Missouri Injury Law Blog

In October 2008 a St Louis personal injury victim and carpenter working on a St Louis Missouri residential two-story home that was under construction in St Louis County. On that same day a negligent construction worker and roofer who was an employee of St Louis based Allen Roofing & Siding was on the roof of that same residential house installing shingles.

At some point in the afternoon, while my St Louis personal injury client was walking out of the front door of the house, a negligent roofer threw a long and heavy “toe board” from the tall second story roof, that board speared my client directly in the head, giving rise to serious injuries and a St Louis Missouri personal injury claim as well as a Missouri worker's compensation claim. The toe board is heavy, 14 feet long, and consists of two 2x4s tacked together, the carpenter immediately suffered severe personal injury, collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood, and went into seizures.

See pictures below depicting the hard hat, toe board, and area of the house showing how high up the roof is.

My personal injury client suffered a severe head and neck injury, has ongoing post traumatic brain injury symptoms, and had several teeth knocked out requiring a dentist and oral surgeon. The carpenter's medical bills for treatment of his injuries are $66,070.

Allen Roofing and the roofer are liable for these injuries. The roofer negligently and recklessly tossed the toe board without any consideration for where it would land and who would be there. The carpenter was walking out the front door where a walkway path of plywood sheets was clearly marked and any reasonable person would expect people to walk on a construction site. Moreover, there were multiple other area the toe boards could have been dropped, as opposed to recklessly thrown, in the back and on the sides of the house where walkways were not established.

In addition to the claim against the roofer, my St Louis personal injury client also had a St Louis Missouri Work Comp claim as the injury sustained occurred at work. The St Louis work comp insurance carrier paid total benefits of just under $100,000.

The 3rd party personal injury claim against the roofer and his employer settled for $400,000.00 and thus a combined St Louis personal injury and worker's compensation settlement of just under $500,000.00.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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St Louis Personal Injury Lawyerr Ben Sansone represents the victim of a motor vehicle and bicycle accident wherein the driver of the car failed to yield to the cyclist in a designated bicycle lane and hit him with the front end of her truck.

The St Louis bicyclist suffered from bruises and abrasions and a dislocated shoulder. He received medial treatment at the emergency room and had to undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn labium.

The cyclist's total medical bills we about $40,000 and he missed several months of work causing about $20,000 in lost wages.

In this case, St Louis personal injury lawyer Ben Sansone was able to make claims under multiple insurance policies which allowed him to secure several settlements for the personal injury victim of the St Louis bike accident totaling in excess of $200,000.00.

Extensive experience in the Personal injury field in crucial for investigating and seeking out all potential insurance policies that may cover an injury. Oftentimes many people stop with just the first policy. CONTACT: St Louis Missouri Personal Injury Law Firm - Sansone Law at (314) 726-1817

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Posted In: Bicycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Previously, the Missouri personal injury lawyers of Sansone Law have represented individuals injured by defective or dangerous toys, we have handled a previous Missouri toy eye injury case to a very successful conclusion. See Missouri toy eye injury lawsuit.

In August 2008 our Missouri personal injury client, Britney, sustained a major injury to her eye as a result of a Juggling Disc that was thrown to her.

Primary legal liability under Missouri personal injury law is for Missouri defective product design and failure to warn in context with the way the toy was marketed. Basically, the "toy" is actually a set of professional juggling discs which are very rigid and not appropriate for beginners and especially not children. however, they are marketed in the toy section of stores and no warnings or age appropriateness is given.

Her right eye suffered severe trauma and eventually will die and likely be removed and require a transplant. Her eye injuries included: Cornea damage (will require transplant); Iris damage (will require transplant); Pupil Damage; Large loss of Vitreous fluid; Severe damage to the Sclera (the outside of the eye) requiring 36 stitches. Stitches at the rear of the Sclera will remain permanent.

Sympathetic Ophthalmic conditions may occur where the good eye overworks itself into blindness or chronic pain may result in the eye removal procedure labeled Ocular Prosthesis. If these conditions do not exist then a procedure is used to fit a Scleral shell over the Scleral to cover a blind and/or unsightly eye.

Due to the eye injury and retinal detachment Brittney’s restrictions are as follows:
• She must lie at a 45-degree angle most of her waking day.
• She must lie at a 45-degree angle during sleeping hours.
• She must not lift anything over 10 pounds.
• She must not bend over. (Tie shoes, pick up dropped objects, scratch her legs etc.)
• Laxatives are taken to reduce the internal eye pressure during bowel movements.
• Sneezing needs to be kept to a minimum to reduce internal eye pressure.
• She must not care for her 3-year-old son, at this time due, to her aforementioned restrictions. This may have to continue for some time.
• She must have family administer her medications.
• She must have family bath her to insure the eye does not get wet.
• Driving is off limits.
• College has been postponed until further notice
• Work is no longer an option due to here 10 pound lift orders.

Brittney is a 21-year-old beautiful young lady. She, like most, is very conscience of her appearance. She is also very conscience of the fact that her eyesight may not return. Counseling to overcome this tragedy will take years to overcome. We are currently contacting specialists and blind and semi blind youth groups/organizations that specialize in this kind of mental trauma. She seems to be mentally stable at times then depression sets in which promotes sadness

Posted by Benjamin J. Sansone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Injury Law , Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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A St Louis Missouri work comp claim we have been handling recently settled for a $245,000.00 lump sum representing the present value of approximately $750,000. Our Missouri personal injury client, the injured worker, preferred a lump sum payment as opposed to monthly payments over 25-30 years, thus the case was settled in present value as opposed to payments over many years.

This Missouri work comp claim resulted from a work place injury wherein the employee fell from a first story roof. For details see: Previous Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog Entry - Missouri Work Comp Claim

Sample of other Work Comp Settlements obtained by St Louis personal injury lawyer Ben Sansone:

$500,000.00 Settlement in Illinois Work Comp Claim - Fall from Water Tower

$32,500 - Post Traumatic Stress - Employee saw coworker die - Illinois Work Comp

$90,000 - St Louis Work Comp Claim - Broken Tibia

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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In a previous Missouri injury lawyer blog entry, I discussed an Illinois dangerous product personal injury claim we are pursuing on behalf of an Illinois personal injury client. He was struck violently in the face and nose by a log piece that was ejected from a log splitter. See - Illinois Dangerous Product Personal Injury Claim - Log Splitter.

Oftentimes, personal injury claims can be settled favorably prior to a personal injury lawsuit needing to be filed. However, this is an example of a case that the insurance company and I cannot agree on the amount of damages as I believe strongly that my client's several painful nasal surgeries, past and future pain and suffering, and loss of his sense of smell are much more valuable than what they want to pay.

Therefore, personal injury lawyer Ben Sansone of Sansone Law in St Louis Missouri, recently filed a MacCoupin County Illinois products liability claim against the manufacturer of the log splitter and other parties involved in the design and marketing of the defective product. A detailed list of the defective designs making this log splitter a dangerous product when put to a reasonably anticipated use are laid out in our Illinois products liability complaint, described here.

Other examples of personal injury product liability / dangerous product cases our firm has handled or is currently handling:

Illinois Wrongful Death Lawsuit - Products Liability, Illinois Wrongful Death Claim, and Illinois Workers Compensation

Illinois Wrongful Death and Products Liability Lawyer - Work Related Death leads to Illinois Worker's Compensation Case and Products Liability Personal Injury Lawsuit

St Louis Missouri Products Liability Lawsuit - Eye Injury - Caused by Unsafe Toy Manufactured in China

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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Back in early 2008 we were retained as the injury lawyers by the victim of a Belleville Illinois drunk driving crash at a major intersection. Initially, the victim retained a different personal injury law firm who secured a settlement offer of just under $50,000, however, the victim did not want to accept and the previous attorneys did not believe the case was worth more than that offer. We immediately filed a lawsuit on her behalf and eventually settled the case for the policy limits of $100,000.00.

The personal injury lawyers at Sansone Law at not looking for a quick settlement but will put all the necessary hard work into your case to make sure the absolute best result is obtained, as in the case above.

Our Missouri and Illinois personal injury law firm has handled and is currently handling many drunk driving accident cases in Missouri and Illinois. Personal injury lawyer Ben Sansone spent many years of his practice defending DWI cases and has extensive knowledge of all the tests, procedures, and facts necessary to prove the other driver was intoxicated in the civil case and thus open the defendant up to aggravated liability.

See below links of previous posts regarding the above case:

Illinois Drunk Driving Personal Injury Lawsuit

Illinois Drunk Driving Lawsuit - Complaint with Punitive Damages

The above link discusses an Illinois Complaint that includes punitive damages. In both Missouri and Illinois the rules of civil procedure require you initially file the lawsuit without punitive damages claim, gather the necessary evidence to support a punitive damages claim then file a motion for leave to amend the complaint and add punitive damages. This is technically the rule, however, it has been my experience that if you initially file the punitive damages claim by the time the defense files a motion to dismiss based on the plaintiff not obtaining leave as described above, the evidence has already been gathered and the court will grant the leave for punitive damages at the same hearing the defense is trying to get it stricken.

this is the approach I take when the evidence is overwhelming that the driver was intoxicated and we usually have evidence of a plea of guilty or a conviction prior to filing the case.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Drunk Driving Law , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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On July 11, 2009 an Olin worker was tragically killed as the result of an Illinois industrial accident. He was operating a table lathe when apparently it inadvertently started causing a metal rod to swing around violently and fatally strike him across the chest. On behalf of the industrial worker's family, St Louis based Illinois personal injury lawyers, Sansone Law, are pursing an Illinois wrongful death claim, an Illinois products liability claim, and a negligent design claim against the table lathe manufacturer. Additionally, an Illinois worker's compensation claim has also been filed on behalf of the family.

Illinois Work Related Death - OSHA Investigating

Tragic death of Illinois worker at Olin Brass

Alton worker death after piece of metal on table lathe came loose, striking him in the chest and causing fatal injuries

Tragic work related Illinois wrongful death of Alton man

OSHA investigating work related death of Alton Illinois worker at Olin Brass

Verdict Reporter

4.5 Million dollar settlement - defective table lathe - products liability lawsuit and wrongful death

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Workers' Compensation , Wrongful Death , Our Injury Cases

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In August 2007 my client was the injury victim of a high speed car accident caused by an Illinois drunk driver operating a large pick up truck owned by a car dealership. See: Illinois Truck Accident - Drunk Driver Covered by Auto Dealership Policy

In Missouri and Illinois evidence of intoxication by an at fault driver will, in most cases, allow the imposition of punitive damages. Under Missouri and Illinois law, punitive damages cannot be added to a lawsuit until after filing a motion with the court, showing sufficient evidence to justify punitive damages, then the court will grant leave to file punitive damages. As a practical matter, if the evidence is overwhelming that the driver was drunk, then I often will add punitive damages initially as the defense will not fight the punitive damages claim as they know the judge will ultimately allow it. For example, See Illinois Drunk Driving Lawsuit - Negligence and Punitive Damages. Should a motion be necessary for leave to file punitive damages allegations supporting drunk driving should suffice to have leave granted to file punitive damages. See: Motion for Leave to File Punitive Damages - Illinois Drunk Driving Personal Injury Lawsuit.

