$1.435M
Motorcyclist hit by a drunk driver; brain and spine injuries
The collision caused a traumatic brain injury and fractures in the lumbar spine.
Southfield Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
Southfield office · Serving Metro Detroit
Hurt by an impaired driver? Get help with your injuries and insurance questions while the criminal case follows its own course. Start with a free review of what happened in Southfield.
- $300M+ Recovered for Michigan clients
- 400+ 5-star ratings across review platforms
- Free Case review with no obligation
Start here
What should I do next?
Start with what you know: when and where it happened, how you were affected, and any reports or messages you have. You do not need a complete file before contacting us. We can explain what else may matter, which records to look for, and whether we can help.
A closer lookHow we review your drunk driving accident case
Call if an alcohol- or drug-impaired driver caused medical care, missed work, a serious injury, death, or an insurance dispute. Michigan Legal Center can separate the OWI and civil cases, preserve local and private evidence, review No-Fault personal protection insurance (PIP) and UM/UIM coverage, and investigate a licensed seller only when the facts support it. For the statewide civil framework, see our Michigan drunk driving accident page and lawyer-reviewed guide to claims against impaired drivers and licensed alcohol sellers.
Private video, receipts, payment data, staff or patron witnesses, vehicle information, social or ride records, and public recordings may be controlled by different holders and can become unavailable while the criminal case is still pending.
Read the legal detailsIt costs nothing to learn where you stand. Call (248) 886-8650 or start a free case review.
Michigan Legal Center
Our results
The cases. The work.
The difference it made.
$5.2M
Teacher rear-ended by a city work van
A teacher suffered brain and spinal injuries when a Detroit city van hit his stopped car. The City offered $25,000 before trial; a Wayne County jury awarded $5.2 million.
$1.25M
Fatal rear-end crash
A speeding driver struck the vehicle from behind. The wrongful-death recovery included the available underinsured motorist policy limits.
Evidence to preserve
What evidence should I keep?
Police, prosecutors, courts, licensed sellers, private properties, witnesses, vehicles, insurers, and medical providers may each hold a different part of the record.
Southfield crash and OWI evidence
The UD-10, incident and arrest records, 911 and dispatch, body or dash camera, officer observations, chemical-test information, witnesses, scene evidence, vehicle data, tow records, and criminal docket may document different parts of the event. The correct agency and availability must be verified.
Possible alcohol-service evidence
If the facts identify a licensed seller, relevant evidence may include legal licensee identity, receipts, tabs, payment records, surveillance, staff and patron witnesses, social or ride records, and observations of the driver’s behavior when alcohol was furnished. No source or unlawful service should be assumed.
Southfield insurance and injury proof
PIP priority, liability limits, UM/UIM terms, releases, medical care through Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Henry Ford Providence Southfield Hospital, Henry Ford Hospital, and Detroit-area trauma providers, later treatment, work loss, household needs, function, prognosis, and wrongful-death proof should be developed independently of the criminal prosecution.
Local evidence routes
Who may hold the records?
Michigan Traffic Crash Facts recorded 83 alcohol-involved traffic crashes in Southfield in 2024, including 37 injury crashes and 55 people injured. The category describes reported alcohol involvement at the crash level; it does not establish an OWI conviction or a third party’s civil liability.
Agency and jurisdiction
Southfield’s Records Bureau describes incident, arrest, and CLEMIS crash-record access. A crash near M-10, I-696, Telegraph, Northwestern Highway, or a boundary road can still involve MSP or another agency, so the exact lane and report number control the request path.
Criminal and civil roles
A police or prosecutor file may document the OWI investigation. The injured person’s civil work separately examines No-Fault benefits, driver and owner responsibility, UM/UIM, medical loss, and whether evidence supports a claim against a licensed seller.
How to read the local crash data
The 2024 figure gives useful context for Southfield, but every claim turns on its own evidence. Police findings, witness accounts, testing, the driver’s actions, insurance records, and any evidence involving an alcohol seller must be evaluated for the individual crash.
Possible Southfield evidence holders and request routes
| Possible holder | Possible material | How to request or preserve it |
|---|---|---|
| Southfield Police Records Bureau | CLEMIS crash report, incident and arrest records, and qualifying city-held police material | The Records Bureau’s stated report or records process |
| MSP, road agency, or another responding entity | Freeway crash report, dispatch, recordings, traffic-control, work-zone, or tow information | Agency-specific report or FOIA channel based on the exact lane and response |
| Hotel, restaurant, garage, office, or other private property | Conditional video, access or parking records, receipts, incident reports, and witnesses | Prompt fact-specific preservation and lawful civil requests |
| MLCC/LARA, prosecutor, and court systems | License identity, published enforcement material, public criminal case records, and victim-process information | Each official system’s own public query or records procedure |
Why location matters
What matters in Southfield?
