Day on Torts
We had our hearing on the subrogation issue mentioned in last Friday’s post. Judge Bivins ruled that the made-whole doctrine survived the adoption of no-fault insurance in Michigan and also found that our clients were not made whole from our prior settlement with the defendants. Accordingly, he declined to enforce the no-fault insurer’s claimed subrogation right, increasing our clients’ total recovery by approximately $325,000.
One of our clients (Mr. Fraire) is from Mexico and speaks little English. He made the trip to Centerville (Hickman County) Tennessee for the hearing. Can you imagine going to a foreign country and being a part of a court proceeding? Can you imagine doing so when you cannot speak the language? (Our client knows more English than I know Spanish but not enough to fully understand what was happening as it was happening in the courtroom.) Mr. Fraire was more than adequately prepared by Brandon Bass and did a fine job.
The insurer has already indicated that they intend to appeal so I guess we will find ourselves in Nashville for oral arguments in about six months.