Born: 1961
Education: Detroit College of Law (1986); Michigan State University (1983)
Admitted to Bar: 1986
Experience: Goodwin and Scieszka, P.C. (1986-present)
Legal Affiliations: Judicial Qualification Committee, Michigan Trial Lawyers Association; executive board member, MTLA; chairman, MTLA Membership Committee; American Trial Lawyers Association; Justice Pac Committee

This year, Birmingham attorney Scott Goodwin represented a man who was hit by "a 40,000-pound weapon."

The personal injury claim against the City of Detroit resulted in a $3.5 million verdict, but perhaps more important is that as a result of this verdict, the City of Detroit is now investigating the driving records of all city bus drivers.

Q. This year, you represented the plaintiff in Grenier v. Owens, a multimillion-dollar case against a City of Detroit bus driver. Tell me a bit about the case.

A. The plaintiff is a father of five who worked in the same job for more than 23 years in Detroit. He was a well-liked employee and an avid bicyclist. His wife would drop him off at work every morning with his bike and he would ride his bike home at the end of the day. He was very cognizant of how to ride a bicycle in traffic. It was something he did on a day-to-day basis for more than 20 years. A City of Detroit bus just ran him down as he was riding his bike. The driver, who was headed for the bus stop, never stopped and never yielded to the bicyclist. She ran him over.

The driver claimed that my client was driving the opposite way in the street and ran into the back of the bus — basically saying he was trying to commit suicide, which was farthest from the truth.

But the driver clearly had no credibility. After we got into exploring her driving history, we found multiple cases against her. There were 30 incidents where she was involved in a crash with property damage, another vehicle or a pedestrian.

Q. What was your plan of action for this case?

A. We originally ordered her driving record. In this particular case, we got a clean sheet of paper back. There was nothing noted on her driving record at all — no activity, no problems. I couldn't understand that. My client told me the police officer had indicated that the bus driver had a bad driving record.

I went to the City County Building in Detroit to see if there was any litigation against her or against the city regarding her, and I found several cases that she was involved in. The problem was the City of Detroit, or someone, had taken all of the files out of the City County Building — and we are not allowed to take files from that building.

In the computer, the names of some of the lawyers who worked on the cases were noted and I knew one of them, so I got his file. It showed that the bus driver was involved in other crashes. I then subpoenaed the records from the Secretary of State and asked for an unedited version of her driving record.

The driving record they sent us had 18 car crashes that were reported to the Secretary of State, but they were reported as not being her fault because there was no traffic ticket issued. There is a statute in Michigan — MCL 257.733 — that says they only have to give you the ones where the driver is found at fault. That is the scandal here. It appears that the bus drivers are not getting traffic tickets; they are not getting cited in the City of Detroit for their role in these cases. Clearly, my client was not at fault. And the bus driver — she never got a ticket, at all, ever. Clearly, there is somebody protecting the employees.

We did more discovery and her employment record from the city had several more incidents on it. There were more than 30 crashes at the time of our case.

Grenier really is a case that is out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, however, it is more ordinary than we think, but has never been exposed.

Q. Do you foresee any changes to MCL 257.733 in the near future?

A. A couple of things have happened since this particular case. One, the City of Detroit paid me a lot of money and they paid some other folks money where she also denied being at fault.

There has basically been a big bureaucratic cover-up. We turned this over to Channel 7 News and Steve Wilson did a four-part investigative series on it. They wound up going through every bus driver's record. At the time of the report they found out there were 30 bus drivers who were driving on suspended licenses, and one never had a commercial driver's license. Nobody ever did anything about it.

Q. What was the key to your successful outcome in Grenier?

A. You must be diligent in your preparation. In this case, doing my own research and investigation was the key to winning. I personally went down to the City County Building and checked the computer files for any past litigation against the bus driver. Fortunately, the computer yielded the names of other attorneys who handled cases against this particular driver. On the way home I called a colleague and picked up his file. It revealed enough information for me to learn there was more to this case than met the eye. The fact that I could find prior litigation inspired me to send a subpoena for an unedited version of the driving record. That version revealed two pages of reported crashes.

There is nothing like doing your own footwork. In 19 years I have discovered critical details by conducting my own investigations and not solely relying on associates and investigators. Minute details that may be overlooked by less experienced attorneys or investigators can make a huge difference to your case.

Q. It has been said that, due to Grenier and the subsequent Channel 7 News report, a ripple effect is being felt throughout Detroit in that dozens of repeat driving offenders are being taken off the streets. How do you feel about that?

A. I now have the satisfaction I thought I would have received at the time that we received the check for my client. We got the satisfaction of knowing that my client, his wife and his family were going to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. But I never got the closure that I needed to change things — to be this positive force for change.

I didn't get that at the end of this case and it always bothered me. I couldn't rest. It was gnawing at me. I needed to find somebody who would expose this publicly. Even though settlements are public record, no one was doing anything to change the way things are done.