks to me like you will have coverage, and that you will not have to hire me, I will still be glad to help guide you through this process, to the point where insurance defense counsel can take over.
Again, if you need someone willing to “go the extra mile” for you, following an injury, give me a call at (586) 727-1900, or email me at jon@jonfranklaw.com
These are general comments, not just on the area of law on this web page. These are GENERAL COMMENTS, applicable to many different areas; not just accident matters. This WILL NOT WORK in many instances, and candidly, you will do better by hiring a lawyer, in most instances.
In the course of my work, I frequently get inquiries from people in a variety of subjects. While the subjects and circumstances vary, there are some common threads: The people calling me think they can resolve their problems by means of direct face-to-face communication, or by telephone;
The people calling me think they must hire a lawyer; they might, in might be easier for them to do so, but it is not always necessary; and
Professionally drafted business-oriented correspondence, or email, could make unnecessary the delay and expense of hiring a lawyer, and “running off to court”.
The most common scenario is a disagreement between the caller, and whomever it is they are dealing with. As I am writing this article, I just got off the phone with someone with a relatively small personal injury claim, one which did not warrant them hiring me, and one which I could not justify, from a business perspective. Frequently, the issue is a business transaction, or an insurance claim. It could be anything.
