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Missouri car accidents are traumatic incidents that typically result in both emotional and physical damages.  Following a serious car accident in Missouri, a personal injury victim has up to five (5) years to file a personal injury claim.  Claims for compensation are filed with the responsible party's insurance company.  A Missouri car accident lawyer or Missouri personal injury attorney will typically file a settlement demand with the defendant's insurance company in an effort to resolve the case without the need for litigation.  If the claim cannot be settled, a lawsuit will be filed in the jurisdiction where the crash took place due to Missouri's venue laws. 

If a lawsuit is filed, a plaintiff still has the opportunity to settle his or her case prior to trial.  There are many opportunities to settle a personal injury claim and statistically, over 95% of all injury lawsuits are resolved prior to a trial.  As a Missouri car accident lawyer, we are only able to settle a case with the express authority of the client.  One of our jobs as a lawyer is to advocate for fair compensation for all personal injury claims.  A settlement is fair if it accounts for both economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, prescription costs, etc) and non-economic damages (pain & suffering, emotional pain).  There is no magic formula to determine what constitutes a fair personal injury settlement.  Claims must always be valued on an individual case by case basis.

When determining what is fair compensation for your car accident personal injury claim, factors such as venue, property damage, comparative fault, crash scene dynamics, and other aspects must be carefully weighed.  The amount of your medical bills is never a determining factor of the amount of compensation that should be demanded from an insurance company claims adjuster.  Many attorneys overlook subtle aspects of a case that can actually play a heavy factor on what a jury would really award if the case were to go to trial.  It is important to discuss ALL aspects of your case with a qualified Missouri personal injury lawyer who has experience in court and mediation.  Our lawyers are recognized as a Top 100 trial lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association and are members of the elite Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.  Because we are respected by defense attorneys and insurance companies, our St. Louis personal injury lawyers are able to obtain substantial compensation for our client's personal injury claims.

As a St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer, we present injury claims to insurance companies on a daily basis.  Many of them involve the following types of incidents:

• St. Louis car accident injury claims
• St. Louis tractor-trailer accident injury claims
• St. Louis motorcycle accident injury claims
• St. Louis pedestrian injury claims
• St. Louis brain injury claims
• St. Louis spine injury claims
• St. Louis construction accident injury claims
• St. Louis dram shop claims
• St. Louis products liability claims

Anytime our lawyers present a serious injury claim to an insurance company, the claims adjuster makes a decision whether to pay or deny the claim.  In situations where an insurance adjuster improperly or hastily denies a claim, an insurance bad faith claim may become viable down the line.  I say down the line because a bad faith claim will only accrue (become viable) upon a jury verdict.  When a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit obtains a jury verdict in his or her favor, and if the insurance claims adjuster had previously denied that claim, the defendant may have a bad faith claim against his own insurance company for failing to pay the claim when it could have, thus exposing the defendant to an excess verdict. 

When an injury victim obtains a verdict in excess of the defendant's policy limits of insurance, the defendant's personal assets then become available to the plaintiff for sale and satisfaction of that excess verdict.  A string of Missouri cases deal specifically with insurance bad faith law and direct insurance companies to be very careful when evaluating the merits of a personal injury claim. Ganaway v. Shelter Mutual Ins., 795 S.W.2d 544 (Mo. App. 1990); Craig v. Iowa Kemper Ins. Co, 565 S.W.2d 716, 711 (Mo. App. W.D. 1978); Grewell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins., 162 S.W.3d 503, 409 (Mo. App. W.D. 2005); Freeman v. Leader Nat'l Ins. Co., 58 S.W.3d 590, 598 (Mo. App. E.D. 2001); and Zumwalt v. Utilities Insurance Co., 228 S.W.2d 750 753-56 (Mo. 1950).

Insurance companies are constantly denying meritorious St. Louis personal injury claims and they must be held accountable for their actions.  Contact a St. Louis personal injury lawyer at Schultz & Myers to find out if the insurance claims adjuster in your case is acting in bad faith. 

Our Missouri Personal Injury Lawyers have the unfortunate task of encountering fatal car accident wrongful death claims on a regular basis.  The situation is particularly traumatic for family members and understanding Missouri's wrongful death statute can be confusing.  Because in Missouri, only certain surviving family members are permitted to file a Missouri death claim on behalf of a person fatally injured in a car accident.  Those persons are broken up into three (3) classes, with surviving spouses and children getting first opportunity at filing any wrongful death claim.  Even the forms and type of compensation permitted in a fatal car accident wrongful death claim is limited in Missouri.

