Taking Cases to Trial, and Winning

Attorneys at the Mike Morse Law Firm are in trial or getting ready for trial every single week. In this case, attorney Jake Yeater won a verdict against 21^st Century Insurance Company for failing to pay no fault benefits after an accident.

Battles are long fought before the judge gavels a courtroom into session. And it’s those battles waged by the Mike Morse Law Firm that become courtroom successes. Litigation attorney, Jake Yeater, constantly puts the effort into winning pre-trial battles and it pays off.

A jury recently awarded our client more than $460,000, every penny asked for plus interest, following trial in a case where the victim sustained injuries and subsequent surgery due to an auto accident. The insurance company never paid a dime even though several doctors related the injuries to the crash. Instead, they spent tens of thousands of dollars defending the case rather than paying our client’s lost wages and medical bills.

The jury’s verdict sends a strong message to the insurance company that they were unreasonable in not paying.

Getting to the Truth

21^st Century Insurance Company’s lawyers argued that the victim could not have been injured due to the lack of damage to the vehicles involved. They claimed our client was merely “sideswiped” in the collision. But, with more than 150-plus pre-trial hours of preparation, Yeater was ready to refute those claims.

“I cross examined the adjuster and they never asked our client if the vehicle spun. They wanted to downgrade the severity of the impact,” Yeater explains. “Their expert didn’t take [the vehicle spinning] into account and did not take into account the speeds of the vehicles involved.”

Yeater fought to get the whole story and the truth. Using photographs of the damage, he was able to show that the victim’s vehicle did spin as a result of the impact. He was also able to demonstrate that the insurance company’s adjuster was not qualified – with no medical or engineering background – to determine whether benefits should be paid. Even more alarming, the insurance company had all the documentation necessary to support the claim, but the paperwork was not properly reviewed.

“In speaking with the jury after the verdict, they felt that the handling adjuster was negligent in how he handled the claim,” Yeater says.

Congratulations to our client and our team. If you or someone you know is injured in an auto accident, call us at (855) 645-3946 for a free consultation. You pay no fees until we win. For more information about Michigan’s No Fault Benefits, click HERE.