Punitive damages are important as they can be used to pressure the insurance company to settle quickly to avoid an excess judgement. An excess judgement is when the judgement exceeds insurance policy limits and thus holding the at fault driver personally responsible financially over and above his insurance coverage. In such situations, I send a letter to the insurance company demanding payment of policy limits within a certain time period, usually 30 days. At the expiration of the time period the offer is forever withdrawn. This tactic opens the insurance company up to potential liability for an excess judgment under a bad faith refusal to settle claim.

The key to the above drunk driving head injury personal injury lawsuit settlement was the combination of the potential excess judgment liability and even more importantly properly evaluating, treating, and proving our client's traumatic brain injury through his treating neurologist as well as different experts to evaluate his current impairment as well as future impairment that he will suffer as a result of the head injury.

As a result of our efforts, the Illinois drunk driving injury lawsuit settled for a total of $575,000.00 $350,000.00 from the car dealership's insurance policy covering negligent entrustment and the negligence of the drunk driver; $100,000.00 being the policy limit for the drunk driver's separate personal policy, and $125,000 from the insurance policy that covered the driver of the vehicle my client was traveling in.

If you or someone you know has suffered a traumatic brain injury, post concussion syndrome, or other head trauma as the result of the negligence or fault of another, please contact us for a free evaluation of your case.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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As many people have heard, Zicam, a popular homeopathic product that claims its use shortens the length of a cold, was the subject of a 12 million dollar class action settlement in 2006, however, the product remained on the market. Now the FDA has issued an advisement cautioning consumers against using Zicam.

Currently, the personal injury lawyers at Sansone Law are representing several individuals for loss of smell and against Zicam. If you believe you have suffered Anosmia (loss of smell) from the use of Zicam you may have a case.

The loss of smell is a very serious and debilitating problem that also practically eliminates someones sense of taste along with their sense of smell due to the interplay between taste and smell. For more detail on Anosmia - loss of smell and it affects see the Anosmia Foundation.

Contact Us Now - Injury Lawyers that handle Zicam Loss of Smell Cases

Zicam and other Homeopathic remedies largly unregulated - Dever Post Article

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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Currently, I am handling a St Louis personal injury premise liability and negligent maintenance/security case arising from an apartment complex owner or manager's complete failure to maintain and repair outer security doors of the apartment buildings in the complex. The failure to keep these doors operable allowed several assailants to walk right into the apartment building, kick in the inner door to my client's apartment (which is a flimsy wood door) and proceed to rob and brutally rape her at gun point.

Apartment complexes are places that are often open to the public, thus, the apartment property owner has an obligation to provide a safe environment. Especially when the area is a known high crime area. We pulled the St Louis County police records that indicated over 200 calls to 911 from the apartment complex reporting crimes occurring there. Of those, there were about a dozen violent crimes that occurred in the year prior to our client becoming a victim to sexual assault, including two reported rapes. This is direct evidence that the apartment owner or managers knew or should have known about the potential danger, thus putting them on legal notice to substantiate a Missouri personal injury claim based on premise liability and negligent maintenance or security.

Apartment complex owners have a legal obligation to maintain the property in a safe condition, to protect their renters from personal injury. Common injuries include burglary, robbery, parking lot rape, sexual assaults, and murder that result from inadequate or negligent security.

Most shocking was that almost all of the building in the complex had defective, unmaintained, and just plain inoperative security doors. I walked through the entire complex and several residents showed me how easily their young children could just pull on the security doors and they would open or the doors were in such disrepair that the locking mechanism was missing entirely or would not latch to the door frame.

Premise Liability - Negligent Security at Apartment - $9 Million Verdict
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Negligent security at apartment complex, rape in parking lot - $2.5 Million settlement.
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Posted In: Premises Liability , Our Injury Cases

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Currently, I am representing an Illinois personal injury victim that suffered severe injury to his nose after being struck in the face when using a defective log splitter. See - Illinois Products Liability Personal Injury - Nose Injury & Loss of Smell.

My client lost his sense of smell as a direct result of the defective product. The case is currently in settlement negotiations, however, if we are not able to resolve the case we will be proceeding with a lawsuit. This is not a common injury, so a little research revealed some substantial verdicts and settlements wherein loss of smell was a primary injury.

$500,000 awarded to man who loses sense of smell as result of a fall down an Elevator shaft (http://www.siaccident.com/CM/Custom/Results.asp)

$1.2 MILLION. Recovery for emotional difficulties and loss of sense of smell and taste
Plaintiff carpenter fell six-feet from a scaffold, striking his head on the floor. Although diagnostic tests, including an MRI, did not show a brain injury, the plaintiff's family noticed a change in his behavior, and he complained of emotional difficulties and a loss of sense of smell and taste. (http://www.accidentslawyernewyork.com/verdicts-settlements)

$850,000 obtained for plaintiff
Woman strikes head in a car accident causing frontal subdural hematoma resulting in loss of sense of smell.
(http://www.gellerandsiegel.com/CM/Custom/Verdicts-Settlements.asp )

$12,000,000.00 ZICAM maker settles lawsuit over User’s Loss of Smell

Class action lawsuit alleging varying loss of smell for about 300 users.
(http://www.thedenverchannel.com/7newsinvestigates/6279576/detail.html)

$600,000 products liability settlement for loss of smell
Truck driver whose primary injury was the loss of his sense of smell. The truck driver claimed a design defect in a milk truck because it failed to provide a grab handle on the rear driver's side of the truck.
(http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/2006/06/600000_settlement_in_products.html )

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Posted In: Injury Law , Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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About 6 months ago I was retained by a Springfield Missouri cyclist that was injured when a car passed him then made a right turn into a parking lot, cutting him off and causing the Missouri bicyclist to crash into the side of their car and resultant injuries. This is what I have referred to in earlier Missouri bike and personal injury law blog articles as "the right hook".

Under Missouri law, a driver overtaking a bicycle must maintain a safe distance. In this case the negligent driver failed to maintain a safe distance and caused a collision.

Missouri State Statute § 304.678 reads as follows:

Distance to be maintained when overtaking a bicycle.

Missouri Bike Statute 304.678. The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, as defined in section 300.010, RSMo, shall leave a safe distance when passing the bicycle, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.

Under Missouri law bicyclists are to be treated as other vehicles; for instance, under Missouri law a vehicle is not to cut a bicyclist off, pass a bicyclist unsafely, or pull out in front of a bicyclist.

Clearly, in this situation the negligent driver at best misjudged the speed the Missouri bike accident victim was traveling and not only attempted to pass him, but also made a right hand turn in front of him cutting him off and causing the crash.

Prior to my St Louis personal injury law firm being retained, another attorney encouraged this same bike accident injury victim to accept medical specials only as the top offer from the insurance company, fortunately he did not accept that offer and contacted us; we settled the case six months later for 3 times the amount the previous attorney advised was the best offer he would ever get.

As an avid cyclist myself I have had a few close calls and understand the fact that drivers simply choose not to notice cyclist on many occasions. Like em or not, in Missouri, bicyclists have the same rights to the roadway (except highways) as motorist do. Many lawyers who are not cyclists do not fully understand or believe in this right, but it is one that must be pursued aggressively for just resolution of Missouri or Illinois injury claims resulting from motorists hitting a bicyclist.

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Posted In: Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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In August 2007 we posted the following blog regarding an Illinois personal injury and work comp claim as the result of a rear end collision in Madison County Illinois, the case was an Illinois worker's compensation claim along with a an Illinois negligence claim against the at fault driver because the injured passenger was on official work duty when the rear end car collision occurred. See:

Illinois Car Accident - Work Comp Claims and 3rd Party Claims - Affects on Recovery by Victim when Competing Claims

The at fault driver had an Illinois automobile accident liability coverage of $100,000; initially the insurer for the negligent Illinois driver, denied paying on the claim. We immediately file d a lawsuit on behalf of our client and the day before all the party deposition were to take place we settled for $95,000 plus payment of all court costs. The Illinois worker's compensation claim resolved approximately 6 months prior to the negligence case and settled for $25,000 plus $60,000 in benefits paid.

Posted by Benjamin J. Sansone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Recently, Sansone Law was able to settle a Missouri toy products liability case for close to $100,000.00 after several years of litigation. The case stemmed from a 2004 injury that was described in the previous blog entry below.

Missouri Personal Injury Law - Child Injured by Unreasonably Dangerous Toy

It was a very difficult case from a liability standpoint as the toy knife was not blatantly dangerous looking. However, after comparing the rigid nature of the knife and the seemingly serrated edge to give it a more realistic look, with other similar toys on the market it became obvious to me this toy was dangerous for what it was intended for. The rigidity and serrated edge made it dangerous for little kids that it was marketed to. Most knifes in similar toy sets were very flexible with blunt and smooth edges for safety.

The Missouri personal injury products liability lawsuit was slated to go to trial in April 2009, however we were able to negotiate a settlement that paid for the minor child's medical bills plus and put a handsome amount of money into a protected savings account for her future education.

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Posted In: Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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In January 2009 around 4:30 p.m. a Missouri personal injury insurance claim and possible lawsuit arose when my client was traveling on North Lindbergh when he notice a car slowly rolling onto the center median curb with the driver slumped over the wheel. Concerned for the driver's safety as my client though he was having a heart attack he got out of his car to assist the driver. The driver's side window was down so he reached in and put the car in park and see if he could assist the driver. When my client asked the driver if he was alright he regained consciousness, and it quickly became clear that he was severely intoxicated. The drunk driver got angry and claimed my client was trying to get him in trouble as the emergency vehicles were approaching, thus the St Louis Missouri drunken driver sped off dragging my client along with him for several yards or more till he broke loose. My client sustained severe personal injuries including serious injury to his knee, back, neck shoulders, and not to mention the emotional trauma.

The driver was arrested a few blocks down after trying to hide in a strip mall and charged with DWI. The day I was retained as the victim's personal injury lawyer we investigated the driver's record and discovered not only that he was driving on a revoked license and without insurance, but that he also had multiple DWI guilty pleas.

Most likely the other driver is what we call judgment proof, meaning a civil judgment for money against him is worthless as he has no assets to satisfy the judgment. Luckily, the personal injury victim in this case had Missouri car insurance and thus as required under Missouri personal injury law the policy must have a minimum $25,000 coverage for injuries sustained as the result of an uninsured motorist. Moreover, in this case my client was wise enough to pay for a $100,000 uninsured motorist policy that applied to at least two cars, thus under Missouri injury law the two $100,000 uninsured motorist policies may be able to be "stacked" and thus increasing the maximum coverage for this personal injury loss to $200,000 for uninsured motorist coverage.

