“Medical malpractice” (or negligence) is the legal term for a mistake by a health care provider in treating or caring for a patient.  No matter the facts, it is often very difficult to prove malpractice in court, and the costs and time involved in suing a doctor, nurse or hospital are tremendous.  Genie has been suing medical providers for the families of people killed or harmed by medical errors since 1993, and has achieved many large settlements for her clients.  In Michigan, this area of law has changed dramatically since the mid 1990s, with the rights of patients having been sharply reduced.  Fewer and fewer lawyers are willing to invest the time and effort into such lawsuits because of many procedural and legal barriers to the attainment of justice for those patients whose doctors harm rather than help them.  New cases on medical negligence come out of the Michigan Court of Appeals and Supreme Court constantly, and you need a lawyer who actually reads them promptly, understands them, and knows how to apply them in court.

Genie prides herself on her longtime familiarity and skill with not only the law, but also the attorneys and the law firms who defend medical providers.  It is indeed a narrow legal specialty, and you need an attorney who knows who defends these cases, and how, to achieve results.  Genie will very candidly advise you of the options available if you are concerned that a doctor made a mistake that has caused you injury, or worse.  Please bear in mind that the damages you have incurred must be significant for us to consider filing a case on your behalf, because of the complexity and work needed to bring these cases to trial, or settlement.

“Legal malpractice” (or negligence) is the term for a mistake by a lawyer while representing a client.   For such a claim to be successful, the former client needs to be able to prove that something the attorney did wrong during their representation prevented the client from getting a better result than he/she otherwise would have, or caused substantial damages.  One of the simplest examples of attorney negligence is when a lawyer fails to file suit by the statute of limitations, or final deadline, or misses an important witness deadline.  Yet, even if your lawyer made such an error, to be able to recover damages against him or her, you must be able to prove that the case was one that would have been successful had that mistake not been made.  Often, this is referred to as “…the case within a case.”  These cases require use of legal experts, and can be quite time consuming and exacting. 

Genie began her practice in Michigan defending lawyers in legal malpractice cases at one of the finest legal malpractice defense firms in Grand Rapids, Farr & Oosterhouse.  She has experience in how the major insurance carriers for law firms in this State approach such suits, and knows well how to navigate this complex body of law.  Bear in mind that getting a result other than what you desired is not necessarily legal malpractice.  You must show that your attorney failed to meet the minimum standard of care, and that this breach caused your damages.  Genie is happy to consult confidentially about any such case, and understands how important this field is to preserve the quality of the practice of law for all attorneys in Michigan.

Have you been fired for what you believe may be an unlawful reason?  Are you concerned that you have been treated differently at work because of your sex, race, age or religion?  Have you been subjected to harassment or denied benefits and privileges because you threatened to, or did report some illegal action by your employer to law enforcement or a state agency?  Has your employer treated you differently or badly because you are pregnant, overweight, or recently took or asked for time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?  Has your disability led to any kind of adverse action by your employer?

If your situation matches any of the above, then Genie is the type of lawyer you need to see.  Genie is an expert in this highly specialized area of law, and reviews such cases every day.  Most trial lawyers in  Michigan do not handle such matters on a frequent basis, and if they try to dabble in this field, they can often be tripped up by the many procedural hurdles placed in the way of a wronged employee.  Michigan is an “at will” state, which means that any employer generally can fire a worker for any or no reason, unless that reason falls into one of the protected categories, sampled above, or the person has an employment contract or is a member of a union.

Genie has 18 years of experience handling employment cases, exclusively for Plaintiffs.  She has prosecuted many Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act cases, which has the shortest statute of limitations in Michigan law, (90 days).  This important and very powerful law holds special interest for her, and is an area that requires rapid and expert legal evaluation to ensure that one’s rights are protected.  She has special experienced in dealing with cases of sexual assault and harassment on the job, including one of the largest of such jury verdicts ever in Kent County in 1999, which topped $459,000 with attorneys’ fees and interest.  If you believe your employer has violated the law, contact us.

Genie files claims in both state and federal court, throughout the State of Michigan.

Personal injury is the area of law that covers everything from slip and falls and automobile accidents to dog bites.  Genie has handled many auto accident cases, (as well as dog bites/slip and falls) at one time for the defense, and now exclusively for the plaintiff, or injured person.

In Michigan, one’s own auto insurance company is supposed to cover all the medical bills and costs caused by an automobile accident–this is often referred to as “no fault” or “PIP” coverage.  The reason it is called “no-fault” is because your own insurance carrier pays you for lost wages, hospital treatments, medication and the like regardless of who caused the crash.  However, an injured person can sue the driver who caused the accident also, for what is known as “pain and suffering” or those losses beyond the monetary losses created by the wreck.  Under our State’s law, to be able to file such a suit, one must have an injury(ies) which meets a fairly high threshold, often described as causing a serious impairment of one’s major body functions. 

In the last decade, Michigan appellate courts have tended to construe that term very strictly, so many persons, even who have had more than one surgery or been off work for a several months may not be deemed to have met the legal threshold.  Genie has had considerable trial experience in auto negligence, and settled many for far more than an insurance carrier wanted to pay.  Again, the injuries at stake need to be considerably severe for there to be a right to sue the negligent driver, and Genie will be honest with you about whether your facts may meet that test.  Genie likes to work to get insurance carriers to pay, and welcomes the challenge of getting a fair result for her clients.