Why Choose Koussan Law?
Ann Arbor Personal Injury Lawyer: Serious Trial Counsel for Washtenaw County
Koussan Law represents people seriously injured in Ann Arbor and throughout Washtenaw County on a contingency fee — you pay nothing unless we win. Our trial team has recovered tens of millions of dollars for Michigan injury victims, including a $14.95 million jury verdict, and we try cases in state and federal courts across Michigan. Ann Arbor's mix of high-speed commuter freeways, one of the nation's largest university campuses, and dense downtown pedestrian traffic produces a distinctive pattern of serious injury cases — and a distinctive set of legal questions this page walks through.
Quick facts for Ann Arbor injury victims:
- Filing deadline: generally 3 years from the date of injury (MCL § 600.5805); only 2 years for medical malpractice; just 120 days to notify a government defendant (MCL § 691.1404).
- Cost: no upfront fees, ever. Contingency representation, so there is no fee unless we recover money for you.
- Where your case is filed: the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court for Washtenaw County in downtown Ann Arbor.
- No-fault basics: your own auto insurer pays medical bills and wage loss regardless of fault; a separate claim against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering requires a "serious impairment of body function."
This page covers Ann Arbor's highest-risk roads, the case types we handle most often here, how Michigan injury law applies to Washtenaw County cases, the local court system, and the deadlines that decide whether a case can be brought at all.
High-Risk Roads and Corridors in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor's crash pattern is shaped by commuter freeways feeding a compact, walkable core shared with more than 50,000 University of Michigan students:
- US-23 — the east-side commuter spine. Stop-and-go backups between Geddes Road and M-14 produce chain-reaction rear-end collisions, and the US-23/M-14 interchange is a frequent site of high-speed sideswipes.
- I-94 — the south-boundary freight corridor. Truck traffic bound for Detroit and Chicago meets local traffic at the State Street and Ann Arbor-Saline Road interchanges, both surrounded by the Briarwood retail cluster.
- M-14 — the northern route toward Plymouth and Livonia, with weave-and-merge crashes where it splits from US-23 and at the Barton Drive ramps.
- Washtenaw Avenue — the arterial connecting Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Dense signals, driveway cuts, bus stops, and heavy left-turn volume make it the county's classic intersection-crash corridor.
- Downtown and campus streets — State, Liberty, Huron, and South University. Pedestrians and cyclists dominate; drivers turning across crosswalks cause a steady stream of pedestrian knockdowns, and Ann Arbor's local crosswalk ordinance imposes stopping duties beyond the state default.
- Plymouth Road and Fuller Road — the medical-campus commute, where hospital shift changes concentrate traffic alongside cyclists on the Border-to-Border trail crossings.
Personal Injury Cases We Handle for Ann Arbor Clients
- Car accidents — from US-23 pileups to Washtenaw Avenue T-bones, including no-fault PIP disputes and third-party threshold claims.
- Pedestrian knockdowns and bicycle crashes — campus-area crosswalk and trail-crossing cases, where Michigan's no-fault system still provides PIP coverage to people on foot or on a bike struck by a motor vehicle.
- Commercial truck crashes — I-94 and US-23 freight traffic; we move fast to preserve ECM data, driver logs, and carrier safety records.
- Motorcycle accidents — left-turn interception crashes on arterials like Packard and Stadium.
- Premises liability — winter ice at apartment complexes and commercial lots, negligent security, and store hazards.
- Medical malpractice (referral network) — Washtenaw County is home to major academic medicine; these cases carry their own 2-year clock and 182-day Notice of Intent under MCL § 600.2912b. Koussan Law does not litigate medical malpractice claims in-house — we connect you with an experienced Michigan malpractice firm through our referral network and remain your point of contact.
- Wrongful death and catastrophic injuries — brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and amputations demanding lifetime-care valuation.
- Dog bites — Michigan's strict liability statute, MCL § 287.351, applies regardless of the animal's history.
Ann Arbor Hospitals and Your Medical Record
Ann Arbor is Michigan's academic-medicine capital. University of Michigan Health (Michigan Medicine) is a state-designated Level I adult trauma center, and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital holds the Level I pediatric designation — the most severe crash victims in southeast Michigan are often transported here. Trinity Health Ann Arbor, the Level I trauma center on the Ypsilanti border, anchors the county's east side.
Those records decide cases. The trauma activation notes, imaging, and rehabilitation records generated at these hospitals are the objective evidence that satisfies the McCormick serious-impairment standard — and gaps in treatment are the first thing a defense adjuster looks for. Get care immediately, follow through on referrals, and let us handle the record collection.
Washtenaw County Courts
Injury lawsuits arising in Ann Arbor are filed in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court at the Washtenaw County Trial Court in downtown Ann Arbor. Smaller claims and district-court matters for the city go to the 15th District Court. Cases with diverse out-of-state defendants — common with national trucking carriers — may be removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Ann Arbor/Detroit). Washtenaw juries are educated and analytical; they reward precise, well-documented cases, which is how we build every file.
Michigan No-Fault Insurance: Key Rules for Ann Arbor Drivers
Michigan's no-fault system controls almost every Ann Arbor crash case, and it runs on two separate tracks. The first-party (PIP) claim is against your own insurer for allowable medical expenses, wage loss, replacement services, and attendant care under MCL § 500.3107 — regardless of who caused the crash. Which insurer pays is set by the priority rules of MCL §§ 500.3114 and 500.3115, and pedestrians and cyclists struck by cars are covered too. Since the 2019 reform, your recovery is also shaped by the PIP medical coverage level chosen on the policy, and the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in Andary v. USAA (2023) preserved uncapped lifetime benefits for people injured before that reform.