Uninsured motorist coverage applies to the insured or the person, not the vehicle. This is why pedestrians that may be nowhere near their vehicle can make an uninsured motorist claim if they are injured as the result of the negligence or recklessness of an uninsured motorist.

I have represented many people that have suffered very serious injuries as the result of an uninsured or under insured motorist; all of those people now know that the few extra bucks it costs a year to raise under insured and uninsured motorist coverage limits in well worth the small policy premium increase.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Currently we are representing the victim of medical malpractice in St Louis Missouri, she was completely paralyzed after a cervical pain injection hit her artery taking the medication (depo medrol) to her spinal cord and brain, where it caused lesions and serious nerve damage. For several months she was completely paralyzed from the chest down, thankfully, she has made great strides since then but still faces many daily challenges. Unfortunately, she still walks with a severe limp and has no feeling from the waist down causing hardship on a daily basis.

The depo medrol being injected into the artery can be seen in the fluoroscope image (above right), the flaring shows the medicine being transported in the artery.

A few lawyers told her she did not have a case, I have heard this before, in fact, my largest multimillion dollar medical malpractice settlement (4.5 million) was for a Missouri medical malpractice case that several previous lawyers though was not a case; expertise and experience in the medical legal arena is key to evaluating a case. That case ended up being the largest reported Missouri medical malpractice settlement in Missouri for 2007 and settled for a whopping $4,500,000.00 about 1 month prior to trial.

After meeting with the client is this case I immediately knew she had a case and was determined to find the medical evidence and experts to support her case. Within just a few short months we had two specialists that 100% agree with me.

In this case, the patient received a depo medrol shot that was supposed to go into the nerve root and block the pain signal that was being sent to her brain. The St Louis MO medical negligence occurred when the pain injection doctor not only hit the artery, but then injected the depo medrol into that artery, carrying the medication to the spinal cord and frontal lobe of the brain and killing nerves and cells, thus resulting in serious spinal cord injuries and brain injuries resulting in permanent partial paralysis.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Medical Malpractice , Our Injury Cases

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My client suffered serious injury as the result of an Illinois motorcycle accident outside of the Belleville Illinois area in St Clair County, Illinois. She was the passenger on the back of a motorcycle when the driver lost control of the bike and the next thing she knows is that she wakes up in the hospital several days later.

After months of investigation, we discovered that the facts of the case were that my Illinois personal injury client was invited to a party where she knew only a few people, the driver of the bike borrowed the motorcycle from the owner who was hosting the party, she rode along and the motorcycle driver lost control, crashed the motorcycle and knocked her out. The owner or the driver took her to a hospital several hours away as the driver of the motorcycle or the owner had a relative that worked at the hospital. This relative made sure the cops were not called and that the people who dropped the injured victim off were not identified or reported. This falls under the category of an Illinois uninsured motorist claim or lawsuit as the driver or operator of the motor vehicle is unidentified.

Being an Illinois uninsured motorist claim my client must make a claim through her insurance for uninsured motorist coverage. In many states Uninsured motorist coverage is implied as at least to match the minimum liability coverage allowed by law even if the policy holder does not have a specific uninsured motorist coverage policy. Almost every insurance policy has the minimum uninsured motorist coverage stated as part of the coverage.

As stated in previous entries on this blog, uninsured motorist coverage follows the person not the vehicle. In this particular case, my client was insured by a Missouri insurance policy with Shelter insurance. Shelter insurance now includes an exclusionary clause under its uninsured motorist coverage section; this clause states that uninsured motorist coverage only applies to personal injury resulting from an automobile accident. Now this sounds harmless on its face, however, Shelter Insurance takes it a step further to define an automobile as a motorized vehicle with four or more wheels. Thus, they are denying my client uninsured motorist claim because it occurred as a result of an uninsured motorcyclist as opposed to a driver of a car or truck.

One of the purposes of having uninsured motorist coverage is to cover an insured in case they are struck by a phantom vehicle or by a vehicle or driver that has no insurance. That way there is still some redress despite the at fault driver having no insurance or money to cover the personal injury loss. In this case, Shelter is trying to get around well settled public policy decisions by the court by defining an automobile to mean four or more wheels. So under a previous example of a pedestrian getting hit by a car and the driver fleeing with no one able to get any identifying information, clearly that would be covered by the pedestrian's uninsured motorist coverage. Now change one fact, instead of a car, the pedestrian is struck by a motorcycle that flees and is unidentified. Now the pedestrian is left with zero recourse according to Shelter even though they were responsible and had uninsured motorist coverage.

This is an issue that will go to the courts as it appears it has not been preciously decided and I will update this blog regarding important Illinois uninsured motorist motorcycle accident claim issues as this and other cases I am handling progress.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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As a personal injury lawyer based in St Louis, I know first hand that one of my clients' top concerns is insurance liability coverage usually stated to me as "what or whose insurance applies to cover my injury?" There are several types of insurance coverage to indemnify an injured victim in a Missouri car accident. The primary one every driver is supposed to have under Missouri law is liability coverage, which Missouri state law requires a minimum of 25/50. This 25/50 means $25,000 per individual or $50,000 limit if 2 or more individuals are injured.

Oftentimes this 25/50 coverage this is not enough, thus it is a very good idea to have Missouri under insured motorist coverage (commonly referred to as "UIM" coverage") to protect yourself if another driver carrying the state minimum of $25,000 causes injury to you or a family member that justifies a Missouri injury or insurance claim in excess of $25,000. Therefore, if you carry a $100,000 Missouri under insured policy then there is an additional $75,000 an injured victim can recover if the at fault driver only carried state minimums or an amount less then your under insured coverage.

What if the other driver had no insurance or fled the scene? Then that would usually be a claim under Missouri Uninsured Motorist coverage (commonly referred to as "UM"coverage"). Everyone that is insured in Missouri automatically carries a minimum of $25,000 of uninsured motorist coverage in Missouri as this is required by Missouri state law. It is based on the view that it is against public policy to carry the minimum liability coverage and not have a minimum uninsured motorist coverage. However, as a Missouri personal injury lawyer, I have seen countless situations where clients wished they carried more than $25,0000 of uninsured motorist coverage, I recommend to anyone to carry the maximum of both uninsured motorist coverage and under insured motorist coverage.

Here are a few fact examples from Missouri and Illinois injury cases I am currently handling.

Jefferson county personal injury client allows her friend to drive her car, the friend loses control, runs off the road and crashes into a tree. What policy covers my client for her injuries? In most cases her insurance policy that she had on the car because by allowing her friend to drive it is a "permissive use" thus the policy on the car applies. Now, this is not true in every situation and sometimes specific facts may change which Missouri insurance policy coverage applies.

Different situation, I currently am handling a St Louis city motorcycle accident case that arose from an uninsured motorist striking a motorcyclist and his passenger. Both the driver of the motorcycle and the passenger have their own insurance policies on different vehicles including the motorcycle for the driver only. Usually, under this scenario the Missouri Uninsured Motorist policy for each one of their vehicle applies. Therefore the driver makes a UM claim under his motorcycle policy as well as under his UM policy coverage for his other vehicles, as UM coverage also covers the named insured. The passenger is making a Missouri uninsured motorist claim under the drivers motorcycle policy as well as the policy on her primary vehicle. This brings up many other issues such as stacking, anti-stacking clauses, set off clauses, and other exclusionary clauses the insurance companies use to limit their exposure in cases such as these.

Often clients don't understand exactly why coverage for a car or vehicle that was not involved in a Missouri car collision could apply. Simple example clears that up. Say you are crossing the street and a driver runs a red light, hits you, and flees the scene. No one gets any type of identification on the driver or the vehicle. This is a Missouri uninsured motorist claim and the coverage you have on your vehicle or vehicles will apply for your to make a claim against as if they represented the driver himself. Cars are not covered by Missouri uninsured motorist policies, people are. The property damage portion of the Missouri insurance policy covers damage to cars or other vehicles.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Bicycle Accidents , Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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On December 11, 2008 a St Louis City school bus transporting Carnahan high school students was involved in a violent crash. The official reports are vague, however, personal injury attorney Ben Sansone represents one of the students that was seriously injured and taken to Cardinal Glennon hospital. According to her, the bus driver attempted to pass traffic, accelerated quickly and then in order to avoid crashing into other vehicles ran off the road and crashed into a post and some utility structures. St Louis Missouri Bus Accident - Story on MyFoxSTL.com

On behalf of my client and as a St Louis Missouri injury lawyer, I will be pursuing damages against the bus company, who exactly that is is still under investigation and significant updates will be posted to this blog. However, it is clear that the bus driver was negligent, additionally, there may be additional issues, as in truck accident cases, of negligent retention, hiring, or training of the bus driver.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Truck Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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In August 2007 I posted an article about a new personal injury case wherein I was retained to represent several victims of a drunk driving car accident near Quincey Illinois. See Prior Entry Pertaining to this Illinois Drunk Driving (DUI) Car Accident and Injury

Recently, I (along with another Illinois personal injury attorney) filed a lawsuit against the intoxicated teenage drivers of two vehicles as well as the car dealership that loaned the vehicle to one of the drivers. The Illinois drunk driving car accident severely injured all of the passengers of one car that was in front of a large pick up truck. The drivers of the two vehicles were both intoxicated and were racing down a country highway when the lead car slammed on her brakes as she realized she just passed the entrance to a road that led to the party they were heading to.

Both drivers were issued citations for traffic violations and alcohol related charges; one driver plead guilty to DUI, thus locking up liability. All of the injured passengers were airlifted to hospitals for immediate treatment. Injuries range from debilitating traumatic brain and spine injuries creating an ongoing cognitive deficiencies for one passenger. He continues to have epileptic symptoms and memory problems (to name only a few of his injuries) to the extent that he is medically unable to drive and likely to be put on social security disability due to his permanent and totally debilitating brain injury resulting from the Illinois motor vehicle collision. The other passengers suffered injuries ranging from a fractured pelvis to severe injuries to their knees and spine injuries. All of the passengers suffered permanent injuries that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. As an experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer, I have seen unfortunate cases like this before, however, unlike many cases, fortunately there is ample insurance coverage to compensate the Plaintiffs as the insurance for both drivers and the auto dealer will apply. As a Missouri and Illinois personal injury attorney I have seen individuals and families decimated by these types of serious injuries and to add insult to injury, the at fault party has minimum insurance coverage and no financial resources to justify pursuing the case beyond the insurance coverage.