Wrongful death claims and wrongful death settlements for compensation must be approved in a Missouri court.  A Judge will hear evidence put on by all persons with a claim filed on behalf of a fatal car accident victim.  The Judge will make sure that all classes of persons have notice of a potential claim and right to recovery before he or she will approve any settlement proposed by the parties.  Occasionally an insurance claims adjuster will attempt to propose a wrongful death settlement disbursement to surviving family members.  It becomes critical to immediately discuss your options with a Missouri personal injury lawyer before accepting any proposed wrongful death settlement.  In certain situations there may be excess liability insurance or an umbrella policy that will provide extra compensation to surviving wrongful death claimants.  Insurance companies rarely, if ever, volunteer this excess coverage as applicable.

Typically a wrongful death claim is filed in the jurisdiction and venue in which the Missouri fatal car accident took place.  Most judges require the attendance of ALL claimants at a settlement approval hearing, although some judges will accept sworn affidavits in lieu of live testimony if attendance would cause undue hardship.  Wrongful death claimants who live out of the state of Missouri may sometimes use these affidavits in place of traveling to court in Missouri.

A Missouri wrongful death attorney at Schultz & Myers is available to discuss your case and concerns at (314) 448-0934, or toll-free at (866) 840-3636.

Car accidents happen everyone in and around the city of St. Louis Missouri.  Some of these car accidents are more severe than others, resulting in personal injuries to drivers and passengers.  Victims are transported to level 1 trauma centers such as Barnes Jewish or St. Johns Mercy Medical Center for treatment for their injuries.  For those accidents that take place in rural areas around St. Louis, Air Evac or Arch Air may be dispatched to the scene of the crash to airlift injury victims to the quality hospitals located in the city.  A typical admission into one of these hospitals will cost $5,000-$10,000 depending upon the level of diagnostic treatment ordered by emergency room physicians.  X-rays, MRI, and CAT Scans are some of the most frequently ordered procedures when a car accident injury victim arrives in the emergency room.

St. Louis car accident injury claims for compensation can occasionally be settled with the insurance company by a St. Louis personal injury lawyer.  For those car accident injury cases that cannot be settled for fair compensation by an injury lawyer, a lawsuit can be filed against the negligent driver and his/her car insurance company.  Missouri venue laws require a Missouri personal injury lawyer to file a car accident lawsuit in the jurisdiction in which the crash took place.  So car accidents in St. Louis City must be filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.  Car accidents in St. Charles County would be filed in the Circuit Court of St. Charles County, and so on. 

St. Louis car accident claims for compensation can include several theories of negligence and prayer for several forms of financial recovery, including compensation for lost wages, past and future medical bills, pain & suffering, and emotional damages.  A Missouri personal injury lawyer can offer advice as to what forms of recovery apply to each type of injury case and the overall value of the claim. 

Have you been injured in a car accident in the St. Louis area?  Don't attempt to negotiate any settlement with an insurance company without first consulting with a personal injury lawyer at Schultz & Myers LLC.  Never sign a medical record release authorization or submit to a recorded statement.  Doing so will expose yourself to the games that insurance company claims adjusters play with personal injury victims.  Call the Schultz & Myers car accident injury victim hotline at (314) 448-0934 or toll-free at (866) 840-3636.

With the upcoming 4th of July weekend approaching, many motorists will be hitting the highways in search of their holiday destination.  With the influx of traffic, there will be Missouri car accidents this weekend.  Some of those accidents will involve alcohol, others will be caused by distracted driving.  One of the most common causes of serious car accidents in Missouri is driver distraction or inattention.  The safest way to avoid a car accident of this type is to keep off your cellphone and keep eyes on the road. 

Traffic on Interstates 70 and 44 will be heavy this weekend.  Despite the 70 mph speed limit, traffic will be slow and congested at times.  This presents a real danger, as cars and trucks that are used to traveling at freeway speeds for set distances will be faced with slowing traffic.  This is precisely what caused the recent fatal tractor-trailer crash in Herculaneum Missouri a few weeks ago.  In that instance, a distracted truck driver failed to notice slowing traffic and violently collided into seven passenger cars that were slowing in traffic congestion. 

