The Lee Steinberg Law Firm P.C. has successfully handled Michigan negligence cases for decades.
Negligence refers to the body of law in which somebody else is at fault or negligent for causing an injury to another person. Usually, negligence cases involve car accidents, slip-and-falls, medical malpractice, nursing home errors, product liability, or dog bite attacks.
The Michigan negligence lawyers at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm are experts in negligent law. For over 50 years, we have helped people like you across Michigan. Our firm is nationally recognized for its results.
- Over 50 Years of Winning. Our Michigan negligence lawyers have handled these cases for decades, even when many law firms refused to take them on. We are not afraid to seek the truth and get justice for our clients.
- Familiarity with these cases. Negligence cases are not the same as contract cases or business litigation. Liability or negligence is almost contested, and the defendant will blame the injured plaintiff. We know how to defeat these accusations.
- We get ready for trial. Our team of dedicated Michigan negligence lawyers prepare each case as if it may go to trial. We take the necessary depositions and hire the right experts. We are not afraid to prove our client was right at trial.
- There is never a fee until we win. We work on a contingency fee basis, so we don’t get paid or charge anything until we win your case.
How Do You Provide Negligence in Michigan?
To prove negligence, the plaintiff must show the wrongdoer owed a duty to the public and that the wrongdoer breached that duty. Without a duty, there is no case. For example, a landowner does not owe a duty to a trespasser in most situations. So, if a person is trespassing on property and gets injured, the landowner would not be liable for that person’s injuries.
What is the Legal Meaning of Duty?
Duty to another person comes in many forms. Some statutory duties, or written laws, mandate how people must act. For example, a person who runs a red light violates traffic laws and the duty to stop at a red light. This rule is made to protect other citizens and the community.
In addition to written laws, there are common law duties. Common law duty is a responsibility established by judicial precedent rather than written laws. These duties have developed over time as courts make decisions on individual cases and changes in societal norms. Common law duties are usually based on principles of reasonableness and fairness.
An example of a common law duty is the duty a landowner has to guests who visit their property. In general, a shopkeeper or store owner must maintain reasonably safe premises free of unreasonably dangerous conditions. Common law duties are also extended to doctors and nurses in a medical setting.
Besides written laws and the common law, a defendant can also have a duty of care based on ordinances, governmental regulations, and industry standards.
What Does Breach of Duty Mean?
A breach of the duty of care occurs when someone fails to exercise the level of care a reasonable person would exercise in the same circumstances. This failure can harm another person, and the person who breached the duty may be liable for injuries.
A breach of a duty is required to have negligence.
When determining whether a duty of care has been breached, Michigan courts must consider different things:
- Whether the risk of harm is foreseeable. The defendant did not breach their duty if the risk of harm was not foreseeable.
- The burden of taking precautions. How difficult was it for the defendant to take precautions to prevent the harm.
- The seriousness of the harm versus the precautions required.
Proximate Causation
To prove negligence, the plaintiff must also show the breach of duty proximately caused the injuries sustained by the plaintiff. Proximate causation involves examining the foreseeability of consequences and whether a defendant should be held legally responsible.
In a negligence action, a plaintiff must establish both factual causation, i.e., “the defendant’s conduct in fact caused harm to the plaintiff,” and legal causation, i.e., the harm caused to the plaintiff “was the general kind of harm the defendant negligently risked.
What is Negligence in a Car Accident Case?
Negligence in a car accident case is when a person fails to obey a safety rule, leading to a crash or motor vehicle accident. In Michigan, just like all other states, we have a set of traffic rules laid out in the Motor Vehicle Code. Common examples of negligence cases involving a car include:
- Running a red light
- Failing to yield at an intersection
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Making an illegal turn
We all know these basic safety rules as drivers, but failing to obey them results in negligence. When negligence causes a personal injury, the driver, owner, or additional defendants can be held liable. The Michigan negligence lawyers at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm have handled thousands of car accident cases and recovered hundreds of millions for clients for over 50 years.