The Illinois personal injury lawsuit was recently filed and a partially redacted copy (to protect the identity of my clients) is available here: Illinois personal injury lawsuit - drunk driver - Punitive damages - Negligent Entrustment by Auto Dealer

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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My Missouri personal injury client, Kathy, is a self made small business owner who was injured as the result of a dangerous condition on the premises of Lowe's back in July 2007. She incurred personal injury to her knee and incurred $15,000 in medical bills as a result of Lowe's negligence under Missouri injury law. Our Missouri personal injury law experience and expertise helped secure a $60,000 settlement for Kathy, 4 times the amount of her medical bills.

Kathy was what Missouri personal injury attorneys call a "business invitee" on Lowe's’ premises, thus raising the standard of care as the premises is open to the public for business purposes. Kathy was caused to slip and fall due to an unreasonably dangerous condition on Lowe's’ property, specifically, standing water on the concrete floor. Moreover, not only was there standing water but the Missouri injury liability was aggravated because there was organic soot and plant food in the water, making the concrete excessively slick as compared to just water on concrete. Additionally, this condition was located across the entrance to the nursery section at Lowe's, an obvious high foot traffic area.

As you can see in the picture, the saw cut between the Lowe’s entry and exit gate is full of a black substance, that is organic grunge; additionally, the water between the gates has this same organic material under it as this is drain off from the plants being watered, thus carrying dissolved plant food and minerals that make the concrete floor incredibly slick.

Also, you can see there is a crack in the concrete which creates about a ½ inch lip, Kathy slid on the water (you can see several slip marks in the picture) full of the organic material and then she hit the lip causing her knee to twist and her resultant fall and injuries. Lastly, there were no warning cones present, where they should have been, instead they were off to the side behind a counter.

The premise was within the exclusive control of Lowe's and it was held open to the public for business invitee access. Therefore, Lowe's owed Kathy the highest degree of care under Missouri personal injury law to keep the premises in a safe condition and to regularly inspect it to guarantee invitee safety.

Additional info on Missouri Premise Liability Law as written by a Missouri personal injury lawyer.

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Posted In: Premises Liability , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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In Missouri, premises liability refers to the legal liability imposed on property owners for allowing an unreasonably dangerous condition to exist on the property which results in personal injury. Under Missouri injury law, business property owners owe a higher legal standard of care than private property owners. In Missouri commercial or business property owners have a duty to make the property safe and to reasonable inspect the property to make sure there are no hidden defects that could be dangerous. In Missouri, private property owners are only liable for dangerous conditions they know about or should have known about.

A victim of such a defective condition and resultant injury hired me as her Missouri personal injury lawyer and we recently settled her slip and fall case resulting from a Missouri personal injury incident occurring on 6/30/2004. My client was a business invitee at a gas station in Sullivan Missouri, she was caused to slip and fall due to an unreasonably dangerous condition, under Missouri injury law, on the gas station's property, specifically standing water in the bathroom. The bathroom was within the exclusive control of the gas station owner and it was held open to the public for business invitee access. Therefore, the gas station owed my client the highest degree of care under Missouri law to keep the bathroom in a safe condition and to regularly inspect it to guarantee invitees’ safety.

When my client entered the bathroom she immediately slipped and fell, noticing that not only were her pants wet from the fall but there was standing water that she slipped in, the bathroom was very dirty, and there was indication of a lot of foot traffic through the bathroom. This indicates that the bathroom had not been maintained for several hours. This fact was admitted later in discovery after we filed a Missouri personal injury lawsuit in Franklin County, Missouri.

The gas station owner failed to reasonably inspect the bathroom as they admitted they did not regularly clean the bathroom and there was evidence that the water was from a known leak under the sink. The insurance company would only offer $12,000 to settle the case until after we filed a Missouri personal injury lawsuit and pushed the case towards a trial, the insurance company settled for $41,000.

My client incurred a serious personal injury to her ankle requiring a little less than $10,000 in medical treatment. Initially the insurance company would not offer any more than $8,000 stating my client should have watched where she was walking and that the fall was her own fault. Upon filing the Missouri personal injury claim the offer increased to $12,000. Still way too little, the bathroom was a dark, dirty bathroom, with a known water leak in it, clearly, the business owner was liable. There was no rug, warning sign, or repair done to protect the public from the slippery condition created by the known water leak.

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Posted In: Premises Liability , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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My client was riding her road bike on Old Gravois Rd. in south St Louis county on a Sunday afternoon, when she was thrown from her bike and seriously injured. The injured St Louis cyclist ended up with a broken clavicle and a host of other abrasions, scars, road burns, lacerations, and contusions.

What caused this biker to be thrown from her bike? A three inch diameter black hose laid across the street on a downhill slope in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. This created a dangerous condition for Missouri bikers as there were no warnings or other notices to the public using that road that a 3" obstruction was on the road just down the hill. Additionally, the black color and fact it was on a steep downhill slope created limited visibility of the hose and a bicyclist would not see the hose until it is too late to stop. This road is routinely used by cyclists and that coupled with the dangerous conditions above make the accident and injury to cyclists legally foreseeable.

On behalf of my client, I am pursuing a Missouri personal injury bike accident claim against the builder that was using the hose and hydrant outside of its permitted use and in such as way as to create an unreasonably dangerous condition on a St Louis Missouri public roadway.

This hose was hooked up to a fire hydrant across the street from a construction site the at fault party was using. They had a permit for use of the hydrant, but it was limited for a specific purpose and not allowed use on the weekend. The builder was using this hydrant outside of the permitted use certificate. The improper use and improper warning was the cause of this Missouri bike accident injury.

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Posted In: Bicycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Sansone Law has been retained to represent the family of a 17 year old girl that was tragically killed when a teenage driver ran off the road killing the front seat passenger and critically injuring the back seat passenger. KSDK News Story. The negligent and reckless driver decided to go well over 70 MPH on Pioneer Road in Hillsboro Missouri (just outside St Louis County). The speed limit on that road is 40 MPH, for obvious reasons, it is a narrow and curvy road. The picture above is the stretch of road showing the turn the driver tried to come around at 70 MPH in and older model Ford Contour, he took the turn wide and another car was coming from the other direction, he over corrected and ended up crashing the car into trees off the road and down a hill. The surviving passenger has stated she felt as if they were airborne.

This tragic Jefferson county car accident resulted in the death of the front side passenger and severe injury to the backseat passenger, who recalls the she and the deceased passenger were begging the driver to slow down. Upon a cursory review through Missouri Casenet this driver has been charged with several other traffic citations prior to this Missouri car crash.

The Jefferson County prosecutor's office has charged the driver with the Missouri state charge of involuntary manslaughter, a class D Felony. Much to the disappointment of the family, he was quickly released on a $3,500 bond; quite low considering he caused the St Louis Missouri area wrongful death of one young girl and the severe and permanently debilitating personal injuries to the back seat passenger.

There are many details and aspects of this Missouri wrongful death case that I would like to discuss as a Missouri personal injury lawyer, however, I will have to post these aspects of the Jefferson county wrongful death case at a later date as the investigation and claims are ongoing. I would ask that we all keep the young girl's family in our prayers and pray for the health and wellness of her young one year old son that has survived her.

I traveled down pioneer road several times today, and it is a narrow road, I was driving my Porsche 911 C4S (a car made to take tight turns at high speed), and at 70 MPH that curve was challenging, clearly in an older model Ford Contour 70 MPH on that road is simply crazy recklessness beyond a simple accident; moreover, the roads were wet that night. On behalf of the mother and surviving infant son, I will pursue Missouri personal injury claims of wrongful death against the driver based on negligence and gross recklessness justifying the imposition of Missouri punitive damages.

St Louis Post Dispatch Article by Robert Kelly - Jeffco Teen Driver Charged in Passenger's Death

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Wrongful Death , Our Injury Cases

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In a previous Missouri personal injury lawyer blog post I discussed the facts and circumstances of my Illinois workers compensation client who witnessed the traumatic death of a co-worker as the result of a fall from a water tower. As a result of witnessing this tragic death incident, which has turned into a million dollar Illinois wrongful death case and Illinois products liability action, my client suffered post traumatic stress.

This Illinois workers compensation case recently settled for $32,500.00 to compensate my Illinois personal injury and workers compensation client for the traumatic stress endured as a direct result of the work related injury.

Many Illinois personal injury lawyers may have never pursued the claim because there was no direct physical injury. In fact, my client's first Illinois personal injury lawyer did not pursue the claim and recommended a settlement to him of less than $10,000. I took over the case and through psychological testing and other important case work we were able to evidence the psychological injury and settlement the case for more than 3 times more what his first Illinois work comp lawyer recommended.

An Illinois or a Missouri work comp case or claim require one very simple element to have a claim in the first place, a work related injury. That injury can be physical or mental. Often times a mental injury is drastically more debilitating than a physical injury.

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Recently I settled an Illinois Workers Compensation case for $500,000, see Illinois Work Comp Death Case Settlement. Now that the Illinois worker's compensation case is resolved I am pursuing an Illinois products liability death lawsuit resulting from a improperly manufactured or designed cantilever that did not close and thus failed to prevent the worker from falling to his untimely death. A good Illinois personal injury lawyer must look beyond just the worker's compensation liability and investigate other potential defendants and theories of legal liability that allow the client to recovery beyond workers compensation, as the amount recoverable is limited by regulation.

When is there more to recover than just work comp? In the above case, the clients came to me because their first lawyer refused to pursue the products liability case and just wanted to represent them on the Illinois work comp case. The products liability case in this matter is what is known as a 3rd party claim. Generally, workers' compensation statutes and regulations prevent any other recovery by an injured worker or his family other than from work comp insurance through the work comp courts. Recovery is limited and regulated. However, when another party besides the employer is at fault there may exist a third party personal injury case. Many lawyers just want the work comp case and do not want to pursue the other parties, if you find yourself in this situation call me, because we always look into that possibility, and in the above case lead to an Illinois personal injury products liability wrongful death case. As in the above case, the original Illinois work comp attorney refused to take the products liability case, through investigation we have discovered that the cantilever is defective and thus the family has a claim worth potentially millions of dollars. Fortunately, they contacted me and we were able to explore these options and find a wrongful death products liability case.

What is a products liability case? A products liability case is simply as case wherein a defective product caused personal injury. In the above case, the cantilever malfunctioned or was improperly designed as it failed to close, allowing the lanyard to come unhooked from a water tower and allow the worker to fall, causing his unfortunate death. The specific cause of the malfunction I cannot get into at this point, however, as the picture to the right demonstrates, the cantilever fails to close and leaves over a one inch gap. Therefore, based on the facts and witness testimony regarding the fall it will show that had the clip closed all the way the lanyard would not have come unhooked and the worker would not have fallen from the top of the water tower and died. The defect is the libility, the circumstances leading to the fall are the causation, and the death is the damages, the three general requirements for a successful Missouri or Illinois personal injury lawsuit that an injury lawyer looks for.

