allows juries to consider the neg-
ligence of both parties in assess-
ing damages.
Mr. Miller, a founder and co-
chair of the Metropolitan Detroit
Attorneys Division of Israel
Bonds, would not talk about his
firm's annual billings, but hinted
they are in the area of $10 mil-
lion.
"Whatever our billings, they
are larger than Fieger, Fieger &
Schwartz's, but we have larger
overhead."
Judge Howard and others have
pointed out that plaintiff person-
al- injury law is no longer the lu-
crative practice it once was.
Overhead is high and there's a de-
mand to produce because of the
contingent arrangement — at-
torneys will take a portion of the
damages if they settle or win the
case, but nothing if they lose.
A state law that went into ef-
fect April 1 puts the squeeze on
attorneys who take personal in-
jury cases because it makes it

more difficult to sue and caps
damages a plaintiff can collect at
$500,000. While some attorneys
have given up the field altogether
or consolidated with other attor-
neys, Mr. Miller acknowledged, a
merger wouldn't increase effi-
ciency of either his or Mr. Fieger's
firm because of their separate
locations.
If the two firms unite, it would
be like "General Motors and Ross
Perot getting together," said
Lopatin, Miller partner Stuart
Freedman, who said he doubts it
will happen.
But, "it's an exciting prospect.
(Fieger) is one of the country's
leading -trial lawyers. I don't think
there is any argument there. I
think we can provide skills he
doesn't have and he can provide
skills we don't have," he said.
The bulk of Lopatin, Miller's
work is in Wayne County. The
Southfield location is ideal be-
cause it's central, Mr. Freedman
said. ❑

Holocaust Center
Goes Electronic

JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER

M

ore than 100,000 peo-
ple annually visit the
Holocaust Memorial
Center in West Bloom-
field, making it one of the top
historic attractions in southeast
Michigan.
As of April, its doors are open
to millions.
The HMC, on the campus of
the Jewish Community Center,
now has a site on the World
Wide Web accessible to an esti-
mated 30 million Internet users.
The Southfield-based Online
Marketing Company, which last
year created a Web site devoted
to all things Jewish in the metro
area, approached the 10-year-
old Holocaust Memorial Center
with the idea of creating an
HMC site. In early April, the
HMC became a stop on the in-
formation superhighway, and
appears to be a hit.
"When (Online Marketing)
first approached us, it was nov-
el to me. Novel in the sense,
`Why do it?' Then they pointed
out to us that the Holocaust Mu-
seum in Washington does it, and
it's so important that people
know about it. We thought,
`Let's give it a try,' " said Rabbi
Charles Rosenzveig, head of the
Holocaust Memorial Center.
The HMC, he pointed out, has
one of the largest and most com-
prehensive Jewish libraries in
the Midwest, with 14,000 titles.
The Web site will, at the very
least, alert people that such a
rich resource exists.
The new Web site includes

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But, enticing as it may be to
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for a virtual tour of the Holo-
caust Memorial Center may
have to wait. Rabbi Rosenzveig
said the HMC is booked through
June 10. ❑

'a The new Worldwide Web
site for the Holocaust Memo-
rial Center can be found at

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