So Much Whine, So Little Time

Richard D Hagerman v Rashi Kakar, is an unpublished opinion, and therefore is not binding authority. Unpublished decisions may be used as persuasive authority in the lower courts. The case further expands on what testimony and evidence may be sufficient for a plaintiff to defeat a motion for summary disposition under the “ability to lead a normal life” McCormick test.

The Court of Appeals re-affirmed that there is no temporal requirement associated with how long any accident-related injuries must impair a plaintiff’s ability to lead his or her normal life. In order to create a question of fact, the impairment may only last a relatively short period of time. Piccione v Gillette, 327 Mich App 16 (2019).

The Court noted that there are “various unpublished decisions that support the position that ‘self-imposed’ limitations do not count as an impairment on the ability to lead a normal life, and that serious impairment may not be predicated on the ability to do activities that have not been attempted since the injury.” However, Piccione is a published opinion and is therefore controlling over any unpublished opinions cited by the Defendant. (Slip op 5, fn. 4.)

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