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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.

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.    

 

Illinois troopers were called to a major semi-truck crash that took place in Johnson County Illinois just before rush hour this morning.  Responders report that the collision occurred on Interstate 57 just south of the town of Goreville.   22 year-old Christopher Tracy was operating his light blue brand new Freightliner tractor-trailer southbound on I-57.  Tracy's truck collided with another semi-truck that was parked on the shoulder of the road.  Tracy, of the state of Missouri, did not report any personal injuries at the scene. 

64 year-old Patrick McDaniel was in his parked 2006 tractor-trailer on the shoulder when it was struck from behind.  The left rear corner of his truck sustained the majority of the impact, as Tracy's truck slammed into it, and then slid down a hill on the side of southbound I-57.  Tracy was issued a traffic ticket by Illinois State Police for improper lane usage.  Coincidentally, a conviction for improper lane usage is a "serious safety violation" according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.  Tracy will be required to disclose this conviction to his employer.  If he is an independent contractor or "owner operator", he is still required to disclose this violation in the annual driving record review as required by federal safety regulations.

Trucking accidents often involve two or three tractor-trailers and no passenger vehicles.  Drivers can still sustain serious injuries, although statistically, truck drivers are less likely to sustain the severity of injury often incurred by drivers/passengers of smaller vehicles.  Take for example this crash on I-57 which involved a high rate of speed and violent impact.  Both truck drivers refused medical attention at the scene.  That does not mean they are not seriously hurt however.  Most soft-tissue injuries, which can end up requiring surgery, do not manifest themselves for hours or days after a collision.

A tractor-trailer accident lawyer can provide victims of a commercial motor vehicle crash with helpful advice on how to file claims with an insurance company for property damage, personal injury, lost wages, and other harms caused by a collision.  Truck crash litigation can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming.  Because federal and state law both apply to these case types, many lawyers are not fully capable of providing the experienced legal representation necessary to ensure a favorable result.  As such, it is recommended that victims research the credentials of their lawyer or law firm to determine whether they have the specific knowledge necessary to win your case.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has reviewed the data and heard the arguments on both sides of the fence.  On one hand, truckers claim that they live in their cabs and they must be permitted to use a cellphone to stay in contact with friends, family, and their employer during those 10+ hours of driving each day.  Safety experts, on the other hand, claim that truck drivers who use a cellphone present a clear and present danger to everyone else on the road.  Judging by the numbers, there is truth to their position.  Just in the past couple of years in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, there have been reports of several fatal semi-truck accidents where law enforcement determined that a truck driver was using a cellphone just moments before the collision.  In Missouri alone, there were 21 fatal and 558 serious car accidents where cell phone use was a contributing factor to the crash.

So as early 2012, Federal Safety Regulations will ban cellphone use by truck drivers while they are on-duty, behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.  And while there is no specific enforcement plan, the government has recommended that local police pull over semi-trucks and passenger buses where a driver is witnessed using his/her cellphone.  The Missouri Highway Patrol commented on the measure and indicated that it would pull commercial motor vehicle operators over if they are using a cellphone.  The fine for a truck driver or bus driver convicted of using a cellphone while driving include up to a $2,750 penalty for the driver and $11,000 penalty for the employer. 

The American Trucking Association actually supports the new trucking safety law.  However, a coalition representing independent operators does not.  All in all, this new regulation should be welcomed by anyone concerned with the safety of truck drivers, other motorists, and delivery of undamaged freight.  Many states have already introduced, or are considering, laws that ban cellphone for motorists.  Some states have made it illegal to use the text messaging feature on a cellphone.  Others have ban hand-held cellular devices all together unless the driver is using bluetooth, a headset, or some other form of wireless connectivity that permits the driver to keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

As a truck accident injury lawyer, one of the first things we do in complex semi-truck injury litigation is subpoena the cellphone carrier records of our client and the driver of the tractor-trailer to determine if cell phone use could have played a contributing factor in the collision.  Juries get upset with distracted drivers, largely because the resulting accident could have been preventable.  As an experienced truck accident attorney, it is not uncommon for us to claim punitive damages in a case involving distracted truck driving.  These collisions cause bad injuries and our attorneys represent each of these victims with special care.  It is important for all drivers, both truck and passenger care, to realize the danger posed by cell phone distraction.     

