SUED BY THE BOSS'S DAUGHTER

 

*Editor's note.  The story is not as lurid as the title might indicate. Notwithstanding, some names have been changed or withheld.  I have always felt that discretion is the better part of my continued licensure.

I worked as a plaintiff's personal injury attorney for many years, most of them with the firm of Bernstein & Bernstein (not Sam) in Southfield.

In 2015, for reasons that are available upon request, I switched over to the defense side of the aisle.  I am not the first to do, certainly.  Lawyers switch sides all the time.  I have had many defense cases with plaintiff lawyers, who had previously represented defendants I sued when I was a plaintiff lawyer.  This is a very incestuous business.

About a year into my defense career, I got a new case in.  Interesting, as the case was a combination auto negligence claim against my clients and a direct action against my client's auto insurer.  

Oddly enough, the claim was for a single item of collision damage in the amount of $1492.40.  Because the car damage was to a parked car, one of the more arcane provisions of the Michigan No-Fault law applied, and the carrier of the vehicle that struck the parked car was responsible for its collision damage.  My client's carrier had moved most of it's Michigan claim's handling out of state---way out of state.  The adjuster, new to Michigan law, thought that collision damage was paid by the parked car owner's insurance company, so he denied the claim.

So, the enterprising plaintiff lawyer's office sued my clients, the driver and owner of the striking vehicle, on a negligence theory, the Mini Tort as it was called. And they also sued my client's insurance carrier alleging a company-wide conspiracy to deny legitimate claims.

The plaintiff was represented by the Law Offices of Ronald Steinberg and Associates.  The "and Associates" was his daughter Kimberly Steinberg Goodman.  I "knew" Ron as someone I had seen around the courts for years, but as we were both plaintiff attorneys for most of those years, I never had a case with him.  

Most of my initial contact on the case was with Kim Steinberg Goodman.

Because there were 2 defendants, my clients and the carrier, the carrier hired 2 attorneys.  The carrier was represented by a large firm that grew to its impressive size by doing a lot the carrier's work. 

The carrier was wrong in denying the claim, but the denial was understandable in view of the fact that the parked vehicle collision damage provisions of the No-Fault Act were contrary (without apparent reason) from the way all other collision claims were handled under the Act.

One other fact, the collision happened as the plaintiff's son was opening the back door of the parked car while my client was pulling into the adjacent parking space.  Fortunately, the young man was not hurt.

My clients' exposure was limited to $1000 under the Act.  And negligence was an issue in such a claim.

So, genius that I am, I filed a Notice of Non-Party Fault naming the young man as a party whose negligence was the cause, in whole or in part, for the accident.  And, I was also thinking of adding the plaintiff's own carrier to the suit, alleging that it should have paid for the damage.

The carrier's attorneys were sent requests for production of documents concerning the company's claim handling policies and procedures.

Much ado about little, you say?  You bet.

The carrier should have paid the $1492.40 in the first place.

The initial litigation conference call was the longest I had ever had, with a litigation adjuster and his supervisor.  I told them the claim should have been paid.  I explained the law and agreed that it seemed contrary to the whole Michigan No-Fault scheme.

I told them how much I would have to spend to defend the claim that had a $1000 maximum value (SD motion, adding parties, deps of adolescent boys, etc).  I also hinted at how much work would have to be done by the carrier's counsel in defending the non-payment conspiracy claim. 

I told them that I didn't want to have this same conversation in 6 months, after I had run up attorney fees of $10K+(at least) and the carrier's attorney built a new wing to their office with the fees they would charge.

Finally, we resolved the case by paying the claim.

As we finalized the details,I did have questions I addressed to Kim as to why they would file a case for this amount of money.  I told her about my background as a plaintiff's attorney with B&B and that we would not have filed such as case.

Well, Kim said, I would be interested to learn that the plaintiff in this case was her best friend, who also happened to be the daughter of Newton Bernstein, deceased, the last Bernstein at Bernstein & Bernstein, and my former boss.  Newton had died in 2009.

My verbal response (a whoop, I guess you could call it), was audible throughout our office.

I had met Newton's daughter several times over the years, but her married name was a common one and I hadn't made the connection.

After the case was closed, I invited Ron and Kim out for drinks and dinner, just like lawyers used to do in the Olden Days, but not so much now.

We are about to convene another dinner get together casting the guest list a little wider.  And Ron doesn't know this yet, but I hope he will consent to be part of the first LexFugit round table, which I hope to convene soon at the Buhl Bar.