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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In a recent Missouri personal injury post I discussed a St Louis Missouri products liability personal injury lawsuit I have brought on behalf of my client, a young girl, that suffered a serious eye injury when playing with a toy knife that was unreasonably sharp. For fact details see: St Louis Missouri Personal Injury Lawsuit Eye Injury - Dangerous Product - Toy Knife.

The primary eye injury was a serious laceration to the front of her eye that cut through the cornea and the iris. This required several surgeries, first to sew up the laceration then a cataract occurred and a lens implant became necessary as well. As a result, this young girl will suffer vision problems for the rest of her life as well as an over-dependence on her uninjured eye. To the right is a detailed rendition of the injury as well as part of the medical surgical procedure to repair the eye.

What is the value of an eye injury? A Missouri and Illinois personal injury attorney bases that on many factors, the primary ones being the past and future medical bills and costs. Also, past or future lost wages. These are damages that are referred to as "special damages", meaning that they can be specifically calculated. Additional damages are pain and suffering, often referred to as "non economic damages" or loss of enjoyment of life. These are non economic damages as there is not a receipt, bill, or specific price tag attached with this type of damage. The non economic damages awarded by one jury may be very different than the damages awarded by another jury; assuming both find liability to be clear. This is the area of damages that separates top Missouri personal injury lawyers from the rest.

Similar eye injury related personal injury lawsuits have settled for several hundred thousand dollars and more. Other cases where blindness becomes an issue have settled or had a verdict in the millions. In the case above, I believe my client's injury is valued close to $500,000. This is based on the general amounts of the verdicts and settlements for similar type cases across the country as well as my evaluation of the case based on liability, medical damages, future problems, and general pain and suffering. Fortunately, my client did not suffer blindness and will be able to lead a normal and healthy life.

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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A client of mine who has had various adventurous and dangerous jobs took a job working for an oil drilling company doing the heavy lifting and work with the drilling rig. Unfortunalty he was severely injured as a result of a 2-3 ton drill collar falling and crushing his foot and injuring his right leg. He is now looking at having his right foot amputated as a result of this work related accident and injury.

My client was hired in Illinois and is an Illinois resident, therefore, most likely Illinois worker's compensation law will apply to this case, despite the fact that the injury occurred outside of Illinois. This is important because Illinois has more favorable workers' compensation laws than most other states. So keeping his work comp case in Illinois is a high priority for me.

The lose of a limb, if only one limb, is what is referred to in Illinois work comp law as 'permanent partial disability" because the injured employee is not permanently disabled but only partially. If both feet, or both hands, were lost then it becomes a permanent total disability as the likelihood is that the employee will not be able to work again.

How is PPD (Permanent Partial Disability) defined in Illinois Work Comp Law:

PPD is:
a) The complete or partial loss of a part of the body; or
b) The complete or partial loss of use of a part of the body; or
c) The partial loss of use of the body as a whole.

“Loss of use” is not specifically defined in the law, but it generally means the employee is unable to do things he or she was able to do before the injury.

See Handbook on Illinois Worker's Compensation and Occupational Disease

The employee's benefit is calculated using the Illinois Work Comp disability chart indicating how many weeks of pay an injured employee gets for an injury.

If a body part is amputated or if it cannot be used at all, that represents a 100% loss, and the employee is awarded the entire number of weeks listed on the chart. If the employee sustains partial loss the benefit is calculated by multiplying the percentage of loss by the number of weeks listed.

HOW MUCH IS THE AMPUTATION WORTH:

Amputation or enucleation: 133 1/3% of Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW). Currently the illinois SAWW is about $1,000. The minimum PPD benefit for amputation is 50% of the statewide average weekly wage (SAWW). The dispute comes in as to how much of a disability of the body as a whole, i.e. what percentage, should be attributed for the loss of a foot. That percentage is applied to 500 weeks, to get the number of weeks times the applicable weekly wage to get the amount.

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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Recently I took a case to trial in St Louis Missouri regarding a bicycle accident and injury of a broken elbow. The bicyclist underwent surgery and had a bolt put into her arm to secure her bone as the fracture was complex. See Image Below.

On the day of trial often and victim of personal injury, as in this bicycle accident injury case, will look like they are in good health, primarily because it is usually several years since the injury and they have had time to heal from the external and more obvious symptoms. Additionally, the injured party is sitting in a comfortable chair most of the time. This often creates a disconnect in the mind of the juror. Jurors have told me before that one of the difficult issues during deliberation was that the Plaintiff did not look hurt. St Louis Missouri Personal injury trial lawyers need to use demonstrative evidence to get the severity of a client's injury across to a jury when it is not visually obvious.

In the above referenced Missouri bike accident injury case, the injured cyclist's broken elbow at the time of trial, 2 years after the bike accident, was not obvious and the illustration used was very effective in explaining to the jury the severity of the injury. Demonstrative evidence and courtroom technology are very important personal injury lawsuit trial tools. Elaborate presentations, videos, audio, and graphics grab the attention of the jury and the visual impressions make a more profound impact on jurors.

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Earlier this year, my client, a young impressionable freshman at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, sustained serious personal injuries as a result of sorority hazing. She was severely paddled as part of the initiation that resulted in menacing tissue damage on her buttock requiring several days of hospitalization and surgery, including a skin graft.

I am filing a claim and potentially a Missouri personal injury lawsuit against Lincoln University, the Tau Beta Sigma Sorority, and the individual members responsible for the brutal injuries. Two sorority members were arrested as a result of the injuries and the University is having an internal hearing on the matter.

The injuries that my client suffered definitely opens the individuals up not only to an intentional tort claim, but also a claim for punitive damages as well as potentially exposing the national sorority to a negligence and punitive damages claim. Additionally, we have reason to believe that incidents similar to this have happened in the past at Lincoln University and the University may have failed to act on past instances and failed to prevent this one.

I remember my Greek days when I was in a fraternity that had a pretty tough initiation process, but I never saw anyone get physically injured, especially not requiring medical care. Fraternity and sorority hazing are well know for humiliating or breaking down their initiates and then building them back up. Callous physical hazing was thought to be a thing of the past, however it is something that still goes on and needs to be addressed when it become public through an initiate being so injured that they have to go to the authorities.

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We recently settled a Missouri personal injury case stemming from a motorcycle accident outside of Union Missouri. One of the at fault drivers had a policy of insurance for $100,000 and a few months after filing a Missouri motorcycle accident personal injury lawsuit, the driver's insurance tendered the entire amount of insurance coverage. There were some disputes as to which car caused the accident as one witness claimed that a car abruptly stopped in the left lane causing the driver mentioned above to swerve to the right and strike my client on his motorcycle.

The vehicle that stopped abruptly did not stay around and was never identified, therefore, under Missouri law, it is a uninsured motorist and the injured party's uninsured motorist coverage applies for the negligent actions of the unidentified motorist. Thus, we are pursuing the injury claim beyond the policy limits above by seeking compensation from the motorcyclist's uninsured motorist coverage insurance carrier.

Word to the wise, as a St Louis personal injury lawyer and a motorcyclist myself, I strongly recommend to all motorcyclists to max out your insurance coverage as you may be hit by someone with minimum insurance coverage or even no coverage and your only remedy will be your own uninsured and under insured motorist coverage.

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Posted In: Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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An Illinois personal injury case has arisen from my client's use of a Fisch Electric Log Splitter. As you can see from the picture to the right, the electric motor and plunger engagement lever must each be operated by a separate hand and must each be held down during the log splitting process, forcing the user into a prone position with their face as a prime target for any ejected log pieces. The picture demonstrates the prone position the operator must be in as the right hand holds down the electric motor switch and the left hand holds down the plunger lever; both must be held down during operation.

What safety measures are in place? Wearing safety goggles which do not protect the face. What safety measures should be in place? Simple, a metal guard, an operation switch that allows the operator to step away from the machine while splitting the logs, a longer plunger handle allowing distance from the splitter bed and not forcing the operators face to held in a dangerous position prone to serious personal injury. Any one of these design suggestions by themselves or in combination would likely prevent many injuries.

In the current Illinois products liability injury case I am handling, the log piece violently jumped out of the splitter bed and struck my client in the face as he was forced to remain in the prone position during operation with no safety guard. He was knocked unconscious and soon after waking up was taken to the local emergency room. He ended up with a severely broken nose along with several contusions and lacerations to his face. He has recently undergone his initial surgery to reconstruct and repair his nose and the doctors are expecting the recovery process to require several surgeries due to the nature and extent of the facial injuries.

We are currently accepting log splitter injury cases and lawsuits nationwide. If you or a loved one have been injured or killed by this type of log splitter or one similar to it please contact us.

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Posted In: Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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As most experienced injury lawyers will agree, Missouri and Illinois medical malpractice cases are often the most difficult type of personal injury cases to pursue. Doctors, hospitals, health care providers and medical malpractice insurance companies fight all medical malpractice lawsuits and claims persistently and unscrupulously, even when liability is clear. Clear liability does not matter to the health care industry and medical malpractice insurers, they always deny legal responsibility.

Many victims of medical negligence and their families that I have represented in St Louis and across the state of Missouri often cannot believe the medical providers unashamed denial of fault, especially when it is clear. This is compounded when your clients are parents and their injured young son, as in a malpractice case I am currently handling. This medical negligence case involves a 4 year old boy who inexplicably went into a state of unconsciousness and was also showing multiple outward symptoms of seizure and other type of neurological deficits. The symptoms the boy was showing almost exactly parallel the symptoms all the medical literature states are the signs and symptoms of herpes encephalitis,a viral infection that attacks the brain by causing swelling and permanent neurological and brain injury and damage . The parents rushed their son to the local emergency room, however, despite these clear signs of a problem, the emergency room doctor, and his pediatrician who showed up, diagnosed the boy with an ear infection and sent him home about an hour after he arrived at the emergency room. Unfortunately, after being sent home, the child suffered intense seizures that caused irreversible and permanent brain injury. Upon readmission, the attending emergency room physician quickly identified the symptoms and took the appropriate medical action.

Recently, we deposed the emergency room physician and the pediatrician. Through almost an entire day of depositions of the doctors, the parents understandably had a hard time dealing with the blatant denial when the facts were so clear. This coupled with the fact that their son is permanently suffering neurological damage and the severe and life altering symptoms that come with such a brain injury. Many people, including injury lawyers, often do not realize the intensity required to effectively take a medical deposition when the witness is a doctor defendant. Most doctors are very intelligent and are good at responding evasively; long intense depositions are necessary to get as close to the truth as possible. During my first several years of dealing with medical malpractice cases I gained high respect for Missouri medical malpractice lawyers upon realizing the complexity and hard work required to successfully pursue medical malpractice cases.