The third-party claim is the lawsuit against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering and excess economic loss. It requires proof of a "serious impairment of body function" under MCL § 500.3135, judged by the three-part test of McCormick v. Carrier (2010): an objectively manifested impairment, of an important body function, that affects your general ability to lead your normal life. Insurers in Washtenaw County fight this threshold in nearly every case, which is why treatment records and honest documentation of how the injury changed your daily routine matter from day one.
Vehicle damage is handled separately: Michigan's mini-tort provision, MCL § 500.3135(3)(e), lets you recover up to $3,000 in vehicle damage from an at-fault driver.
Deadlines for Ann Arbor Personal Injury Cases
Miss the deadline and the case is gone, no matter how strong it is. The clocks that matter most in Washtenaw County:
- Most injury lawsuits: 3 years from the date of injury. MCL § 600.5805(2).
- Medical malpractice: generally 2 years, plus a mandatory 182-day Notice of Intent before filing. MCL §§ 600.5838a, 600.2912b.
- No-fault PIP benefits: the one-year-back rule of MCL § 500.3145 limits recovery to expenses incurred within one year before suit, so PIP disputes cannot wait.
- Government defendants: written notice within 120 days for highway-defect and most claims against public agencies. MCL § 691.1404.
- Wrongful death: the underlying statute of limitations still controls, and the personal representative must be appointed before suit. MCL § 600.2922.
Modified Comparative Negligence in Michigan
Michigan follows a modified comparative negligence rule, MCL § 600.2959. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and non-economic damages (pain and suffering) are barred only if you are found more than 50% at fault. Economic damages survive even above that line. Insurers use this rule aggressively — blaming the injured person is the cheapest defense there is — so do not accept an adjuster's fault assessment as final.
For premises cases, the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil, Inc. (2023) folded the old "open and obvious" doctrine into comparative fault. A visible hazard no longer automatically kills an Ann Arbor slip-and-fall case; it is one factor a jury weighs.
Why Ann Arbor Injury Victims Choose Koussan Law
Koussan Law is a Michigan trial firm, not a settlement mill. Our results include a $14.95 million jury verdict in a sexual assault and institutional negligence case — tried by Ali Koussan as sole plaintiff's counsel against four defense firms — a $6 million premises liability settlement, and a $1 million wrongful death settlement for the family of a disabled adult. Insurance carriers know which firms actually try cases, and that reputation changes settlement math long before a Washtenaw County jury is ever seated.
We know Washtenaw County's defense bar, its mediators, and its case-evaluation culture under MCR 2.403. And because Ann Arbor sits within a short drive of our Detroit office, our attorneys handle scene inspections, client meetings, and court appearances here directly — no outsourcing to referral networks.
Every case is handled on contingency: no consultation fee, no hourly billing, no fee at all unless we recover for you. You get direct attorney contact, not a case-number-and-call-center experience.
Frequently Asked Questions: Ann Arbor Personal Injury Lawyer
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit after an Ann Arbor accident?
Generally three years from the date of injury under MCL 600.5805. Medical malpractice is two years with a mandatory 182-day Notice of Intent. Claims against a government defendant, including road-defect claims, require written notice within 120 days under MCL 691.1404.
What does it cost to hire an Ann Arbor personal injury lawyer?
Nothing upfront. Koussan Law works on contingency, typically one-third of the recovery before trial, with case costs reimbursed from the recovery. If we do not win, you owe no attorney fee.
I was hit by a car in a crosswalk near the U-M campus. Am I covered by no-fault?
Yes. A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a motor vehicle is entitled to Michigan No-Fault PIP benefits under MCL 500.3115, following the statutory priority order of insurers. A separate third-party claim against the driver is available if the serious-impairment threshold of MCL 500.3135 is met.
Where will my Ann Arbor injury case be filed?
In the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court for Washtenaw County in downtown Ann Arbor. Trucking cases with out-of-state carriers are sometimes removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the crash?
Yes. Under MCL 600.2959, Michigan's modified comparative negligence rule, your award is reduced by your fault percentage, and only pain-and-suffering damages are barred if you exceed 50% fault. Economic damages survive regardless.
A student was seriously hurt — does it matter that they're insured on a parent's out-of-state policy?
It matters for which insurer pays PIP benefits, not whether benefits exist. Michigan's priority rules under MCL 500.3114 and the Assigned Claims Plan can cover students injured here even without a Michigan policy in the household. These are technical questions worth a free consultation.
Do I have a case if I slipped on ice at an Ann Arbor apartment complex?
Possibly. After Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil, Inc. (2023), the open-and-obvious doctrine no longer automatically defeats snow-and-ice claims. Landlords also owe statutory duties to keep common areas fit for their intended use under MCL 554.139.
Schedule Your Free Ann Arbor Case Review
Evidence disappears fast — camera footage is overwritten, vehicles are repaired, and witnesses move. If you or a family member was seriously injured in Ann Arbor or anywhere in Washtenaw County, call (313) 800-0000 or send us a message for a free, no-obligation consultation. You can also get an instant estimate range with our free case value calculator. There is no fee unless we win.