If you notice traffic slowing ahead of you, check your rear-view mirror for fast-approaching vehicles.  If necessary, active your emergency flashers briefly to grab the attention of motorists traveling behind you, including large trucks.  If that doesn't work, your last resort may be to pull off onto the shoulder of the roadway to avoid a collision.  Bottom line is pay attention to your sorroundings on the highway and have a safe holiday weekend.  You don't want to be calling a St. Louis personal injury lawyer this weekend due to a preventable car accident.

As a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer, I am always asked by new client what the value of their car accident injury claim is.  The answer is not a simple one.  Any personal injury lawyer that is able to opine as to the value of an injury claim after first meeting with a new client is either purposely or mistakingly misleading the client.  The true value of an injury claim can only be determined when the victim has completed treatment OR when all treating doctors are in a position to forecast what the cost of future medical treatment will be.  Even the best doctors are not fortune tellers, they cannot forecast future medical costs with absolute certainty.  After it is all said and done, a lawyer can only offer a ballpark of what a car accident compensation claim is worth.

Compensation for injuries sustained in a serious car accident in Missouri depends on many factors, some of which have nothing to do with the injury victim.  For instance, the venue where the lawsuit will be filed factors into value.  Venue is a procedural law in which a lawyer must observe and file a civil injury lawsuit in a certain Missouri county or city circuit court.  The current venue laws in Missouri require a plaintiff to file his or her injury lawsuit in the county or city where the car accident took place.  Rural venues such as Audrain County, Butler County, and Clay County typically offer rather conservative jury pools, where a plaintiff can reasonably anticipate a verdict that is lower than an urban county such as St. Louis County or St. Charles County.  Venue is a value indicator that is often overlooked by less experienced Missouri personal injury lawyers.

Medical bills, lost wages, future medical costs, emotional damages, and pain & suffering all play a large part of how to value a car accident personal injury claim.  Medical bills and lost wages make up the economic damage component of the claim, while emotional damages and pain & suffering comprise the non-economic damage portion of the claim.  Age, marital status, economic status, and other factors also effect the value of the claim.  Younger plaintiff's can typically expect to obtain more compensation for their personal injuries, especially if the injuries are permanent.  Keep in mind that even soft-tissue injuries such as disc herneation and whiplash injuries can be categorized as permanent.

The first step to understanding the value of your Missouri car accident injury claim is to contact a St. Louis personal injury lawyer.  An experienced injury lawyer can discuss all the components that will effect the value of your specific case and offer advice on how to protect this value from being minimized by an insurance claims adjuster.  Contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer by calling (866) 840-3636 or locally at (314) 448-0934.

Statistics prove that personal injury victims rarely receive fair compensation for their claim unless a personal injury lawyer is handling the case.  Insurance claims adjusters are highly trained individuals that are commonly rewarded by minimizing compensation paid on personal injury claims.  Through recent pending insurance bad fair litigation with Allstate, it was discovered that claims adjusters are incentivized with paid vacations, even small refrigerators, for lowering claims payouts or denying claims all together.  Following in the footsteps of Allstate, many of the country's largest insurance companies have used McKenzie Consulting Services, a corporation that essentially revamped the way Allstate handles insurance claims.  The result - a landscape of insurance bad faith claims and victimized customers and personal injury victims.

Missouri law requires that an insurance company put the interests of its customer ahead of the company's desire to maintain high profits. Unfortunately, they don't.  Insurance companies are primarily focused on pleasing shareholders and top executives.  They are in business to make a profit, and will go to great lengths to achieve this goal.  Personal injury victims who attempt to negotiate directly with an insurance claims adjuster will find themselves on an uneven playing field.  Without a keen knowledge of the laws of Missouri, injury victims will make the mistake of signing unlimited medical records release authorizations, giving recorded statements or interviews, and ultimately settling their case for pennies on the dollar.  It is strictly a numbers game with the insurance companies, and their bet is that you will not retain a personal injury lawyer to file your claim.  This gamble ALWAYS pays off for the insurance company.

Missouri personal injury lawyers are the equalizers of the insurance claims process.  We make sure that the insurance companies are fair when it comes time to negotiating compensation for a settlement, or taking the case before a judge and jury.  Personal injury lawyers make sure that victims' medical history remains a private matter, not one for the insurance company to drove through like an open book.  We see that baseless arguments of a pre-existing medical condition or comparative fault do not destroy your injury claim.  Don't be victimized twice.  Contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer for free by calling (866) 840-3636 and get your questions answered by an attorney that ONLY represents personal injury victims. 