Our Eureka Missouri Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers are following a story unfolding in St. Louis this afternoon.  Authorities closed the westbound lanes of I-44 in Eureka as three semi-trucks and numerous passenger cars were involved in the pileup.  We do not have reports of any serious injuries as of yet, but that does not mean folks were not injured in the accident.  Electronic safety signs on the westbound lanes of I-44 before Antire Road were urging motorists to find alternate routes of travel and avoid the crash scene as evidence was being collected.

Tractor-trailer accidents are unbelievably complex and involve aspects of personal injury law that most Missouri lawyers are just not qualified to handle.  From the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to Missouri laws involving commercial motor carriers, the laws and regulations that govern the trucking industry are so detailed and voluminous that most attorneys just avoid them entirely, even when the fate of a client's truck accident injury lawsuit is in the balance. 

The first thing that a trucking company will do when it is notified that one of its drivers has been involved in a semi-truck accident is notify its liability insurance carrier.  The insurance carrier will then immediately dispatch a insurance defense crash investigation team to the scene.  The job of the immediate response team is to secure evidence interview witnesses, and immediately begin the process of 'circling the wagons' in defense of any injury claim or lawsuit that is filed by a innocent victim of the crash.  Our Missouri truck accident injury lawyers have seen this happen on many, many occasions.

The worst thing a truck accident injury victim can do is wait to contact an attorney.  Why?  Because if a lawyer does not work immediately to keep evidence from being tampered with or destroyed by the defense insurance company, then the potential for a successful resolution to a personal injury claim is compromised.  Evidence like truck driver log books, which can prove evidence of a tired and fatigued truck driver, will be lost, altered, or destroyed by an insurance company unless your lawyer files for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to preserve these vital bits of forensic evidence.

If you are involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler (commercial motor vehicle), contact an experienced Missouri semi-truck injury lawyer immediately by calling (866) 840-3636. 

 

Folks injured in automobile accidents, by defective products, or at work have a right to fair compensation if someone else is legally responsible for causing those injuries.  That is where the role of a Missouri injury lawyer comes into play.  A lawyer can help maximize your compensation from a claim by providing a variety of services, which include 1) help obtaining the best medical treatment possible, even if you do not have health insurance 2) investigating and discovering all forms of compensation and insurance applicable to your injury 3) maintaining your right of privacy from probing insurance questions, and 4) negotiating an injury settlement that is satisfactory to your case.

Medical treatment is one of the most important aspects of any injury claim.  And breaking that down further into two components, 1) quality and 2) timeframe.  If you don't obtain the right type of treatment it can be just as damaging to your case as not getting treatment at all.  So if you have a spine injury, go see an orthopedist or neurologist that specializes in spine trauma.  Just like the law, medicine is broken into many, many specialties.  Second, getting the right treatment in the right timeframe is critical.  If you wait too long to get medical care, or have long "gaps in treatment" the insurance adjuster will likely lowball your case or deny it all together.  A personal injury lawyer can offer more advice on this important aspect of your case.

Investigating and discovering all insurance policies that apply your case is vital to maximizing settlement value.  Claims adjusters do their best to conceal available coverage, or mislead as to the 'policy limits' available to compensate an injury victim.  An injury attorney ends these games and ascertains all available insurance coverage, and determines what applies and what doesn't.  Sometimes insurance can be "stacked" to provide even additional compensation.  This aspect of the law is evolving in Missouri and predominantly determined by caselaw and policy language. 

Insurance companies love to uncover all your prior medical history, even if it bears no relevance to the case at hand.  They do this through the use of unrestricted medical record release authorizations that they will demand that you sign in order to present a claim for injury.  An accident injury lawyer would never permit this type of invasion of privacy to take place.   Prior health history can devalue your claim and ultimately lead to poor compensation when it comes time to negotiation of a settlement.  Rely on your lawyer to present only the evidence necessary to prevail in your accident injury claim, nothing more.  For more information, contact Missouri injury lawyer Stephen Schultz.  Mr. Schultz is AV-Rated and a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Missouri for the 4th consecutive year.  He can be reached at (866) 840-3636 or locally at (314) 448-0934