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There is a good reason why car insurance claims adjusters start out nice in their conversations with you after an accident.  They are nice when they want things...such as all of your medical records dating back to birth, recorded statements, your social security number, and other information that car insurance companies are not legally entitled to.  The more information they get from you before you are educated on what your legal rights are, the more ammunition the adjuster has to use against you when it comes time to discussing the value of your accident injury claim for compensation.

One tactic that is being used more frequently by auto insurance claims adjusters is the 'low-ball quick settlement offer.'  You get a call within 48 hours of an accident and the claims adjuster asks you details about your injuries.  If the injuries you have sustained are soft-tissue injury, the adjuster smells blood in the water.  Why?  Because claims adjusters know that soft-tissue injuries such as whiplash, lumbar strain, cervical sprains, and other injuries are often your body telling you that there is actually something wrong with the discs in your spine.  But before you get the quality medical care necessary to address the extent of the disc or joint injury, the adjuster dangles a settlement in your face like a carrot.  And you want to hear some real injustice?  Many times the car accident victim will accept the settlement without first consulting with a motor vehicle accident attorney!

Any experienced car accident lawyer in Missouri knows the games and unfair tactics used by the car insurance claims adjuster.  But unfortunately, most good people who are hurt in accidents don't know these games, and more importantly, they don't understand their legal rights.  This is a dangerous situation in which you can be taken advantage of quickly and ultimately cheated out of a fair settlement for your injury claim.

It is not uncommon for a claims adjuster to offer an accident victim $500 - $2000 as a quick settlement just a few hours or days after a crash.  NEVER ACCEPT ANY SETTLEMENT WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING WITH A LAWYER!  Does it even make logical sense to accept any sort of settlement until you fully understand the extent of your injuries?  What if you accept a settlement for $3000 a week after an accident, only for your neck or back pain symptoms to get worse a month later and require physical therapy, epidural injections, or heaven forbid a spine fusion?  Answer:  Nothing, because you already settled your claim and you are 100% out of luck.

Here is some simple advice:  Never talk to a car insurance company about your injuries until first learning your legal rights by speaking with the best accident lawyer you can find.  Most respected injury attorneys provide a free consultation and case evaluation.  At the very least you will learn your rights and be more effective in negotiating any type of injury settlement. 

It happens.  You are injured and you hire a personal injury lawyer who you believe is the right choice at the time.  But along the way, your lawyer starts to show his/her true colors and you are not pleased.  Whether it is a lack of communication or just plain inactivity in your case for a long period of time, you come to the conclusion that you made a mistake hiring this lawyer in the first place and you want to better understand your rights moving forward with someone else. 

The Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) are a body of regulations that each lawyer practicing in Missouri must follow.  The penalty for not doing so can lead to disciplinary conduct, even disbarment.  The MRPC are designed to keep the profession honest, effective, and credible, starting with the preamble:  

You've been involved in an accident and now you are doing your best to move on with your life.  Medical bills are coming in and you are nasty getting phone calls from the billing department of hospitals, medical facilities, and claims adjusters.  This is not a familiar process and chances are high that you will obtain conflicting advice from friends and family in dealing with the frustration of a car accident or other injury-related situation.  If you haven't already hired a St. Louis injury attorney to assist you with this process, there is advice out there to educate you on the methodology of the injury claims process and steps towards a settlement.  Dealing with things on your own rarely, if ever, pans out in the form of fair compensation.  This advice is not intended to replace the exceptional value that an experienced personal injury lawyer can provide you in this situation.  Bottom line, claims adjusters are highly trained to minimize or deny your claim.  Only a lawyer can make them pay fairly.

First, you have the option of filing a claim with your own insurance company, even if another driver was at fault for causing damage to your car and personal injuries.  With regard to property damage, this process is rarely contested.  With regard to injuries, it is almost always contested.  The only compensation you are entitled to recover from your own insurance company is for "med pay", UM and UIM coverages.  Your own insurance company essentially takes the position of the at fault insurance carrier.  This creates a conflict of interest of sorts...because the company that you pay your premiums to each month basically becomes and adversary.  Things can get heated very fast, especially when you start demanding a fair settlement for injuries caused in the crash.

UM and UIM are complex forms of insurance coverage that you may have on the vehicle involved in the crash.  While UM (uninsured motorist) coverage is required in the state of Missouri, UIM (underinsured motorist) coverage is NOT.  Making claims for either require certain procedural actions before you can obtain a nickel in compensation.  Because insurance contracts are written in what appears to most to be a foreign language, you may inadvertently void coverage by doing, or not doing, something.  Again, this is an area of insurance claims that is best left to an experienced insurance claims lawyer. 