The exact scene helps identify where to look for reports, video, witnesses, and other records.
Understanding the local recordLocal evidence and investigation details
Office towers, hotels, restaurants, parking facilities, hospitals, and freeway service drives can place useful information in several systems. The investigation should connect the correct Southfield or MSP file with any available private evidence and identify the actual licensee without treating a business name or license record as proof.
- Alcohol-involved Southfield traffic crashes in 2024
- 83
CLEMIS is not necessarily the whole investigation
The crash report may be available through a CLEMIS route while incident, arrest, body-camera, dispatch, 911, or other police material follows a different process. Each requested record should be identified instead of assuming one purchase produces the complete OWI file.
Managed properties can have separate records
A hotel, office tower, garage, restaurant, medical campus, or parking operator may separately control cameras, access records, incident reports, payment data, or witnesses. Whether those sources exist and remain available depends on the actual place, date, system, and preservation steps.
Southfield’s MLCC district does not decide a civil claim
The state’s enforcement structure and license datasets may help identify the proper licensee or published agency record. They do not prove that the driver was served, was visibly intoxicated at service, or that an establishment caused the crash.
Claims and benefits
Which claims or benefits may apply?
No-Fault PIP, the civil claim against a responsible driver or owner, UM/UIM, and a possible licensed-seller claim use different proof and timing. None is automatic from an OWI allegation.
No-Fault PIP benefits
PIP can address allowable medical expenses and certain economic losses without deciding who caused the crash. The proper benefit source and timing depend on the injured person, household coverage, vehicle status, and assigned-claims facts.
Driver, owner, and insurance claim
A separate motor-vehicle claim requires proof of fault, causation, Michigan’s injury threshold where applicable, comparative fault, damages, and insurance. An OWI charge or conviction can be evidence but does not automatically establish every civil element.
Conditional dram-shop or other third-party path
A licensed seller may be a defendant only when the evidence and Michigan’s Dram Shop Act support the claim. Service to a minor or visibly intoxicated person, causation, required parties, notice, and filing rules need prompt attorney review; a license, BAC result, or place visited is not enough.
30-second case check
Do I have a Southfield drunk driving accident case?
Answer five short questions about the OWI investigation, timing, injuries, possible civil paths, insurance, and evidence. There is no sign-up and no dollar estimate. Your answers are included only if you submit the free case review below. The result is general information, not legal advice.
Question 1 of 5
Michigan law
The law and deadlines
A criminal result can be evidence, but the civil case still requires claim-specific proof. Licensed-seller liability additionally requires the elements, parties, notice, and timing in Michigan’s Dram Shop Act.
The full breakdownLegal rules that may apply
The OWI case and civil claim are separate
MCL 257.625 governs Michigan impaired-driving offenses. An investigation, arrest, plea, or conviction can be important evidence, but the civil case still requires proof of responsibility, causation, injury, damages, insurance, and any additional defendant.
Dram-shop liability requires actual statutory proof
MCL 436.1801 distinguishes unlawful service to a minor from service to a visibly intoxicated person. A claim based on visible intoxication requires evidence of outward signs at the time of service; a BAC estimate alone does not establish those signs. A claim based on unlawful service to a minor does not require proof of visible intoxication. Causation, eligible parties, defenses, notice, and filing rules still require claim-specific attorney review.
PIP, UM/UIM, and injury timing remain separate
PIP priority and timing, the motor-vehicle injury threshold, comparative fault, liability insurance, UM/UIM policy conditions, and general injury timing should be reviewed on their own tracks. A criminal case does not pause every civil or insurance requirement.
Case work
How we help with your case
From the first conversation onwardHow we gather evidence and build your case
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Separate the Southfield criminal and civil files
Identify the crash report, investigating agency, prosecutor and court matter, while independently opening the PIP, liability, UM/UIM, medical, wage-loss, and private-evidence tracks.
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Reconstruct the driver’s pre-crash timeline
Use supported police observations, testing, witnesses, transactions, communications, ride or location information, and any lawful service evidence to determine what can actually be proved without guessing where alcohol came from.