The above case represents a Missouri medical malpractice case with true merit as there is legal liability for medical malpractice (someone was negligent) and there are damages (injury that causes economic loss and pain and suffering). We will pursue this case to trial and seek money damages to cover the minor child's reduced earning capability and future medical care; expected to be more than $5,000,000. As far as pain and suffering, that is capped by Missouri law at $350,000. This cap effectively eliminates Missouri medical malpractice cases unless their are significant injuries as the limitation of damages sometimes make the case economically unfeasible to pursue, as the one above. You have a lifetime of future care, lost wages, opportunity, or other economic damages pushing the case into the multi-million dollar medical malpractice case category.

Missouri Injury Lawyer Reference Source - Missouri Medical Malpractice Petition - Failure To Diagnose - Claim against Admitting Emergency Room Doctor, Consulting Pediatrician, and Hospital as the Employer

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Our Injury Cases

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While on the job my client was injured as a pedestrian after he was crossing Delmar Blvd in St Louis, Missouri, near its intersection with Union. The light for eastbound traffic was red but there was a green arrow for eastbound traffic to turn North (left) at Union. As my client, a pedestrian, was crossing the road, about four car lengths from the crosswalk, a stopped driver waved him to walk by, as he stepped into the turn lane he looked left and the roadway was clear, as he was crossing a speeding car that was trying to beat the light struck him and fractured his left tibia (lower leg). The police responded to the car and pedestrian accident injury and the report was inconclusive as to fault.

Being that my client was on the job at the time of the car and pedestrian collision, this was immediately claimed through Missouri workers compensation and the employer's work comp insurer covered my client's medical expenses and lost wages. Additionally, we pursued a 3rd party claim, for personal injury sustained in St Louis Missouri, on behalf of our client against the negligent car driver for striking him as a pedestrian.

As a personal injury lawyer I have to recognize that often my client's cases have weaknesses, and this case was no exception. The weaknesses in this case included that he was crossing Delmar without using the cross walk. Additionally, he partially relied on an unknown driver waving him through traffic to rely that the roadway was clear. On the other hand, the other driver was speeding and claimed he was heading to church, however, in order to go to his church he would have had to head south on Union. This combined with several other inconsistencies that I highlighted in the driver's deposition testimony battered his credibility and helped secure a favorable personal injury settlement.

We were able to resolve the workers compensation case and the 3rd party liability case for about $90,000 combined. We were able to maximize client recovery by minimizing the workers compensation lien on the 3rd party liability case. The 3rd party liability case settled favorably about 30 days before trial.

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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In the St Louis County municipality of Wildwood Missouri, a single car accident occurred when a teenager lost control of his vehicle, ran of the road, and struck a utility pole. The negligent driver had several passengers in his car, and one of them, a teenage girl, is my client. My client suffered serious personal injuries as a result of the auto accident, including visible scarring, a broken nose, injured neck and back, and a deviated septum. Her claim could easily be worth more than the $100,000, the limit of auto insurance the driver had and that is available to satisfy her car accident claim. This means it is my job as the injured passenger's personal injury attorney to find all sources of liability and potential insurance coverage to make sure that there is adequate coverage to pay all of her legally justifiable damages. Including, stacking auto insurance policies, adding all under-insured motorist coverage, med pay coverage, umbrella policies, and any potential liability on behalf of the state or local government based on road safety conditions.

Being an aggressive St Louis Missouri injury lawyer, The driver was issued several citations as a result of the accident, therefore, should he plea guilty or be found guilty of any of the violations the case may become a "negligence per se" case. Meaning, the issue of liability is essentially admitted through the plea or finding of guilty in the related criminal case. Additionally, liability also exists beyond mere negligent operation of the automobile because the tires on the car involved in the accident were bald (see pic); therefore, the parents that owned the car were negligent in maintaining the vehicle which contributed to the cause of the accident; primarily the loss of control of the vehicle.

Many Missouri and Illinois injury attorneys may overlook these collateral sources of insurance and simply stay with the primary coverage. Before settling a multi-million dollar case about a year ago, the lead defense lawyer for the hospital stated to my clients that I and my co-counsel were very aggressive. This was a major factor to securing a massive settlement for our clients because we explored every possible source of legal liability and came up with unique and sound legal theories to impose liability on several parties; thus maximizing the result for our clients on whose behalf we brought a Missouri wrongful death claim in the St Louis City Circuit Court.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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June 2007, in Springfield Missouri, a bicycle accident occurred when Mike was riding his bicycle North on Campbell Rd, and a truck owned by an electric company and operated by an employee, overtook Mike and proceeded to make a right hand turn cutting him off and causing a collision between the truck and the bike. This common bicycle accident scenario is referred to as the "Right Hook". See the Police Report Excerpt Below.

Under Missouri law, bicyclists are to be treated as other vehicles; for instance, under Missouri law a vehicle is not to cut a bicyclist off, pass a bicyclist unsafely, or pull out in front of a bicyclist. Many drivers ignore the safety and well-being of cyclists and feel they should no be on the road and thus sometimes act hostile towards bicyclists.

Missouri Statute § 307.188 - Rights and duties of bicycle and motorized bicycle riders: “Every person riding a bicycle or motorized bicycle upon a street or highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle as provided by chapter 304, RSMo[.]”

Missouri State Statute § 304.678-"Distance to be maintained when overtaking a bicycle - The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, as defined in section 300.010, RSMo, shall leave a safe distance when passing the bicycle, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle."

As many drivers feel about cyclists, so do injury lawyers and insurance adjusters. I was hired to represent Mike after his local lawyer secured a settlement for his medical bills only and did not want to pursue it any further. Insurance adjusters need to be convinced that a cyclist's case is just as worthy as if they were in a car and were cut off. Legally, the liability is no different, however the prejudice against cyclists as a nuisance on the road is ever present and must be overcome by aggressive legal representation of your injury claim.

Missouri Bike Accident and Injury Lawyer Reference - Petition for Collision caused by the Right Hook or Failure to Yield

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Posted In: Bicycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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A previous entry discussed a specific case wherein my client was the victim of a rear end car accident in Belleville Illinois when a drunk driver failed to stop at a stop light and crashed into her at about 60 mph. See Injury Lawyer - Illinois Drunk Driving Car Accident.

The driver that hit my client plead guilty to drunk driving (DUI) in St Clair County Illinois. His plea of guilty, despite being granted probation, is evidence that he was legally intoxicated at the time of the accident thus justifying the imposition of punitive damages. See Illinois Complaint for Car Accident resulting from Drunk Driver and Imposition of Punitive Damages.

In Illinois, as in Missouri and most other states, the imposition of punitive damages is justified if the defendant's conduct is egregious enough to rise above mere negligence and rise to a level of intentional misconduct. Often described as "wilful and wanton" conduct or conduct that shows a "conscious disregard for the safety of others".

In a drunk driving case the defendant did not intentionally hit the other driver, however, the conscious disregard for the safety of others by engaging in the reckless conduct of drunk driving allows the imposition of punitive damages. Despite the lack of an intent to hurt anyone (as in an assault case where intent to harm is clear) the engagement into such reckless conduct implies that intent. Missouri and Illinois courts have both upheld punitive damage awards in drunk driving car and truck accidents.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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St Louis Injury lawyer was contacted after Zhelev, who was traveling on eastbound highway 40 and stopped due to traffic congestion, was struck from behind by a negligent driver who told the police that she "was falling asleep at the wheel and could not stop". Additionally, the officer that responded to the St Louis Missouri car accident stated "it appeared that vehicle #1 [the at fault driver] did not brake prior to impact." To further emphasize the severity of the impact, the cars were on an uphill grade when the car accident and collision occurred. Clearly, a St Louis injury lawyer would agree with the officer and argue the brakes were never touched.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a great car accident resource with videos showing the body movement in car and truck collisions. Clearly, the side picture evidences the sever impact my client suffered, as the entire trunk and rear end of his Nissan Altima was crushed in as a result of the car accident and rear end collision.

According to the National Transportation and Safety Board's (NTSB) most recent statistics, over 6 million crashes occurred in the U.S., killing more than 41,000 people and injuring about 3.4 million. Rear-end collisions accounted for almost one-third of these crashes (1.848 million) and 11.8 percent of multi-vehicle fatal crashes (1,923). Moreover, 40% of the fatal rear end accidents involved commercial vehicles, mainly large trucks causing these deaths.

Car Accident Resource - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

NTSB Studies and Special Reports - Car Accidents - Truck Accidents - Highway Safety

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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My client, Kevin, was involved in a St Louis Missouri car and truck accident after the driver of a truck lost control of his vehcile on Highway 44 near Antire Road in St Louis County. The driver that lost control of his truck and hit my client's car claimed a large semi truck caused the accident by cutting him off and causing him to lose control of his truck and thus striking my client's car. The collision caused my client to lose control of his vehicle, spin out, and hit the median.

As the result of the two truck drivers' negligence, Kevin sustained a knee injury consisting of a torn meniscus cartilage. This injury required minor surgery and physical therapy amounting to about $14,000 in medical bills.

A claim was made against the insurer for the pickup driver, Progressive Insurance, and my client's uninsured motorist coverage, Fireman's Fund, to cover the negligence of the unidentified semi truck driver. Many personal injury lawyers would have only made a claim against the primary truck driver as the only evidence of the large semi truck driver's negligence was the pickup driver's own statement to the police about the semi truck cutting him off.

Aggressive pursuit of my client's primary claim and the pursuit of the uninsured motorist claim yielded a result over and above the primary at fault driver's insurance limit of $25,000. Instead we were able to recover additional amounts over the $25,000 insurance limit and ultimately recover a $55,000 personal injury settlement for our client.

DEMAND LETTER - Personal Injury Auto Accident - Demand to Liability Insurer and Uninsured Motorist Carrier

National Transportation Library - Large Truck Accident Causation

Missouri Uninsured Motorist Report

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Posted In: Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Missouri car accident attorney contacted soon after two minors, between the ages of 10 and 15, were passengers in a 16 year old's car when he lost control of his vehicle near Cape Girardeau Missouri on highway 51 due to catching the shoulder and driver inattention. The driver over-corrected and went off the road and head on into a tree. Both of my young clients that were passengers were seriously injured and the driver was severely injured as well. All three occupants were taken to St Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau Missouri for emergency medical treatment. The father of the minor children contacted me, an experienced Missouri car accident lawyer.

The driver was quoted by the reporting officer as saying: "I was coming down the road and ran off the edge of the roadway. I steered back onto the road and was going to cross over the centerline into oncoming traffic and I steered back to the right and overcorrected, ran off the road and hit the tree."

The driver has auto insurance coverage limits of 50/100, meaning that the insurance company is responsible for up to $100,000 in liability coverage per accident with an additional limit of $50,000 per injured person. Sadly, my clients are young teenagers who have both suffered permanent injures that have required surgery and in one victim the removal of intestine and colon. $50,000 will never be enough to compensate him for his personal injuries.

