No-Fault Auto Insurance& Workers Compensation
What happens when an employee is injured on the job while operating a motor vehicle? This situation merges two areas of law: (1) Michigan Workers Compensation, and (2) Michigan No-Fault Automobile Insurance.
Under workers compensation, injured employees are entitled to “80 % of after-tax average weekly wages” (aprox 66% of the...
The Case of the Honest Intoxicated Defendant
Many tragic automobile crashes are caused by a driver’s excessive alcohol consumption. That is a well-known fact and there are criminal statutes that punish the driver who operated a vehicle “under the influence” of alcohol.
When alcohol-induced crashes result in personal injury there are, in many cases, civil lawsuits...
The Case of the$340,000 Ice Cube
In a fairly recent Kalamazoo County Circuit Court case Ryan & Ryan fought one of the nation’s largest retailers after the client slipped and fell near the cashier station at the front of the store and sustained a knee injury. The store denied that the floor was dangerously slippery and refused to...
Trends in Social Security Disability
The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, an integral part of Social Security, provides vital benefits to workers who can no longer support themselves due to a serious and long-lasting medical impairment. The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers SSDI. Some 8.2 million people receive disabled-worker benefits from Social Security. Payments also go...
Union Membership Dropped in 2020; Percentage of Unionized Workers Rose
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 14.3 million (10.8%) of US employees were in unions last year. That’s just over half of the 20.1% in 1983 when there were 17.7 million employed, waged, and salaried workers in unions. The number of union members declined 321,000 between 2019 to 2020;...
Social Security Disability Applications Have Decreased During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Social Security Disability applications have decreased slightly, reflecting the ongoing trend of declining applications over the last 10 years, according to the Congressional Research Service. For example, applications averaged about 156,700 per month during January-September 2020, compared with nearly 172,200 per month during January-September 2019. The decline...
Michigan No Fault Automobile Insurance Law Changes
Since the early 1970’s Michigan law required all motorists to maintain No Fault auto insurance which pays certain benefits to injury victims regardless of fault. Benefits included loss of income and all medical costs regardless of the extent or size of the medical bills. However, In May of 2019 the Michigan legislature,...