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Preserve evidence holder by holder
Direct public-record requests, private preservation steps, insurance notices, medical authorizations, and civil discovery to the entities that control each item. FOIA, a police report request, a preservation demand, and a lawsuit are different tools.
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Prove benefits, responsibility, and loss
Coordinate PIP, driver and owner liability, serious-injury evidence, policy limits, UM/UIM, any legally supported seller claim, liens, medical needs, work loss, family impact, and claim-specific deadlines before resolution.
Client reviews
What our clients say
In their own words. Read what clients and families say about working with our team.
★★★★★
I had a rear end collision with a driver in a Ford F-150 pick up truck and I had multiple surgeries and quite a few medical bills that Ryan Ford worked with multiple providers to ensure the medical bills were paid for.
★★★★★
I loved everything about my experience!!! From start to finish I was always in communication with staff & any concerns or questions I had were handled adequately! Thank you so much for everything. Car accidents are scary but you all made this process so easy & fought hard for me to get paid
★★★★★
Christopher Trainor & Associates represented my mother in an extremely tragic car accident. The insurance company was resistant on paying out her law suit, and the team won our case! Thank you so much for your representation!!
Free case review
Tell us what happened.
Send the basics. We will check the facts, coverage, deadlines, evidence, and whether hiring us makes sense. No obligation.
- Contingency-fee cases. No attorney fee unless there is a recovery; the written agreement controls fees and case expenses.
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- Meet how you want. Phone or video, with in-person meetings arranged when appropriate. Call before visiting the Southfield office.
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Local office
The Southfield office
Serving Southfield, Detroit, Birmingham, Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Oak Park, and Lathrup Village.
- Address
- 2000 Town Center #1900, Southfield, MI 48075
- Hours
- 24/7 phone intake · Call before visiting
- Phone
- (248) 886-8650
Call before visiting so the team can confirm the right meeting location and time.
Common Questions
Southfield Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer FAQs
How do I request a Southfield alcohol-involved crash report?
Use the report number, location, date, and responding agency to select the Records Bureau or CLEMIS route. Ask separately about incident, arrest, recordings, dispatch, or other material that is not part of the purchased crash report.
Is a Southfield CLEMIS report the entire OWI investigation file?
Not necessarily. A crash report can omit recordings, CAD or dispatch, arrest records, laboratory material, prosecutor evidence, private video, and insurance or medical information held in other systems.
How can an attorney identify the licensed Southfield business that may have served a driver?
The investigation can compare the business location and transaction evidence with LARA license information to identify the legal licensee. That identification step does not by itself prove unlawful service or dram-shop liability.
Does a criminal OWI case determine a Southfield civil claim?
No. Criminal evidence can be important, but the civil case separately addresses PIP, fault, causation, injury threshold, damages, insurance, additional defendants, and claim-specific timing.
How long do I have after a Southfield drunk-driving crash?
Do not use one deadline for every path. MCL 436.1801 includes a two-year period for a dram-shop action, written notice generally within 120 days after the attorney-client relationship begins for that claim, and a required-party rule. PIP timing under MCL 500.3145, the driver claim, UM/UIM conditions, wrongful death, and other defendants require separate review.
Do I have to visit the Southfield office?
No. Phone and video consultations are available, and an in-person meeting can be arranged when appropriate. Call (248) 886-8650 before visiting 2000 Town Center #1900, Southfield, MI 48075.
How are fees handled for a Southfield drunk-driving accident case?
The consultation is free. If Michigan Legal Center accepts the case on a contingency fee, the attorney fee and responsibility for case expenses will be explained in the written engagement agreement.
Our Team Approach
Every case at Christopher Trainor & Associates is a team effort. Our attorneys collaborate on strategy, discovery, and litigation so you get the full strength of the firm behind you—not just a single lawyer. We have built our practice on this collaborative model since 1989.
Meet Our AttorneysRelated resources
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In-depth guide Can You Sue A Bar Or Drunk Driver? Lawyer-reviewed guide to the driver claim, PIP benefits, visible intoxication, licensed sellers, social hosts, evidence, and timing. Read guide In-depth guide What Is OWI In Michigan? Michigan OWI terminology, criminal evidence, the separate civil claim, PIP, and preservation. Read guide In-depth guide Who Pays Michigan Car Accident Medical Bills? PIP priority for occupants, pedestrians, cyclists, and assigned-claims situations. Read guide In-depth guide Michigan UM/UIM Coverage Policy issues when an impaired driver has no insurance or insufficient limits. Read guide