Often times political ads put out false propaganda about abuse of the legal system by trial lawyers and Missouri and Illinois victims of personal injury; but, you never hear about the thousands of injured Missouri and Illinois residents who every year suffer severe injuries and never recover the amounts they deserve, because insurance limits are too low and or state legislatures are now protecting insurance companies with laws that seriously inhibit an injured victims ability to recover. You never hear about the people that deserve hundreds of thousands, but only receive a few thousand. Missouri and Illinois should require $100,000 auto insurance liability minimums; until then, make sure you protect yourself by maxing out your uninsured and under-insured motorist coverage.

Car Accident Insurance - Auto Liability Insurance Minimums By State

Continue reading "Southern Missouri Single Car Accident - Driver Error and Over-correction when Vehicle Control Lost - I represent Two Minor Passengers that were Severely Injured - Insurance Limit Issues - Health Insurance Coverage and Subrogation Problems" »

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Gina was the victim of a high speed rear end collision car accident in St Clair, Illinois, after a drunk driver's inattention, negligence, and drunken recklessness allowed his vehicle to crash into Gina's car at about 60 MPH. The drunk driver was issued three citations, failure to reduce speed and avoid a car accident, no insurance, and driving under the influence (DUI).

ARTICLE FROM BELLVILLE NEWS DEMOCRAT
"Aug. 26--BELLEVILLE -- A man and woman were injured Friday night when police said a drunken driver rear-ended their car at the intersection of Green Mount Road and Carlyle with such force the woman had to be freed from the wreckage. Police were not releasing the name of victims, who Belleville Police Officer Dusty Kallal said live at Scott Air Force Base and were taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. Kallal also withheld the name of the other driver pending charges. He described him as Belleville man in his mid-40s who he said will be ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol and "various traffic violations." The accident occurred about 7:30 p.m. The Toyota driven by the man and woman was stopped at a traffic light on westbound Green Mount Road. Witnesses said the Ford Mustang was driving at an accelerated speed and did not appear to slow down when it struck the vehicle, Kallal said. The impact caused the front bumper of the Mustang to become embedded in the rear of the Toyota."

My client, The victim of the car collision above, initially hired a St Louis, Missouri based personal injury law firm well known for their personal injury advertising featuring their bearded mascot that you will never see come near a courtroom. They were able to negotiate an average offer on the case, but then refused to pursue the claim further or file a lawsuit to get a better result for the client. Instead, they ignored her phone calls and then consistently pushed her to take the settlement.

As a result of the conduct above, they were fired and the case was transferred to us to file a lawsuit and prepare for trial. The offer on the case is decent, but by no means a good offer; especially considering the culpability on the drunk driver; we will not rest until our client has an excellent offer or a verdict is reached. The choice of an Illinois personal injury lawyer is an important one; as my client learned, many claimed personal injury lawyers are happy to get you an ok offer and make an easy dollar, but I am committed to getting the absolute best for my client; unless my client does not want to pursue a lawsuit and simply settle.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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A serious car accident occurred in Missouri after a vehicle slide of the roadway and then off a 30' cliff in DeSoto Missouri. See Missouri Car Accident from Improper Barrier.

I am representing the driver and front passenger of the vehicle and other Missouri personal injury lawyers are representing the back seat passengers of the vehicle. The driver's policy will be quickly depleted given the driver's limited amount of insurance coverage; however, there is a critical issue of liability on the city of DeSoto for failure to properly maintain and make the roadway safe. Simply put, it is foreseeable that a car can slide slightly off the road through ordinary negligence or just as a result of adverse weather conditions, however, the only thing between the road and a 30' death fall is a weak single cable, shown to the right. At a minimum a three cable guard is appropriate but a steel guard is the standard.

A steel road guard would have keep the car on the road and prevented a minor negligent act of allowing a vehicle to slide off the road a few feet from becoming a catastrophic accident resulitng in persoanl injury. Driver error and slightly running of the road by a few feet is entirely a foreseeable event and the city has a duty to make the roadway safe from these foreseeable errors. Not only is the city legally liable for the injuries to all four people in the car, but the statutory limits of recovery allow for $350,000 per person to recover from the city for its negligence and the causal connection with failing to keep a minor accident exactly that, a minor accident. This allows me and the other Missouri injury lawyers to help out our injured clients in getting fully compnesated for their injuries or at least much closer to full compensation than that offered by the low mandatory limit of insurance most driver's carry; $25,000 per person.

MODOT - Cable Guards

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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My client was involved in a recent St Louis area car accident or collision that occurred at the intersection of Delmar and Hanley. This intersection has approximately 30 reported car accidents a year. The other driver crashed into the side of my clients car at a high rate of speed causing a violent collision that sent my client's car spinning as a result of the car collision. My client has no clear memory of the collision or the mechanics of the car accident, she simply woke up turned completely around and in a different lane than what she was originally traveling in.

According to witness accounts and the police diagram, shown here, the other driver approached the intersection at a high rate of speed and did not slow down or stop for the flashing red light, thus causing this intersection car accident. The police report further goes on to state the other driver was completely at fault and that she admitted she did not stop for the red light. A story that has since dramatically changed now that she has been issued several citations fro her reckless conduct and her insurance company has been put on notice of a potential St Louis county Missouri car accident lawsuit.

What is unique about intersection car accidents and why do you need an experienced intersection car accident lawyer? Intersection car accidents present a different perspective to damages and culpability on the at fault driver. Some car accidents are caused by forgivable and common mistakes we all make from time to time; such as being momentarily distracted and then hitting the brakes too late and causing a rear end accident. An intersection car accident involving a driver that runs a red light is very different, the level of culpability is much higher as it was not an honest mistake in most cases, but an intentional and reckless disregard for the safety of other drivers. This make the chances of a high jury verdict much more likely as the act was not simple negligence. A good car accident lawyer experienced in case wherein the other driver was culpable beyond a mere mistake is crucial to gear the tone of the case with the insurance company in that direction in order to maximize the client's recovery and damages.

According to US Statistics, more than 900 people are killed and about 168,000 were injured in crashes that involved drivers running a red light.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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A few weeks ago in Desoto Missouri 3 teenagers were seriously injured in a car accident when their vehicle slid off the road and went off a 32 foot cliff and landed in a shopping center parking lot. One passenger was very lucky and walked away, however, the other 2 passengers and the driver are all seriously injured. Including head injuries, broken back, hip injuries, fractured facial bones, orbital fracture, and the list goes on.

See MYFOXSTL News Story - Three Teens Injured When Car Falls 30 Feet off Cliff in Desoto

As an experienced Missouri car accident lawyer many legal issues of liability against the city, county, and state come to mind for an improper barrier or guard on the side of the road to prevent a vehicle that runs of the road there from going down a 30 foot cliff. This is especially important given the anticipated limited amount auto insurance that will be available to my client and the other injured teens in this accident to compensate them for their personal injury. Good injury lawyers know where to look to make sure their clients don't just get the easy policy limit from one insurance policy, but to be thorough and creative to find all parties that may be legally liable.

There have been several personal injury car accident cases in Missouri that have resulted in settlements against auto insurers and the local and state governments as well. Many of those cases are discussed on this blog and include the following:

County Liable for Downed Stop Sign

MODOT Liable for Dangerous Intersection - Personal Injury Resulting From Car Accident

It is very likely that I and the other Missouri personal injury lawyers representing the other injured teens will be filing a claim against the city and other government agencies responsible for the lack of a guard rail and simply putting a cable on the side of the road to stop vehicles from going off the highway.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Being involved in the motorcycle community and as a motorcycle injury lawyer, I have experienced first hand the inattention motorists have for motorcyclists, represented dozens of clients involved in serious motorcycle accidents in Missouri and Illinois. Additionally, I have myself been the victim of an inattentive driver almost costing me my life while on my motorcycle; needless to say, his insurance company paid dearly.

Missouri Motorcycle accidents yearly increases over previous year and deaths:

2003: 11.1% increase over previous year
2003: motorcycle death every 5.0 hours
2004: 10.8% increase over previous year
2004: motorcycle death every 4.8 hours
2005: 10.4% increase over previous year
2005: motorcycle death every 4.2 hours
2006: 07.3% increase over previous year
2006: motorcycle death every 4.0 hours

Source: Missouri State Highway Patrol - Statistical Analysis Center

Missouri motorcyclists are at an ever increasing risk of injury or death as the result motor vehicle accidents. Every year in Missouri the number of fatal motorcycle accidents increases and the rate of death resulting from a motorcycle accident increases as well.

As a motorcycle accident injury lawyer I see a lot of motorcycle accidents resulting in either death or serious injuries that leave a permanent physical disability on my clients. In my experience, the absolute number one reason and cause of motorcycle accidents is other driver inattention. This results in motorcycles being side swiped, cut-off, rear ended, slammed into head on, and run off the road.

An experienced motorcycle injury lawyer is absolutely critical to any motorcycle accident case. Recently, I took over a case where the motorcyclist was cut off by a minivan that made a right turn from the left lane, thus cutting across the right lane of traffic, the lane of traffic my client was in. She claimed, I did not see him and the prior lawyer secured a weak offer to settle the case. I have taken over the case and we are taking a very aggressive approach as clearly the minivan driver failed to yield, cut off the motorcyclist, and his only option was to drop his bike to avoid a collision. Many lawyers and insurance adjusters approach this case with the attitude of no collision, then not really their fault. The dropping of his bike and avoidance of the collision probably saved my client's life.

2006 Missouri Motorcycle Accidents Summary

2005 Missouri Motorcycle Accident Summary

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Posted In: Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Missouri Products Liability Lawsuit - Brown v. Toys-R-Us, Inc. My client, Essence, is a young girl that suffered a severe injury to her eye from a surprising source, a toy. A toy kitchen set called "Lil Chef" kitchen set, The box strongly implies it was made by Toys-R-Us and has their company info on the box, additionally, nowhere does it indicate it was made in China. However, after filing a products liability lawsuit against Toys-R-Us, in St Louis Missouri, their lawyers are now trying to point the finger at a currently unknown Chinese toy manufacturer. They are attempting to add them as a third party defendant, thus they can argue that if they are liable then the Chinese company (third party defendant) should be liable to them for any judgment against Toys-R-Us.

What is wrong with this toy? The kitchen set is marketed for kids around 4-6 years old and includes plastic toy knifes. These toy knifes are serrated, stiff, rigid, and sharp. Essence was play cutting string when the toy knife cut through the string and stabbed her in the eye. The toy is unreasonably dangerous as its characteristics described above are not only unnecessary for a toy knife, but are absolutely dangerous in the hands of very young children. The injury resulted in a cut and bruised cornea severely debilitating her eye sight. Essence has been forced to undergo eye surgery and her doctors believe she will need surgery when she gets older and that she has a permanent injury to her eye that will result in eyesight problems for the rest of her life. Eye injury information.

