Insurance Defense

Grand Rapids and Traverse City Lawyers Protecting Business Interests Through Diligent and Strategic Representation

As an insurer, you have an obligation to provide your insureds with qualified and capable counsel. Whether you need legal representation for an insured who has been blamed in a third-party car accident or for a first-person property loss dispute, the Grand Rapids and Traverse City insurance defense attorneys at the Neumann Law Group may be able to provide knowledgeable guidance. Our principal, Kelly Neumann, is an award-winning personal injury attorney who can put her insights related to plaintiff’s claims to work on your behalf.

Comprehensive Insurance Defense Representation

Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. Our experience in personal injury matters allows us to provide aggressive and knowledgeable legal counsel and representation to those who have been sued for car accidents, slip and falls, breaches of contracts, unfair trade practices, property loss, arson, and fraud. We can provide reports to insurance companies about what is happening in the case so that you can have the peace of mind that you are fully meeting your obligations to defend your insured.

What will make up a strong defense depends on the lawsuit that we are defending. In car accident cases involving serious injuries, it may be helpful to raise the plaintiff’s comparative negligence. To establish negligence, the plaintiff needs to show duty, breach, causation, and damages. However, their damages may be reduced by their degree of fault. Through investigation and discovery, we can examine all the facts to determine whether the plaintiff was distracted while driving, for example, or was otherwise to blame for causing an accident.

In premises liability lawsuits, our insurance defense lawyers can help Traverse City and Grand Rapids clients take a wide range of approaches. In Michigan, plaintiffs must establish that a property owner had a duty to make the premises reasonably safe for visitors, the property owner failed to meet that duty, the dangerous condition on the premises caused injuries to the plaintiff, and there were damages suffered. Sometimes, it is possible to attack a plaintiff’s case based on their status on the property. For example, if an owner does not know about an adult trespasser coming onto the property, the owner does not have a duty to make the property safe or provide warnings.

A plaintiff also needs to establish that the proprietor of an establishment either created the dangerous condition or knew or should have known about it. If a plaintiff cannot establish any of these forms of notice, it may be appropriate to file a motion for summary judgment.

In other cases, it may be possible to defend the insured by asserting the open and obvious doctrine. When a dangerous condition is so obvious that someone invited onto the property should reasonably be expected to discover it, there is no duty on the part of the proprietor to protect from or warn about that danger.

We can also use our experience handling plaintiff’s matters to give you a sense of whether the damages that are being sought are reasonable, given the types of injuries at issue and what a reasonable settlement value might be. When it is not possible to settle a claim, we can provide a strong defense at trial.

Consult an Insurance Defense Attorney in Grand Rapids or Traverse City

If you need a strong defense for your insured, the Neumann Law Group may be able to assist you. Our insurance defense lawyers in Traverse City and Grand Rapids represent clients in Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Flint, Petoskey, Warren, Holland, Muskegon, Midland, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, and Saginaw, as well as communities throughout the Upper Peninsula. Contact the Neumann Law Group at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to set up an appointment. We also can be of assistance if you need a contract law attorney to help interpret the provisions in an insurance policy.