A car crash, truck wreck, or other accident comes like a thief in the night, taking you by surprise and leaving potentially devastating consequences in its wake. You may find yourself seriously hurt, temporarily or permanently unable to work because of your injuries, and desperately worried about how you'll ever be able to pay the resulting medical debt. To say that the situation you're in is distressing would be an understatement. A severe injury, coupled with significant financial losses can threaten to turn your entire world upside down.
However, if your injuries were caused by the negligence of another person or company, you may be entitled to compensation. Unfortunately, you'll likely have to fight for it—and, if you're like a lot of personal injury victims, when things are so chaotic, even just the idea of taking legal action can feel overwhelming. We understand and we're here to help. We can handle all aspects of your personal injury insurance claim or lawsuit from start to finish, lifting the stressful, day-to-day burdens of litigation from your shoulders so that you can focus on your health and physical recovery, while we focus on recovering the financial compensation you deserve.
Cases We Handle
Our firm represents clients in a wide range of personal injury matters—and no case is too big, too small, or too complex for us to consider. We have extensive experience handling personal injury cases involving:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle wrecks
- Truck crashes
- Boating accidents
- Slips and falls
- Injuries resulting from unsafe products or rental equipment
- Fireworks injuries
- DWI accidents
- Injuries caused by falls from horses
- And other related issues
Potential Damages Available in Missouri Personal Injury Cases
If you were injured due to someone else's negligent or malicious actions, Missouri law allows you to pursue compensation for a wide variety of economic losses (those that correspond to a quantifiable dollar amount) and non-economic damages (intangible losses of subjective value). Depending on the facts of your case, you may be able to recover compensation for:
- Accident-related medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity (if your injuries prevent you from working)
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional and psychological trauma
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Reduced quality of life
- And other losses
Wondering which types of damages may be available in your case? Let us help you explore potential avenues for compensation.
Missouri Personal Injury Case Basics
The personal injury insurance claims and litigation process can be complicated. Here's what you need to know to protect your right to recovery:
- Insurance companies usually aren't acting in your best interest. Insurers profit by taking in more in premiums than they pay out in claims settlements. As a result, they're often looking for ways to reduce their financial obligation to you, the claimant. The more contact you have with them when you're not represented by an attorney, the easier it is for them to achieve this objective.
- You may be able to recover compensation, even if you're partially responsible for your injuries. Missouri follows comparative negligence rules, which means you'll be assigned a percentage of fault and any financial award will be reduced accordingly. For example, a recovery of $100,000 would be reduced to $85,000 if you were found to be 15 percent at fault.
- The time to file your lawsuit is limited. Missouri's statute of limitations gives you just five years to file a claim seeking damages. It's wise to take legal action much sooner to preserve the integrity of the evidence. Additionally, the time frame for bringing a case against a municipality could be much shorter.
Don't Worry: You CAN Afford an Attorney
We work on a contingency basis for personal injury cases, which means we don't get paid unless we recover compensation for you. There are no upfront fees or costs. Instead, we're paid a portion of your settlement when we've successfully resolved your case, making skilled legal representation affordable to all.
Request a Free Initial Consultation
Before he was an accomplished personal injury attorney, Jim Deffet defended insurance companies in litigation and, as a result, he knows what makes them tick. Now he puts his extensive experience and insight to work for you. Injured and suffering the consequences of someone else's negligence? Need a trusted legal partner to go to battle on your behalf? Look no further. Contact us today to schedule an appointment for a free, initial consultation to find out if we can help you with your case.