WAYNE MILLER'S FIRST JURY TRIAL

Way back when I was fairly new in the PI game, I worked for a fairly large (by the standards of the day) plaintiff's firm in Southfield.  A year or so into my tenure there, I received a jury summons for Wayne County Circuit Court.  I was called to the courtroom of Judge James Mies, one of my favorite judges of all time.  He was comparatively new to the Circuit bench.  I had appeared before him when I was starting out, doing general practice in Livonia, where he was a District Court judge.

On the day of jury selection, I was lucky enough to be the last person called into the box (sarcasm emoji).  The case involved a claim for No-Fault benefits.  In those days, PIP claims did not dominate the Circuit Court dockets like they do at present.

The Defendant was AAA, known then as the DAIIE (Detroit Automobile Inter-Insurance Exchange) rather than its present formal company name, ACIA (Auto Club Insurance Association).  I do not recall the Plaintiff's name.

AAA was represented by Ed Dyer. I did not know Ed well at the time.   A good man, Ed soldiered on despite many health issues in later years.  He did not recognize me as I took my seat in the jury box.

The plaintiff was represented by two fresh faced, eager young men, neither of whom I recognized.  One of them would later become Wayne Miller.

Judge Mies conducted the initial voir dire.  As the defendant was AAA, he asked if any of us were insured with the company.  At that time, I was.  I raised my hand, as did a few others in the box.  The next question was "Have you ever had any problems with a claim with AAA?"  To which I answered, "Not my own".  Judge Mies smiled, and I was excused immediately thereafter, without any party exercising a challenge.

Years later, when I got to know Wayne a lot better, he told me that case was his first jury trial.  The plaintiff lost.

Wayne is a very smart lawyer and a great advocate and negotiator.  He is also a well regarded mediator.  I have never employed him in that role, however, and never will.  This is because, fairly early on, Wayne informed me that Shemp Howard was his favorite Stooge.  Apparently, he maintains something of a shrine to Shemp in his office.  I am sure this impresses his mediation clients to no end.

I am a staunch Curly fan, and quite frankly, Shemp does not crack my top 3 Stooges, not even close.  For me, and all right thinking people, Shemp comes in only slightly ahead of Joe Besser.

The Redford Theater in Detroit holds a twice yearly 3 Stooges festival.  On one occasion, a group of esteemed lawyers:  Wayne Miller, Chris Hastings, Mark Sucher, Stan Feldman, and I attended the spring Stooge festival.  A fine time was had by all.   After the theater, we adjourned to Morton's in Southfield.  Wayne suggested a game.  We were to go around the table and name the biggest jerk (euphemism alert) defense attorney we knew.  I was a plaintiff lawyer at the time.  The game did not go well, as we all came up with the same name within ten seconds.  That person's name will remain confidential.