Dealing with the at-fault party and their insurance company is never a pleasant process.  First, the insurance company has no legal requirement to pay you a dime, at least not without a lawsuit.  And claims adjusters know this.  They know that if a lawyer is not putting their feet to the fire, that they can bully an injury victim into accepting pennies on the dollar, or even a denied claim all together.  A popular tactic used by the unfair insurance claims adjuster is to start out very nice, especially when they are asking for your recorded statement, release of medical records, and other information that is never released by any well-respected car accident lawyer.  Then, when it comes time for the victim to discuss a settlement, the tone of the conversation changes dramatically.  The claims representative goes from defense to offense, challenging the legitimacy of your medical treatment and extent of your injuries.  If the crash itself didn't result in totaled vehicles, the adjuster will accuse you of inflating the extent of your bodily injuries.

There is a reason that statistics prove that attorneys are able to obtain 5-10X the amount of compensation from an insurance company that victims are without legal representation.  Talking your case over with an experienced car accident lawyer is worth your time, even if it is to discuss value of your case and advice on how to deal with an insurance claims adjuster.  You only get one opportunity at a fair settlement for your claim.  If you settle for less that what is fair, you will never get a chance to make the situation right.

A fatal car accident or other fatal injury ruins the lives of the surviving loved ones.  They are mourning the loss of the family member and are typically unsure of the legal process following a death.  From opening up an "Estate" to executing a Will and Last Testament, to filing a Missouri Wrongful Death Lawsuit.  The legal process is usually unfamiliar to most people put in this predicament.  Unfortunately, there are time limitations imposed by Missouri law when it comes to executing certain legal actions following a fatality.  If you don't take action within the time frame allowed, your right to file a lawsuit will be lost forever.

So what is the Missouri Wrongful Death law?  Who can file a death lawsuit?  Who can obtain compensation or a death settlement when someone else was negligent and caused the fatal injuries?  How long do I have to do this?  These are all common questions.  What is important to know, first of all, is that you only have 3 years to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri.  Which is one reason why you should contact a St. Louis injury lawyer immediately after a fatal accident...even if it is solely to establish whether you have a right to the claim and which court to file the lawsuit in. 

Second, only certain family members have a legal right to participate in a wrongful death claim.  This is determined by Missouri statute 537.080.  The family members who potentially have a claim are divided into "tiers".  Tier one includes persons such as the surviving spouse, biological children, and surviving parents.  The power of each person's individual claim depends on many factors.  There are no major formulas and judges in Missouri have wide discretion when making this determination.

Third, there are limited items you can claim as damages in any Missouri death lawsuit.  These "damages" are again defined in Missouri statute 537.080.  For example, you cannot make a claim for emotional damages resulting from the loss.  I realize this sounds harsh, but Missouri courts do not want juries 'inflamed' solely based upon the grief and bereavement of the surviving family members.  Economic damages are limited to a specific set of items.  Speak to a Missouri wrongful death attorney about these forms of compensation because they are somewhat complex.

Fourth, bear in mind that it is against the law to settle any fatal lawsuit without first seeking approval from a Missouri court.  In fact, parties to a Missouri wrongful death lawsuit cannot exchange any monies or settlement without the stamp of approval from a judge.  When it comes time to seeking court approval, an evidentiary hearing is required and your death lawyer will be required to convince the court that any wrongful death settlement reached is fair and equitable under the circumstances.  In fact, you will need to prove a number of things at that hearing, including the right of each person making a claim, the amount of the settlement, whether you are agreeing to waive a jury trial, and other matters that require legal consultation, and ultimately, a wrongful death lawyer.  

If you have questions about a wrongful death claim and how to proceed with filing a claim, contact an experienced death lawyer at (866) 840-3636. 

There are several reasons when people who injure their neck in a car accident have such a hard time getting a fair settlement from the insurance companies.  Whiplash car crash claims are amongst the most frequent type of injury claim presented, yet claims adjusters continue to argue that they cannot be severe and disabling.  This could not be more untrue.  Impacts between vehicles are violent and cause major damage to the discs in the spine.  Bulging discs, herniated discs, and ruptured discs can result even from a crash occurring at less than 10mph.  So what do you do?  First and foremost, don't think for a second that you are going to get very far on your own.  There is a reason why lawyers get 5-10X more settlement money for a neck whiplash injury that victims that "take their chances."

Spine injury is common and can cause weeks, months, or years in pain and discomfort.  The injuries can lead to physical therapy and even surgery.  A spine disc fusion or discectomy is a real possibility when a victim can no longer live with the radicular pain, numbness of limbs, and other symptoms that come with disc abnormalities in the cervical (neck), thoracsic (middle) or lumbar (low) back.  Pain in the spine can cause major interference in all aspects of your life.  Your work can be affected.  The relationship with your significant other can be affected.  And truthfully, your overall quality of life becomes affected. 

