South Dos Palos, CA Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

First, if you or the car was insured at the time, your insurance company should provide an attorney to defend you. Your attorney would be in a much better position to answer these questions. Your description of the accident is vague, and it is difficult for me to ascertain who may be at fault. When you say the cop hit you "driving towards oncoming traffic", I assume he was traveling the same direction as you since you were looking at oncoming traffic. I cannot tell if the oncoming traffic was such that you needed to stop. I assume you were rear ended by the cop and that he bounced off you and hit the girl. The government's liability is capped at $350,000.00. if her damages greatly exceed that, her attorney may be looking for someone else to sue. The attorney may be "grasping at straws". Sometimes, you sue anyone who might possibly be liable, and see how the case develops, and perhaps squeeze a settlement out of them. If you were rear ended, unless you stopped suddenly for no reason, or our brake lights were not working, then it is unlikely that you would have any liability. If I misunderstood the facts, and you were somehow at fault, they could get a judgment against you that would probably be noncollectable. They could only hold your parents liable under a doctrine known as the Family purpose doctrine. That only applies if your parents provided you with the car, and I think it requires you live with them, although I have not used the doctrine recently and it may also apply to family members who live outside the home.

In Michigan, you will need the Circuit, District or Probate Court to appoint you, or another, as Guardian for your minor son and also ask them to approve the settlement. The money is then held in trust for your son until he turns 18. You are able to recover any out-of-pocket expense you have paid because of the dog bite out of any approved settlement, as long as the court also approves of such payment. Generally you'd want to hire a lawyer to draft and file the proper papers to accomplish this. Sometimes the defendant will set all this up in order to pay the funds, but they really aren't your lawyer and likely will give you no advice on options, what is best, etc. Further, without a lawyer to advise you on whether the amount of the settlement is fair, you may be settling in the dark. Also, there is no requirement that you make/resolve the case now, as your son can bring it on his own within 1 year of reaching 18 and all this other work to get approval and protect the funds will no longer be necessary.