Paul Shibley was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in November 1994. He has known since the age of 17 that he would be an attorney and focused his college studies on gaining admission to law school. As one of the most experienced auto negligence attorneys in West Michigan, he now has over twenty years of litigation experience including extensive auto negligence and Michigan Auto No-Fault trial experience.
He practices primarily out of the firm’s Muskegon and Grand Rapids offices. Paul is the only Executive Board Member of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) from either Muskegon County or Ottawa County. Being on the MAJ Executive Board allows Paul to be at the forefront of potential changes in Auto No-Fault Law and this also allows him to regularly network with many of the top personal injury lawyers in Michigan. Paul also has been recognized as a Super Lawyer® consistently since 2012, a recognition awarded by other lawyers in the State to a very small percentage of attorneys. Paul also has since 2009 been a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, an award conveyed to not more than 5% of attorneys in Michigan. He also has been recognized as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the State of Michigan from 2014-2018.
Paul is a resident of downtown Grand Haven where he resides with his wife Erin and their young son. In addition to having a love for litigation and trials, Paul is a passionate fly fisherman and outdoorsman who takes an annual 1 week trip to remote Alaska to fish with coastal brown bears as something about being amidst up to 1,000-pound bears strikes a chord akin to dealing with some auto insurance carriers. Paul uses his love for amateur photography to help preserve high quality, trial-ready photos of the collision damage sustained by vehicles involved in accidents as this can be crucial evidence when it is available.
Paul has obtained auto negligence jury verdicts throughout Michigan. It is believed that no other attorney has had as many favorable auto accident related jury verdicts as Paul has had in Muskegon County in the last 10 years with Paul having obtained verdicts significantly in excess of the insurance companies’ inadequate offers in the last four cases he has tried in Muskegon County.
Paul also has “second chair” experience in two multi-million dollar settlements for cases that were resolved with confidentiality provisions.
Verdict in an auto negligence case for Plaintiff. Wayne County, Michigan. Sanctions awarded and verdict with sanctions paid on zero offer case.
Verdict in an auto negligence case for Plaintiff. Bloomfield Hills District Court. Sanctions awarded and verdict with sanctions paid on zero offer case.
Verdict in an auto negligence case for Plaintiff. Oakland County Circuit Court. Verdict paid with interest.
Verdict in the First Party No Fault Benefits case for Plaintiff. Muskegon County Circuit. Nominal offer. Case of First Impression in Muskegon County – whether relatively new to the United States disk replacement spine surgery classifies as a medically appropriate treatment option in the United States. In addition to arguing that the accident did not cause the need for surgery, the insurance carrier also argued that the surgery was experimental and was therefore was not a medically appropriate form of treatment and, as such, the insurer argued the law did not require them to pay for the procedure. The client may have been forced into Bankruptcy of he was required to personally pay the nearly $50,000 surgery cost himself. The jury found in Plaintiff’s favor and the insurer was assessed penalty sanctions. The verdict with sanctions was paid.
Verdict in auto negligence case for Plaintiff. Muskegon County Circuit Court. Verdict in highly contested case was three times the insurance company offer. Verdict was paid with judgment interest.
Verdict for Plaintiff in an Uninsured Motorist case. Muskegon County Circuit Court. The insurer offered zero claiming the injury was the result of a prior, severe injury to the same joint injured in the auto accident. The jury accepted the testimony of the treating doctor instead of the testimony of the paid to testify insurance company doctor. Verdict with sanctions was paid by the insurer.
Verdict for Plaintiff in a combined auto negligence and Michigan First Party No Fault benefits case. Muskegon County Circuit Court. Nominal offer by insurance company because of argument that herniated disc in spine was not proximately caused by auto accident. Plaintiff was challenged by insurance company which argued that prior chiropractic treatment made it clear that the condition predated the accident. Testimony from local treating doctors was believed by the jury as opposed to testimony from doctors from out of the area who never even examined the plaintiff before issuing reports in favor of the insurance company’s denial. Verdict included all outstanding ,medical expenses, wage loss and an award for pain and suffering vastly in excess of the insurance company award. Sanctions awarded against the insurer and the verdict with sanctions was paid.
Verdict of $75,000 for Plaintiff in an underinsured motorist case. Kalamazoo County. Zero offer from insurance company. Client suffered spinal injuries requiring chiropractic and pain management treatment which did allow him to continue working.
$1,250,000 settlement. A utility company employee was injured in the course of work in a case in which he was struck by a knocked down utility pole. The pole became like a swinging 1,000 lbs golf club when it was dragged by a semi truck driver who didn’t properly observe the conditions of the accident scene. Complex issues involving proximate cause with respect to claims against the motor vehicle driver who knocked down the pole and the semi truck driver who arrived on the scene sometime after the pole was knocked down.
$975,000 settlement. Montcalm County, Michigan. Catastrophic head on collision involving tandem semi. Believed to be largest settlement in Montcalm County in 2023.
