Michigan Personal Injury Lawyers

What counts as a personal injury claim in Michigan? A personal injury claim exists when negligence, recklessness, intentional misconduct, a dangerous product, unsafe property, or a rights violation causes legally recoverable harm. Car accidents, truck crashes, falls, burns, construction injuries, wrongful death, police misconduct, civil rights, and employment claims may all involve injury or damages, but they do not all use the same legal rules.

Which Practice Area Fits Your Claim?

Michigan's Personal Injury Law Firm — 35 Years, $300 Million, Real Results

Michigan Legal Center is the law firm of Christopher Trainor & Associates, founded in Detroit in 1989. We started in a closet-sized office with just two chairs, built on a single mission: providing aggressive legal representation to people who otherwise would have no voice against powerful interests. For more than 35 years, our Michigan personal injury attorneys have represented injured people across the state, from Detroit and Grand Rapids to Flint, Lansing, and every community in between.

We've recovered more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients. That includes a $6.2 million federal jury verdict for a police brutality victim in Metro Detroit, a $5 million verdict for a wrongful death family, and a $2 million verdict for a traumatic brain injury sustained on I-75. Those results come from a dedicated team of attorneys, paralegals, and support staff who take every case seriously.

Our Michigan personal injury practice covers car accidents, commercial truck crashes, police misconduct and civil rights violations, wrongful death, slip and falls, workplace injuries, and employment law. If you were hurt because of someone else's negligence, we want to hear what happened.

Every case we take is on a contingency basis. Nothing upfront. No hourly rates. If we don't win, you owe us nothing.

Michigan Personal Injury Practice Areas

Our attorneys represent injured clients across every major area of personal injury and civil rights law in Michigan. Each area below has a dedicated team and its own page with detailed information about your rights under Michigan law.

Car Accidents

Michigan's no-fault insurance system means your own insurance pays your medical bills first, regardless of who caused the crash. But when your injuries are serious, you also have the right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering. The rules for doing that are strict, and Michigan auto insurers know exactly how to use them against you. Our car accident attorneys handle PIP benefit disputes, serious injury threshold claims, and third-party negligence cases for crash victims across Michigan. For medical-bill priority issues, see our PIP priority guide.

Truck Accidents

A crash with a commercial truck is not like a regular car accident. The injuries are more severe. The number of potentially liable parties is larger — the driver, the trucking company, the cargo loaders, sometimes the truck manufacturer. And the carrier's insurance team starts working against you the moment the crash is reported. Our Michigan truck accident attorneys investigate federal safety violations, driver fatigue, and mechanical failures, and we move quickly to preserve the evidence that disappears fast.

Motorcycle Accidents

Insurance adjusters often assume motorcycle riders were at fault, even when the evidence says otherwise. Our motorcycle accident attorneys push back on that bias with accident reconstruction, thorough medical documentation, and a willingness to take the case to trial if the insurer won't offer a fair number.

Police Misconduct

We are one of the few Michigan law firms that regularly takes on law enforcement agencies — and wins. We've recovered $6.2 million for one victim of police excessive force and $5.8 million for another. These are not easy cases. Police departments have legal teams specifically trained to defend against them. We've spent more than 35 years learning how to go up against those teams, and we are not intimidated. Learn more about our police misconduct advocacy.

Civil Rights Violations

Your constitutional rights don't disappear when you're arrested, detained, or in custody. When those rights are violated, you have legal options. We handle wrongful arrest, jail abuse, prosecutorial misconduct, employment discrimination, and other constitutional violations across Michigan. Our civil rights attorneys have recovered more than $4.1 million in jury verdicts for clients whose rights were taken from them.

Wrongful Death

When someone you love dies because another person or company was careless, no amount of money fixes that. But Michigan law gives surviving families the right to pursue compensation for lost income, medical costs, funeral expenses, and the loss of the person themselves. We've recovered more than $5 million in wrongful death verdicts for Michigan families. We take these cases personally.

Slip and Fall / Premises Liability

Property owners in Michigan are legally responsible for keeping their spaces safe. When they fail — when an icy walkway, a wet floor, a broken staircase, or a poorly lit parking lot causes a serious injury — they can be held accountable. Insurers will usually argue you should have seen the hazard. We know how to respond to that argument, and we've done it successfully for Michigan clients across Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Kent counties.

Employment Law

If you've been fired for the wrong reasons, discriminated against at work, or retaliated against for reporting harassment or misconduct, you may have legal protection under Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and federal employment statutes. We handle wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation claims for Michigan employees across industries.

Specialized Injury and Rights Cases We Handle

Some cases need a more specific starting point because the evidence, insurance rules, defendants, or deadlines are different. These focused practice pages explain how we handle specialized injury, crash, workplace, and rights claims across Michigan.

Tanker & Hazmat Truck Accidents

Fuel tankers, chemical trucks, cargo tank rollovers, spills, and fires require fast evidence preservation. Our tanker and hazmat truck accident team investigates carrier records, cargo issues, federal safety rules, and the injuries caused by hazardous materials.

Mail & Delivery Truck Accidents

Delivery-vehicle crashes can involve USPS, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, courier companies, subcontractors, and Michigan No-Fault insurance. We move quickly to preserve route data, driver records, vehicle evidence, and company communications on our delivery truck accident page.