When a spine injury accident lawyer files a claim for compensation, make sure it includes all aspects of your damages.  A common problem with the large "high volume" injury law firms is that they do not get to know all aspects in which their client has been harmed because of a car accident, trucking accident, defective product, or other incident resulting in trauma.  You need an attorney who will work with you, one-on-one, to understand how to best explain the nature of your claim to the insurance claims adjuster, judge, defense attorney, and jury.  Your chances at maximum recovery are increased dramatically when you demand personal service.  This requires experience, dedication, and patience...all things that are hard to find in this age of poor customer relations.

So how can I get the best settlement for a spine car accident lawsuit?  It all depends on what your diagnostic imaging studies reveal.  And trust me, getting the right medical treatment is just as important and hiring the best lawyer in Missouri.  Our auto accident attorneys have orthopedists, neurologists, physical therapists, and other physicians that will provide you with top notch medical care.  Seeing a chiropractor and/or a primary care doctor can be a big mistake depending on the nature of your injury.  Look at it this way:  Don't you want a specialist examining your body and making treatment recommendations? 

The most common injury caused by a car accident is a neck pain.  Since rear-end car accidents top the list of vehicular impact types, the neck and spine are usually what is injured.  However a close second to spine trauma is injury to the knees.  Even when you are wearing a seatbelt, your knees can impact other parts of the interior of the car, causing deep bruising, or what physicians like to call "hematoma."  In addition to deep bruising and laceration, the soft-tissues of the knee can be strained and even torn.  Ligaments and meniscus of the knee can be damaged, requiring surgery.  Along with any other type of surgery, this can present certain dangers to the victim of the car crash.

The anatomy of the knee is fairly basic.  There is a lateral and medial meniscus that acts as a cushion between the bones of the knee.  The lateral and medial ligaments work like rubber bands on each side of the knee that connect the upper and lower leg bones and permit us to bend and stoop.  The patella, or knee cap, is front and center and can be broken if it hits the dashboard of an automobile during a collision.  The articular cartilage is just behind the knee cap and consists of the soft tissues that wrap around the front of the knee.  Our knees are not designed to take on the blunt force trauma caused in a car crash. 

Often times victims of a knee injury will report that the knee feels "weird" in the days following the collision.  Our lawyers have heard clients say that the knee felt bruised at the scene, but that they didn't think a whole lot about it.  Certainly it wasn't fractured, but something was definitely "off."  Clients often report the knee "giving out" after long walks or after standing for an extended period of time.  People who have injured their knee in a car accident need to have two types of diagnostic imaging done to determine what, if any, real damage was caused to the knee in the crash.  First, get an x-ray to determine if there are any fractures in the knee.  Second, get an MRI of the knee to find out where the soft-tissues (ligaments, meniscus, cartilage) of the knee has been damaged.  The structure itself may still be intact, but that doesn't mean you haven't sustained a serious knee injury.

If you believe you have injured your knees in a car accident or motorcycle accident, seek medical attention immediately and demand the diagnostic imaging we discussed earlier in this article.  Then contact a car accident knee lawyer to discuss how to handle your case against the at-fault party and their car insurance company.  Demanding a fair settlement for a knee injury is complex, especially when the claim is for a soft-tissue knee injury.  Those types of claims are aggressively defended by car insurance companies. 

Schultz Legal Group was founded by Stephen Schultz, and well-respected injury attorney with law offices in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas.  Schultz is an AV-Preeminent Rated attorney and member of several exclusive organizations that are reserved for the top 1% of trial lawyers in the country.  His law firm exclusively handles injury claims for persons injury in auto accidents are who are looking to obtain fair compensation and justice for their injuries.

 

Car accidents cause damage both to people and property.  The property can be repaired or replaced fairly simply.  However, damage to people, even if minor, can take a lifetime to heal.  Unfortunately many injuries caused in an automobile collision cause permanent, irreparable harm.  Certain types of impacts cause certain forms of injuries to the human body.  Even minor, slow impact collisions can cause serious damage to the soft-tissues of the body.  These cases, often referred to as MIST (minor impact soft tissue) cases, are fought hard by the nation's largest car insurance companies. 

Spine injury from a car accident is the most common form of damage caused to the body in a collision.  The soft tissues (discs) in the spine are not equipped to handle the jarring of a collision, even at low speeds.  Automotive safety technology has come a long way with absorbant crunch zones and bumpers, but spine injuries still occur in most accidents.  Trauma to the spine can result in herniated discs (a.k.a. "blown discs" or "slipped discs") that can require physical therapy, epidural steroid injection, and even surgery to repair.  In the event of a spine injury, it is best to get the right diagnostic imaging to determine the extent of the damage.  X-rays are commonly performed at the hospital, but without MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the nature of a disc problem cannot be fully understood.