What is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence or medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence that occurs when a healthcare professional’s actions or omissions fall below the accepted standard of care in their profession, resulting in severe injuries to a patient. Just because a person had a poor medical outcome does not mean there was medical negligence.
Instead, the plaintiff most show through expert testimony that the doctor, nurse, or medical professional deviated from the accepted standard of care. The standard of care is the level of care that a reasonably prudent healthcare professional in the same specialty would provide under similar circumstances.
What are Examples of Medical Negligence?
There are many examples of medical negligence. There can be an error during treatment or a diagnosis error.
Treatment errors include:
- Birth injuries. Negligence during delivery causing harm to the child or mother.
- Surgical errors. A mistake during surgery, such as cutting the wrong area, using incorrect hardware, performing an incorrect procedure, or leaving instruments or items inside the body.
- Anesthesia errors: Using too much or too little anesthesia during surgery or a routine procedure leading to severe injuries and complications.
- Medication errors: Prescribing the wrong medication, providing the wrong dosage, or failing to consider allergies or drug interactions.
There are also diagnosis errors, such as:
- Failing to diagnose. Failing to do a differential diagnosis, or failing to diagnose an illness or ailment, leading to a severe injury or no treatment.
- Misdiagnosis: When a doctor or healthcare professional provides the wrong diagnosis for a specific ailment or disease. Examples include mistaking heartburn for a heart attack, a bad headache for a stroke, or labeling a malignant cancer tumor as benign.
- Delayed Diagnosis: Waiting too long to diagnose a serious condition, leading to a much worse outcome of even death.
What is Premises Negligence?
Premises negligence or premises liability occurs when a landowner is liable for an unreasonably dangerous hazard that results in an injury. Premises cases include classic slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall incidents.
How Do I Know If I Have a Slip and Fall Case?
A Michigan slip-and-fall incident occurs when a person is injured by slipping, tripping, or otherwise falling due to an unreasonably dangerous condition on the land. These incidents can happen inside or outside of a building and are caused by hazards like wet floors, crumbling stairs, potholes, broken concrete, a broken railing, and other general defects. A slip-and-fall case is also known as a premises liability case.
Michigan building owners, homeowners, and landlords must keep their premises reasonably safe and protect against unreasonable harm.
When a person gets injured because of an unreasonable dangerous condition, and the landowner knows or should have known about the defect, a Michigan slip and fall accident lawyer can help pursue your case. This is called negligence.
You are entitled to money for your pain and suffering, emotional distress, anxiety, and scarring from the personal injuries caused by the negligence. In addition, the property owner must pay for past lost wages, future lost income, past medical expenses, future medical bills, and other economic damages.
What is Comparative Negligence?
Michigan is a “comparative negligence” state, which means that your potential compensation can be reduced by the percentage by which you are deemed to be at fault for the accident that occurred.
Under Michigan law, specifically MCL 600.2959, you cannot obtain pain and suffering compensation if you are more than 50% at fault for causing the fall. The amount of economic damages you receive is reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example, if a jury found a plaintiff 75% at fault for slipping on black ice in a driveway, then that plaintiff would be unable to collect any compensation for their pain and suffering or emotional distress, no matter the injuries.
Comparative negligence can arise in a number of ways. For example, if a person is distracted while walking and slips on a puddle of water in a grocery store, they can be deemed partially at fault for their fall.
Another example involves a person ignoring a “wet floor” sign or other warning that a dangerous condition may exist.
Michigan Negligence Lawyers That Win Big Settlements
Michigan negligence cases are fact-intensive and deserve special attention. If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, contact the Law Offices of Lee B. Steinberg, P.C. for your FREE PHONE CONSULTATION at 1-800-LEE-FREE.
For 50 years, the Lee Steinberg Law Firm, P.C. has been fighting for accident victims, getting them the services and money they deserve. Our firm has a team of experienced Michigan negligence lawyers ready to help you in this specialized area of the law.
The Lee Steinberg Law Firm, P.C. works on a contingency fee basis. We don’t get paid or charge anything until we win your case.