Drunk Driving Accidents

A criminal OWI case does not automatically compensate the injured person. Our drunk driving accident attorneys evaluate civil damages, crash evidence, insurance coverage, and any potential dram shop issues when an impaired driver causes harm.

Bicycle Accidents

Bicycle crashes often turn on visibility, right-of-way, close passes, dooring, intersection evidence, and PIP priority. We represent injured cyclists when drivers, unsafe roads, or other hazards cause serious injuries — see our bicycle accident page.

Bus Accidents

Bus accident claims may involve public transit agencies, private carriers, schools, tour operators, or government defendants. We evaluate carrier duties, passenger injuries, No-Fault issues, and notice rules that can affect the claim on our bus accident page.

Boating Accidents

Michigan boating cases can involve reckless operation, intoxication, rentals, marinas, unsafe equipment, and serious injuries on inland lakes or navigable waters. We identify the responsible parties and the rules that apply — learn more on our boating accident page.

Snowmobile Accidents

Snowmobile crashes often involve trail conditions, road crossings, intoxicated operation, unsafe speed, insurance coverage, and fast-changing evidence. We handle snowmobile injury claims across Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Construction Accidents

Construction injuries may involve workers' compensation and a separate third-party claim against a contractor, property owner, equipment company, or another responsible party. We look beyond the jobsite incident report to find every available recovery source on our construction accident page.

Burn Injuries

Burn injury claims can come from fires, explosions, chemicals, defective products, unsafe property, workplace incidents, or tanker crashes. These cases require proof of cause, medical severity, future care, scarring, and long-term life impact — see our burn injury page.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

Brain injury cases need careful documentation because symptoms may affect memory, mood, work, sleep, and family life even when imaging is disputed. Our traumatic brain injury page explains how these claims are built with medical records, witness observations, and expert proof.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord and paralysis cases require lifetime planning. We pursue compensation for medical care, future treatment, lost earning capacity, home modifications, mobility needs, and the daily impact of catastrophic injury on our spinal cord injury page.

Wrongful Conviction

Wrongful conviction claims are different from ordinary injury cases because they may involve state compensation, federal civil-rights claims, immunity defenses, and proof that misconduct caused the conviction. Our team evaluates both the compensation path and the civil-rights path on our wrongful conviction page.

Michigan Personal Injury Law: What You Need to Know

You don't need to memorize the statutes — that's what we're here for. But understanding a few basics will help you make smarter decisions from the start.

Michigan's No-Fault Insurance System

Michigan requires drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance. If you're injured in a car accident in Michigan, your own insurance pays your medical bills and up to 85% of your lost wages first — regardless of who caused the crash. That's what "no-fault" means. That PIP track is separate from a third-party lawsuit against the at-fault driver, and our PIP priority guide explains how the medical-bill side is handled.

If your injuries are serious, you also have the right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering. Michigan law requires your injuries to have significantly affected your ability to live your normal life — what the statute calls "serious impairment of body function." A herniated disc, a traumatic brain injury, or a serious fracture typically qualifies. Soft tissue sprains often don't. Knowing where your injury falls matters before you decide how to proceed.

Deadlines You Cannot Miss

In most Michigan personal injury cases, you have three years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit. But there are critical exceptions:

• No-fault PIP benefits generally require written notice of injury to the proper insurer within one year of the accident unless the insurer has already paid benefits.
• Government claims have deadline-specific notice rules. Highway-defect claims generally require written notice within 120 days under MCL 691.1404; state Court of Claims cases have separate timing under MCL 600.6431.
• Wrongful death claims must be filed within three years of the date of death.

Missing any of these deadlines permanently ends your right to pursue the case. There are no extensions and no second chances. This is one of the most preventable ways people lose a valid claim. Call us early.

Comparative Fault

If you were partially responsible for the accident, Michigan comparative fault reduces damages by your percentage of fault. If your fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone else, economic damages are still reduced by your percentage of fault, but noneconomic damages are not awarded. Michigan insurers routinely try to inflate your percentage of fault during negotiations to reduce what they pay. We know that tactic, and we know how to push back on it.

Personal Injury Case Results Across Michigan

Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. But these recoveries reflect the depth and range of what our Michigan personal injury attorneys have achieved:

• $6,200,000 — Federal jury verdict for a victim of police excessive force in Metro Detroit
• $5,800,000 — Verdict in a police misconduct case involving wrongful detention and assault
• $5,000,000 — Verdict for the family of a wrongful death victim killed by a negligent driver in Michigan
• $4,100,000 — Jury award in a civil rights violation case involving unlawful arrest and jail abuse
• $2,000,000 — Verdict for a traumatic brain injury sustained in a high-speed crash on I-75

Serving Personal Injury Clients Across All of Michigan

Michigan Legal Center — the Law Offices of Christopher Trainor & Associates — represents personal injury victims statewide through our 10-office Michigan footprint.

Our 10-office Michigan footprint supports a statewide practice, from Metro Detroit and West Michigan to Mid-Michigan, Northern Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula. We use those offices to move faster on local records and client needs, not to limit where we take cases.

Call (248) 886-8650 any time — day or night — for a free consultation. We'll review your situation and explain your options clearly. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.