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No. 130912
| Lewis Matthews III and Deborah Matthews, |
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Jeffrey B. Morganroth |
Plaintiffs-Appellees, |
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(Appeal from Ct of Appeals) |
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(Wayne - Callahan, M.) |
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| Republic Western Insurance Company, |
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Raymond M. Kethledge |
| Defendant-Appellant, |
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| Michigan Department of State, Assigned Claims |
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| Facility, |
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Defendant. |
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| __________________________________________ |
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Click to view briefs in Adobe format:
Plaintiffs-Appellees' Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellant's Reply Brief>>
Michigan Trial Lawyers Association's Amicus Curiae Brief>>
Background
While driving in Georgia, Lewis Matthews was seriously injured in a collision with an 18-wheel tractor-trailer. The police determined that Matthews, who rented the truck in Michigan, was not at fault for the accident. Matthews sought to obtain first-party no-fault benefits from Republic Western Insurance Company, the truck rental company’s insurer, but Republic refused. First, because Matthews was driving with a suspended operator’s license, the insurance company argued that he was engaged in “wrongful conduct” when the accident occurred and was therefore ineligible for benefits. Under Michigan’s common-law “wrongful conduct” rule, a plaintiff may not bring a lawsuit “if, in order to establish his action, he must rely, in whole or in part, on an illegal or immoral act or transaction to which he is a party.” Orzel v Scott Drug Co, 449 Mich 550, 558 (1995). Second, Republic argued that the truck was not subject to the requirements of the Michigan no-fault act, because it was owned by a nonresident and titled in Kentucky, and was not operated in Michigan for more than 30 days in the calendar year preceding the accident. Matthews sued the insurer and, after an interlocutory ruling from the Court of Appeals, the trial judge rejected both of Republic’s arguments. A jury awarded Matthews $400,000. The insurance company appealed to the Court of Appeals, which held in an unpublished opinion that the causal relationship between Matthews’ driving with a suspended license and his injuries was too attenuated to bar recovery under the wrongful conduct rule. The Court of Appeals also agreed with the trial court that the insurance company’s evidence concerning the truck’s presence in Michigan during the preceding calendar year was insufficient to establish that it was not subject to the provisions of the no-fault act. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s rulings. The insurance company appeals.
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