Car accident brain injury commonly results from head-on and broadside auto accidents.  A brain injury can occur without loss of consciousness.  Sometimes people refer to a "closed head injury" as one where the head is not visibly damaged, but there is brain damage of some sort.  A closed head injury can cause all kinds of cognitive issues, including problems with balance, memory, everyday functioning.  Brain damage needs to be diagnosed early and treated carefully by a specialist, usually a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons.

Other forms of catastrophic injury can result from almost any type of impact from a wreck.  Aside from traumatic brain injury (TBI), other serious injuries can cause degloving of the skin, loss of limbs, or shattering of bone.  Catastrophic injuries can require a lifetime of expensive medical care, including modifications to your home and nursing care.  Economic recovery for future medical care is tricky, since most courts will not permit compensation for speculative future damages.  It will take experienced legal representation to assist in obtaining this type of monetary compensation.

Obtaining compensation for all forms of injury caused by a car accident will be the job of your legal team.  Believe it or not, it will also be part of the job of your treating doctors, who will have to back you up when it comes time to filing an insurance claim or injury lawsuit.  Doctors must make a medical opinion as to whether the injuries you are claiming were caused, or contributed to be caused, by the auto accident.  This is a determination that some doctors are not comfortable making.  Make sure your treating physician is not scared of courtroom testimony.    

 

An early morning crash on Saturday left investigators looking at one of their own officers when they responded to a wrong-way collision on De Tonty Street in St. Louis, Mo.  27 year-old Officer Michael Schinner was charged with drunk driving and causing a DUI crash which involved another police officer.  Officer Darryl Monroe was returning from a call in his Chevy truck when a head-on impact ensued.  Monroe was transported to the hospital and received treatment to his lower extremities.  28 year-old Brian Cole was riding as a passenger in Schinner's Dodge and sustained serious trauma, including a brain injury.  The future prognosis of Mr. Cole is unknown at this time, as traumatic brain injury (TBI) can take months of treatment to fully understand the degree damage caused by the blunt force impact of an automobile collision.

Anytime a collision involves drunk driving, lawyers typically look to a 12-hour history of where the driver had consumed intoxicating liquors.  This may involve subpoena of receipts from restaurants and taverns, as well as recorded interviews of anyone in the company of the drunk driver for that time frame.  It is important, from a civil investigative standpoint, to determine whether or not a third-party entity, such as a bar, could possibly bear some type of legal accountability for the cause of the crash, especially when the injuries caused are severe.  Commonly referred to as "Missouri dram shop law", this is a particularly complex legal doctrine which assigns joint fault on the owner of a restaurant or bar that "knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron."  The burden of proof in dram shop cases is very high for the injury victim.  The key to success is an experienced St. Louis dram shop attorney and a vigorous independent investigation.

Dram shop claims are complex for several reasons.  Since the defendant is usually charged with crimes such as DUI and assault, he/she is wrapped up in an ongoing criminal investigation.  Throughout the course of pending criminal charges, a drunk driver can exercise a 5th amendment right to avoid self incrimination.  This means taking his/her deposition in a civil case is tricky because many of the relevant dram shop questions are met with silence.  A St. Louis dram shop car accident lawyer will need to figure out how to secure the critical evidence necessary in the beginning to protect the rights of the people injured in the crash, even if this means holding off on deposing the defendant driver in a civil claim for personal injury.

The legal blood alcohol (BAC) limit for a driver in Missouri is .08.  So can an attorney prove a dram shop claim based on BAC alone? Yes and no.  A jury may determine that a drunk driver's BAC was so high that any waiter or bartender should have known that the patron they were serving alcohol to was "visibly intoxicated" and "should have been cut off."  The best dram shop liability lawyers in St. Louis will hire top notch toxicologists to use as experts in a civil dram shop case against the drunk driver who caused the collision and bar(s) that over-served that driver.  After all, shouldn't bartenders and waitstaff exercise good judgment when serving intoxicating beverages to a customer? 

If you have been injured in a drunk driving crash in the St. Louis area, contact an experienced car crash lawyer who has successfully handled dram shop liability cases.  These case types are complex and require a specialized knowledge of pharmacology and history of dram shop caselaw in Missouri.  To learn more about Missouri dram shop liability and the evidence necessary to win a case like this, speak to a partner at Schultz Legal Group by calling (314) 448-0934 or toll-free (866) 840-3636.  Victims can also send a secure email to the firm's founding partners with legal questions.