Personal Injury

Accident Attorney Assisting Victims in Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Traverse City

If you are hurt in an accident, the aftermath may be fraught with physical, emotional, and financial turmoil. Many victims are concerned about taking time off work because their families depend on their income for survival. Moreover, medical bills can get very expensive, leaving injured people unsure of how they can afford to get the treatment that they need. If someone else caused an accident in which you were hurt, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit. Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Traverse City injury lawyer Kelly Neumann provides trustworthy legal representation to victims throughout the West Side of Michigan. Recent awards received by Ms. Neumann include the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers of 2014, the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorney’s, Inc. Top 10 Attorney Award of 2014, and the Lawyers Weekly Rising Star Award of 2014.

The Neumann Law Group can handle cases involving motor vehicles, such as car and truck accidents, aviation accidents, boating accidents, and pedestrian accidents. We also are experienced in premises liability cases involving slip and falls. Other areas with which we are familiar include work injuries, construction accidents, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, sports accidents, day care injuries, sexual assaults, product liability, and wrongful death.

Pursuing Compensation Through a Negligence Claim

Most motor vehicle accident claims and many other personal injury cases are based on a theory of negligence. A plaintiff will need to establish the defendant’s duty of care, a breach of duty, actual and proximate causation, and actual damages. All drivers have a duty to act as a reasonable person would behave under the circumstances. The causation element requires the victim to show that he or she likely would not have been hurt if the defendant had met the standard of care, and that the accident was reasonably foreseeable.

Property owners are required to maintain their premises in a manner that protects the safety of lawful visitors, such as store customers, restaurant patrons, or social guests. They are required to repair dangerous conditions of which they know or reasonably would be expected to know, or provide warnings to visitors about them. Otherwise, a victim of a slip and fall may be able to bring a premises liability claim against the property owner.

Different standards of care may apply in other situations, such as medical malpractice cases. In Michigan, medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider’s conduct breaches the professional standard of care, and the breach causes an injury to the patient. The standard of care is defined as the accepted procedures and practices used by medical professionals to treat patients that suffer from a particular medical condition. Those procedures and practices may vary based on the individual patient’s circumstances.

In a lawsuit brought against a manufacturer or seller for harm caused by a defective product, meanwhile, the plaintiff must prove a different set of elements. These include showing that the product was not reasonably safe when it left the manufacturer’s or seller’s control. According to generally accepted production practices at the time, there also must have been a feasible and practical alternative production method available that would have reduced the risk of harm without significantly undermining the item’s utility or desirability.

The damages that may be available in a personal injury claim will vary according to the circumstances of the accident. Broadly speaking, though, plaintiffs may be able to recover a wide range of economic and non-economic damages. Some common examples include medical bills, lost income, lost earning capacity, the costs of future treatment, property damage, and pain and suffering.

Explore Your Options With an Injury Lawyer in Traverse City, Detroit, or Grand Rapids

People who have been harmed because someone else acted carelessly may be entitled to compensation. Traverse City, Detroit, and Grand Rapids injury attorney Kelly Neumann is ready to help you fight for your rights. Bereaved families who need a wrongful death lawyer after losing a loved one also can come to her for compassionate guidance. The Neumann Law Group can represent victims and their loved ones in Detroit, Lansing, Flint, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, Saginaw, Midland, Muskegon, Holland, Ann Arbor, Warren, Dearborn, Petoskey, and throughout the Upper Peninsula. Call us at (231) 221-0050 or use our online form to set up a free consultation.