In my book, "The Ultimate Guide To Injury Cases In Michigan, I discuss personal injury cases in general and list The Biggest Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Case.  I have pasted that section of the book below.  You can request the book for free by completing the book order form.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKES THAT CAN YOUR CASE

Here are what I consider to be the BIGGEST MISTAKES that can ruin your personal injury claim. These sins are based upon my experience and discussions with many judges and jurors.

1. Waiting Too Long To Contact the Best Lawyer For Your Case

While it is not necessary to call a lawyer immediately after you are injured, it is advisable to contact a lawyer once you realize the seriousness of your injuries.  Many people are reluctant to call a lawyer at this time and decide to put it off for several months.  The problem with waiting too long is that it becomes much more difficult for your lawyer to find eyewitnesses, interview witnesses, and to take photographs of damaged vehicles, broken sidewalks, and other hazardous conditions. 

As you might guess, many witnesses move around or are in your area just temporarily and this can make it difficult to interview them if you delay in calling a lawyer.  Also, many damaged cars get repaired, many scars heal, and many dangerous conditions are fixed before photographs can be taken.  Because photographs are often the most compelling evidence, it is important that they be taken as soon as possible after you are injured.

Also, many types of cases have legal requirements and time deadlines for taking action against a negligent person or business.  This is especially true in filing insurance claims, suing drunk drivers and liquor establishments, and governmental entities.  Often, the failure to meet a required deadline will destroy your case, even if you were seriously injured.

2. Hiding Past Accidents From Your Lawyer

Once you begin a case, the other side will be interested in knowing how many past accidents you have been in. The reality is that they probably already know the answer or have easy access to that information. All insurance companies subscribe to insurance databases and often the only reason they ask you this question is to test your credibility. If you have been in other accidents, your lawyer can investigate this and make a determination as to whether this is a valid problem in your case or not. If you do not tell your lawyer, however, and you misrepresent your accident history to the insurance company, then it is almost guaranteed that you will lose your case. 

3. Hiding Other Injuries

It goes without saying that you should be upfront and honest with your attorney about any injuries that occurred before or after this accident. Again, if you saw a doctor or other healthcare provider, then there is a record in existence that the insurance company will find. Your lawyer can deal with this if he knows about it. If you lie about it, and the insurance company finds out, then your case is over.

4. Failing to Get Prompt Medical Attention

Many people do not recognize the seriousness of their injuries immediately after an accident or simply believe that resting in bed for a few days will make the pain go away.  While this may be true, if a person claiming a serious injury waits too long to see a doctor or go to an emergency department the insurance company will think they were not seriously hurt or that the injury did not happen in the accident.

5. Missing Medical Appointments and Not Following Medical Advice

If you do not show up for your doctor?s visits or do not follow the recommendations of your doctors, the insurance companies will assume that you were not seriously hurt and do not care enough about getting better.  They will assume that you have a small case, even if you have serious injuries.  Juries also do not like it when a person claims to have a serious injury but does not go to scheduled medical appointments.

6. Misrepresenting Your Activity Level

Insurance companies routinely hire private investigators to conduct videotape surveillance. If you claim that you cannot run, climb or stoop, and you get caught on videotape, your claim can be destroyed. It is very difficult to overcome the eye of the camera. 

As a service to the general public, we post a great deal of important information for Michigan car accident victims on our firm web site.  This includes several very important No-Fault Insurance forms that can be downloaded for free, completed, and then sent to the insurance company for payment.  I recently just added two forms that will assist injured persons in making claims for Household Services and these are the Household Service Statement and the Disability Certificate for Household Services.  Use these forms to submit your claims to your adjuster. 

If you are having trouble with the insurance company paying your Household Service expense, or any other benefit for that matter, just give me a call and we'll start working on your case immediately.  Ask for Larry Buckfire at (800) 606-1717.

Traumatic brain injuries are receiving considerable more attention in the past due to the number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq who have suffered these type of injuries in combat and from blasts.  Our office handles a significant number of traumatic brain injury and closed head injury cases.  These arise mostly from car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and faill cases, and other types of traumatic accidents.

This, of course, depends on the type of accident, the reason for the accident, and the nature of the injuries claimed by the rider.  Recently, an Oklahoma woman filed suit against Six Flags Over Texas for injuries that she suffered while riding the Texas Tornado ride back in 2006.   She also sued the manufacturer of the ride.  She claims to have suffered back and neck injuries due to the ride malfunctioning and attempted to resolve her claims with the park, but they were uncooperative and she filed her suit.  The case will most likely pend for more than a year before we know the outcome.

It is movies like this one that are needed to educate the public about traumatic brain injuries and the lifelong affects they can have on brain injury survivors.  Most people simply have no concept of how a brain injury can completely alter a person's life and the tremendous struggle that it takes to attempt to return to a pre-injury condition. 

Many of our clients who are injured in Michigan car accidents, Michigan motorcycle accidents, Michigan slip and fall accidents, and other types of traumatic accidents require knee surgeries and hip replacements.  Many times, the medical provider or health insurance company attempt to get repaid the payments they made for the surgeries from the personal injury settlements.  In Michigan car accident and Michigan motorcycle accident cases, quite often the No-Fault Insurance company pays for the procedures.  It is important to note that these costs do not include the follow-up treatment and expensive rehabilitation that often follows the surgery.

These dismissals have resulted in a large number of seriously injured and innocent people being barred from recovering compensation for their injuries, even in the most egregious cases.  Bad drivers and their insurance companies have been getting off the hook at the expense of innocent injury victims.

Michigan auto accident attorney Steve Gursten wrote an excellent letter to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly regarding the improper dismissals of these cases by trial courts.  He explains in detail why the courts are misinterpreting the case law and in fact expanding the criteria for injury victims to be properly compensated.  Hopefully, his words will attact the attention of judge's throughout the state and cause them to re-examine the case law and act accordingly.

There are no national standards for agencies to investigate the reports of deaths to infants and babies and many are simply written off as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), when in fact they are the result of intentional acts.  Essentially, these people are literally getting away with murder because the deaths are not being fully investigated.

Michigan personal injury lawyers handling child abuse cases often perform a more detailed investigation than the investigating police agency.  In many cases in which no homicide was reported, an investigation with medical experts can establish that the baby's death was caused by asphyxiation and even "shaken baby syndrome."  These matters then give rise to a Michigan Wrongful Death Lawsuit.

The book answers questions on the complex Michigan No-Fault law. ; This includes claims for medical bills, attendant care services, replacement care services, and for wage loss.  Copies of the book can be ordered free by accident victims by contacting the law firm through the internet or by telephone.

Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. had a sponsor table at the event.  Daniel Buckfire, Robert Lantzty, and Thomas Economy attended the event and met many great people at the conference.  The firm handed out its famous Order of Priority Charts for determining Michigan No-Fault Benefits and promoted our book, "The Ultimate Michigan Car Accident Handbook."  The interest in the book and the demand for copies was tremendous. 

Ms. Freelain alleges that she was fired from her position wrongfully and without justification and alleges that her job performance was "exceptional."  The DPS argues that she was terminated due to her "job performance."

While the merits of this case will be sorted out in the courtroom, it is unfortunate that the City of Detroit is being sued again by one of its own employees.  In the whistleblower case, former police officers were the plaintiffs.  The city has more financial problems that it can handle and losing trial verdicts will only dig a deeper hole.

After a lengthy trial, the jurors came to a unanimous verdict in about three hours.  The jury felt that the two officers were punished for coming forward to report improper conduct by the the Mayor and other city officials.  The Defendants have indicated that they will appeal the verdict.