$875,000 Muskegon County settlement. Settlement for 81 year old gentleman and his girlfriend very seriously injured by driver traveling 107 miles per hour on US 31. Key to settlement was advising defense lawyer from date of filing of the lawsuit that no adjournments would be voluntarily allowed. Case resolved well before trial date due to insistence that there would be no adjournments
$500,000 Ottawa County settlement for mother injured in contested liability trucking accident. Semi truck driver claimed in his deposition that the mother was speeding in her mini-van when he turned left in front of her out of a driveway. A difficult to locate witness was found who testified that the truck driver was looking for his wallet as she heard him say immediately after the accident “He said I was looking for my wallet.” Case resolved through Case Evaluation process in which three attorneys in Ottawa County placed $500,000 settlement value on case.
$500,000 Muskegon County settlement for mother who was driving her children to have Christmas portraits done when a pick-up truck doing snow plowing backed in front of her vehicle. Although liability and the relatedness of the need for surgery was contested by the auto insurer for the snow plow, settlement was achieved through Facilitation.
$475,000 Ottawa County settlement. Gentleman hit head on by elderly driver who inexplicably pulled in front of him.
$400,000 Newaygo County settlement for man seriously injured by drunk driver.
$370,000 Muskegon County settlement for Muskegon County resident seriously injured in head on auto accident.
$250,000 settlement. Barry County. Policy limit settlement in case involving possible insurance coverage and liability issues for pedestrian severely injured while trying to push car out of the snow.
$245,000 settlement for high school student injured as a result of severe spinal injury sustained while bus he was occupying struck something in the road to propel him out of his seat and suffer extensive spinal injuries. Case resolved through Facilitation. Key testimony was admission by bus driver who testified she had encountered the same condition the day before. Difficult case due to potential governmental immunity.
$370,000 Muskegon County settlement for woman struck by swerving teenage driver.
$225,000 Kent County settlement. Gentleman stuck by vehicle which ran red light required hand surgery. Defendant driver claimed he had green light but his credibility was made to look dubious.
$200,000 St. Joseph County settlement. At fault driver ran the stop sign immediately next to the home of a farmer who was attempting to attend to her farm duties. Liability contested and extensive discovery conducted including deposition of the treating surgeon.
$185,000 settlement. Van Buren County. Older woman attempting to play pickleball was injured due to falling door. Safety analyst expert key to settlement.
$180,000 Calhoun County settlement. Gentleman who suffered shoulder injury as a result of chain reaction accident caused by semi truck driver unable to stop on snowy roads.
$175,000 Kent County settlement for young lady struck while in a ditch in a disabled car that spun out of control on snowy roads when a semi-truck also slid into the ditch. The defense was that the snowy roads created a “sudden emergency.” A meteorologist was hired who provided an opinion regarding the fact that the severe weather was not a sudden, unexpected condition. Case resolved through Facilitation.
$175,000 Kent County settlement for gentlemen injured in shopping plaza road head on accident by young lady who was believed to have been texting or distracted.
$175,000 Kent County settlement for client injured as a result of rear end auto accident.
$175,000 Barry County settlement for man involved in chain reaction accident who suffered shoulder injury.
$150,000 Kent County settlement for rear end accident in rush hour traffic. Post concussive syndrome injury.
$150,000 Muskegon County Settlement accident involving drunk driver who fled crash site.
$140,000 Kent County settlement. Landlord liability case involving collapsing step and resulting arm surgery. Safety analyst expert key to settlement
$125,000 Muskegon County settlement. Gentleman required laminectomy type surgery with good results due to at fault driver who wildly veered onto US 31. Preservation of video which refuted at fault driver’s claims key to settlement.
$120,000 Ottawa County settlement for man who suffered spine injury due to driver who ran stop sign.
$112,500 settlement for client injured as a result of rear end auto accident.
$105,000 Berrien County settlement for young lady with post concussive syndrome due to rollover accident.
$100,000 Ottawa County settlement without litigation. Auto accident with no visible collision damage but with spinal injury.
$100,000 Van Buren County settlement for woman with prior spinal issues aggravated when truck driver lost control in poor weather.
Paul also has “second chair” experience in two multi-million dollar settlements for cases that were resolved with confidentiality provisions.
1987 – 1991. State University of New York at Buffalo. Graduate cum laude for obtaining GPA in excess of 3.25. B.A. for Political Science major. Emphasis on judicial and constitutional law studies in anticipation of the goal he had when he entered college – to become an attorney. Honors awarded include:
2008-Present Executive Board Member, Michigan Association for Justice
2009-Present Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation
2012-2020 Super Lawyer® Award from recognition by other attorneys in Michigan
2014-2020 The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Michigan Personal Injury
Michigan Association for Justice Ski Seminar 2010 – Practice Management Skills for the Sole Practitioner
Michigan Association for Justice Ski Seminar 2011 – Effectively Fighting Insurance Company Tactics to Obtain Verdicts “Be Nice”
Michigan Association for Justice Rapid Fire Seminar 2015 – Obtaining Verdicts in Uninsured Motorist Litigation
Michigan No Fault Seminar September 2015 – Litigating Dram Shop Cases