Our St. Louis personal injury lawyers have received several calls from victims of the fatal truck crash that occurred in Jefferson County last week.  The facts of the crash are all too familiar for the resides of the St. Louis metropolitan area.  An inattentive tractor-trailer driver crashes into traffic on a major interstate highway, causing serious injuries and fatalities.  In this most recent crash, two motorists lost their lives, one at the scene and another shortly thereafter at the hospital.

As St. Louis personal injury lawyers, our firm must immediately request preservation of evidence involved in any serious car accident or tractor-trailer crash.  For accidents involving newer cars and trucks, we can secure the electronic control module (ECM) and download critical data that may help prove liability in a personal injury accident claim for compensation.  Data from the ECM doesn't lie, and often times this information can be used in court or a mediation to motivate the defendant's insurance company to settle the case for a substantial amount of compensation.

Tractor-trailer accidents in Missouri are particularly complicated because they involve both state and federal laws.  These types of injury claims typically result in heated litigation and heavily contested issues of law and fact.  The insurance company for the trucking company will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight innocent victims in court.  These companies have deep pockets and it isn't uncommon for them to hire multiple defense lawyers to defend a truck crash injury claim. 

Contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer at Schultz & Myers for advice on how to proceed with your claim for compensation.  Consultations are the firm are always free and you will always speak with a lawyer, not support staff.  Don't be victimized twice. Call today at (314) 448-0934 or toll-free at (866) 840-3636.

The Missouri Highway Patrol has confirmed the cause of the tractor-trailer crash in Herculaneum that killed two and seriously injured several others.  Authorities claim that 32 year-old truck driver Jay Valentine of Huntsville Texas took his eyes off the road long enough to miss traffic slowing down in front of his semi-truck.  When Valentine glanced back at the road it was too late, and a rear-end chain reaction crash that involved eight vehicles took place.  Names of the two killed in the crash have not yet been released, but police say they are a 52 year-old man and 28 year-old woman from Festus.  One person was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was rush to a local hospital but unable to recover due to the catastrophic nature of the injuries. 

Cpl. Jeff Wilson obtained a statement from Valentine that he "looked over his to his right, and looked back, and traffic had slowed."  The tractor-trailer first struck a small Ford Focus, dragging it for over 100 yards.  The Focus was hard recognizable from the crash, and resulted in the death of the 52 year-old Festus man.  The man may not have survived, even if he was in a tank, given the rate of speed at impact.  The 28 year-old Festus woman who died at St. Louis University Hospital was driving a Pontiac Vibe, which is a smaller passenger vehicle, similar to the Focus.

The facts of this fatal Herculaneum truck crash are strikingly similar to the crash which occurred on Highway 64/40 near the Mason Road exit in 2008, which resulted in three fatalities.  Truck driver inattention is a serious safety concern, especially in urban areas where traffic congestion can occur at the blink of an eye.  It is unclear whether Valentine was using his cell phone at the time of this crash, but a Herculaneum truck crash attorney will certainly subpoena his mobile records to find out.  Use of a cell phone by truck drivers is currently the topic of a major debate amongst federal and state safety officials.    

St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Schultz recently announced the formation of his premier Missouri injury law firm, Schultz & Myers LLC.  Schultz, who was already solely dedicated to the representation of victims of serious injury and death claims, will continue to focus on Missouri car accidents, Missouri tractor-trailer accidents, Missouri motorcycle accidents, Missouri wrongful death claims, Missouri slip & fall claims, Missouri medical malpractice claims, Missouri products liability claims, and nationwide drug recall injury claims.  His partner, Joshua Myers, will also offer representation in these practice areas, expanding the reach of the law firm from Missouri to Illinois as well. 

Stephen Schultz has been featured in numerous public and legal periodicals, including the St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Examiner, The Countian, Missouri Lawyers Weekly, to name just a few.  Schultz is a lifetime member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and recognized as a Top 100 trial lawyer in Missouri by the American Trial Lawyers Association.  Schultz & Myers LLC will be headquartered in Chesterfield Missouri, near the highway 40/270 interchange.  The office location is very close to where Stephen was born and raised.  His high school, Christian Brothers College High School, is located less than a mile from the law firm.

The St. Louis personal injury lawyers at Schultz & Myers LLC can be reached by calling (314) 448-0934, or toll-free (866) 840-3636.  Stephen can also be reached 24 hours a day by email.  His motto, "don't be victimized twice", will continue on at Schultz & Myers LLC.