Under Missouri injury law, Essence is entitled to her past medical bills (about $40,000),her future medical bills (yet to be determined) and her past and future pain and suffering, which included her permanent disability to her eye.

This personal injury /products liability toy lawsuit is another example of the flurry of defective and dangerous toys from China. Recent research is showing that despite all the recalls numerous dangerous toys from China are on the US store shelves.

This holiday season be careful, watch for the made in China labels on toys, however, if you are unfortunate enough to buy a toy made in China but it is not disclosed and a loved one is injured you have an option, call us, as we are experienced products liability and dangerous toy lawyers based in St Louis Missouri and covering all of Missouri and Illinois.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Products Liability / Dangerous Products , Our Injury Cases

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Ms. Jacobs was traveling on I-70 when a fatigued truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and swerved into her and forced her off the highway. As a result of the truck accident she suffered shoulder impingement that required surgery.

The case was transferred to me after several years of drawn out litigation with another personal injury law firm that initially filed the injury case. The client came to us because she wanted her case pursued aggressively by personal injury trial lawyers. Her prior lawyers were not pursuing the case diligently, they failed to prepare and set the case for trial which keeps continued pressure on the insurance company.

When my office received the case the offer from State Farm Insurance, the insurer for the negligent truck driver, was about $20,000. I prepared the case for trial, primarily by getting the client's treating doctor's medical testimony on the record which supported her injuries, continued symptoms, medical treatment, and the doctor's opinion that the accident was the sole cause for the injuries and resultant symptoms.

More importantly, we amended the Injury Petition to a "Negligence Per Se Petition" based on the fact the negligent truck driver was cited by the police for careless and imprudent driving, moreover, the negligent truck driver plead guilty to and was convicted of the careless and imprudent driving, therefore, the issue of liability was was essentially admitted by the truck driver's plea of guilty and conviction. The negligence per se Petition was allowed by the Judge, thus adding tremendous pressure on State Farm. The issue at trial was not both liability and damages, but only damages now.

The defense lawyers for State Farm increased their offer by more than double within a few days of trial to $45,000. This was an exceptional injury settlement based on the medical bills of about $13,000 and the client's injuries which she recovered from.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Truck Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Car accident in Chesterfield Missouri on Long Road with questionable liability as there were conflicting witness accounts as to whether the intersection traffic light was green or had a green arrow. Our client made a left turn pursuant to a green arrow and was broad-sided. Client suffered a broken leg and knee requiring a patella implant. After full recovery from the other driver's insurance we were able to recover $100,000 (policy limits) from our client's under-insured motorist coverage despite set-off clauses in the policy and the insurance company's claim that the policy payout was set-off by the recovery from the other driver. The insurance company settled for the UIM policy limit.

What is Set-off in this situation? After a victim of injury resulting from a car accident recovers from the other party's insurance company in full (i.e. the other at fault party only had $25,000 in coverage) and that amount does not fully compensate the injury victim, then if the victim had under-insured motorist coverage (as our client did in this case) then the under-insured coverage carrier can sometimes take a set-off against the coverage amount the victim had. In this case, the under-insured carrier tried to claim that since $25,000 was recovered from the at fault party, then that amount should be deducted from the $100,000 under-insured coverage therefore they should only have to pay out $75,000. We were able to prevent that in this case due to a strict reading of the insurance policy and specifically it's under-insured and set-off clauses and they paid out the full $100,000 to our client as the set-off clause was ambiguous and therefore unenforceable.

MISSOURI INSURANCE SET-OFF CASE LAW
See Zemelman v. Equity Mut. Ins. Co., 935 S.W.2d 673 (Mo. App. WD 1996) Court read the policy’s UIM “set-off” provision against the policy’s “other insurance” provision and found it ambiguous because the language described the UIM as “excess over any other collectible insurance.”

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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St Louis Missouri Work Comp case resulted when my client, Tim, who is a local contractor, was working on a residential roof in the St Louis area when the scaffold or roof rail failed, he fell two stories and landed flat on his back causing extensive personal injury. Unfortunately, this injury included several fractured vertebrae requiring multiple surgeries, physical therapy, pain medication, and regular medical treatment for the last two years. Sadly, Tim is not likely to ever recover and has a permanent total disability under Missouri's Worker's Compensation.

What does this mean to you if you are injured at work? Under Missouri law, work related injuries, regardless of the employer's fault (unless there is "Something More" see below) limits the employee to the exclusive remedy of Workers' Compensation insurance only. Meaning, the employee cannot sue the employer for negligence! Medical treatment is paid, TTD pay is made until the employee returns to work, then a lump sum is often paid based on the percentage of disability and the part of the body that the injury is to. This amount is almost always less than an average jury would award for like injuries.

In cases such as Tim's, he does not have a cause of action against the employer through the negligence of the other employee, despite the fact an employee failed to nail the scaffolding and caused its failure. Tim does not have a cause of action outside of work comp because their was only negligent failure to nail the scaffolding and no affirmative negligence. After his workers' compensation case is resolved he will likely be put on social security disability based on the severe nature and extent of his injuries.

Many lawyers to not pursue work related injuries to the fullest extent and fail to pursue the "something more" cases or the 3rd party liability. On example is a past client, Marla, she suffered a carpal tunnel type injury over the years as a result of her work duties. The doctor her worker's compensation insurer sent her to performed surgery to correct the problem, but the surgery was performed negligently, resulting in a cut nerve. Her first lawyer filed and tried to quickly settle her worker's compensation case and refused to pursue her medical malpractice claim. She came to me and we took over her case, got her an excellent settlement for her worker's compensation case (more than double the amount her first lawyer told her to take) and then pursued the medical malpractice case and got her a great settlement.

Continue reading "Missouri Workers Compensation Case - Construction Worker Suffered Broken Back and Fractured Vertebrae after Roof Scaffold Failed - Spinal Fusion - Pelvic Fibromyalgia - Permanent Disability" »

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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In Franklin County Missouri, just outside the St Louis Missouri area, a serious truck accident occurred when a freight-liner model semi truck collided with a fire truck that was stopped on the side of the highway in response to another car accident.

Our client, an injured firefighter contacted us knowing we are experienced Missouri personal injury attorneys and especially Missouri truck accident lawyers. Both the fire truck and the tractor trailer were severely damaged and had to be towed from the scene as the semi truck struck the fire truck at about 60 MPH according to the truck driver's statement to police. The fire truck was hurled 186 feet, and worse yet, my client was in the fire truck when this massive truck accident occurred.

After the truck accident occurred and the trucks came to a rest, my client was evacuated to the hospital for treatment. Luckily, he is recovering from his injuries and hopefully will be back to normal after continued physical therapy.

Generally, a semi truck accident or collision involves another vehicle of much smaller size, such as the passenger vehicles most of us drive. The only thing that saved my clients life is the fact that he was in a vehicle that was the size and weight of the massive truck that slammed into him. Many truck accident victims are not that lucky. Experienced truck accident lawyers are essential as insurance, liability, and regulations are very particular in commercial freightliner and tractor trailer cases.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Truck Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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In 2007, there was a confidential settlement of a medical negligence case. Suit for the alleged negligent failure to timely diagnose and surgically treat complications following a gastric bypass (or stomach staple) procedure, settled for the sum of $3.5 million against the bariatric program of a hospital.

Additionally, we settled with the surgeon for his medical malpractice insurance policy limits of $1,000,000.00 Per confidentiality agreements names of parties and specifics of the case cannot be revealed.

CT Scan showing Leak from Staple Line
Arrows show leak abcess
A common complication that must be treated

Co-counsel on the above case was Robert Pedroli of Pedroli and Gauthier

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Posted In: Injury Law , Medical Malpractice , Gastric Bypass Malpractice , Wrongful Death , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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My new client who has been a nurse for over 20 years can no longer work due to her work related injuries. She slipped and fell at work outside the operating room and violently hit a concrete wall twisting her beck and injuring her neck and shoulder. She has undergone 3 surgeries to her back to fuse her lumbar spine and will likely never be able to work again.

Workers' Compensation cases in Missouri and most other states exist whenever an employee is injured at work and while in the course and scope of their job duties. The goal of workers comp is to give an injured worker financial relief due to a work related injury that prevents them from being able to perform their job.

In the case of this particular client, her back injury will prevent her from being able to work in the medical field ever again. This is referred to as a permanent and total disability. Due to the back injuries, standing for long periods of time and strenuous and stressful work are impossible for my client.

Many people have a negative attitudes to injured workers, considering them fakers or looking for an easy buck. My clients that have permanent disabilities that prevent them from working are often financially and emotionally devastated due to the inability to financially plan for their future and carry on their once normal lives. Even though we are able to get them generous compensation for their injuries, you cannot put a price on your basic physical abilities and well being.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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On September 1, 2007 Jerry was riding his Honda VTX custom motorcycle in Sullivan Missouri on highway 50 when a automobile heading the opposite direction made a sudden and unsignaled left turn about 15 feet in front of him. A Motorcycle and automobile collision resulted as Jerry was forced to lay his motorcycle on its side and slide behind it to avoid fatal injury. He finally decided to contact a motorcycle accident lawyer and called our office. Jerry was comforted by the fact that I am a motorcycle rider myself and have personally been in 2 motorcycle accidents, one very similar to his, and understand the injury issues and concerns that a motorcycle has. Additionally, we have represented numerous victims involved in motorcycle accidents and motorcycle related injury.

The driver of the other vehicle admitted fault and negligence and was cited by the responding police officer. Jerry currently has severe burns from the pavement over his legs, arms and back. Additionally, he is suffering from multiple cuts and bruises and a potentially broken or dislocated shoulder along with currently unknown injuries to his ribs and upper chest area.

Motorcyclists know, the biggest danger to them is an unobservant driver that simply does not notice a smaller vehicle or is just not paying attention. The main causes of motorcycle accidents in Missouri and elsewhere are speed, driver inattention and failure to yield right of way.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Motorcycle accident occurred on August 30th westbound on I-44 outside St Louis Missouri. My client, Paul, was riding a motorcycle in the right hand lane at about 70 MPH when another driver came up behind him at over 100 MPH slamming into the back of his bike, throwing him into the windshield and over the car and left to skid for several hundred yards.

As an accident attorney, I see a lot of serious injuries, I have seen serious injuries from decubitus ulcers, open abdomens and the like. Paul was in the hospital just after back surgery to fuse his lower spine, and he is in traction to prevent his leg from falling out of his hip socket. Most debilitating of all, the road rash or removal of his skin from sliding on the pavement; this is a sight I still have trouble stomaching, especially because I am a motorcyclist myself and start imagining how these injuries would feel.

Car accidents occur daily and motorcycle accidents are very common as well. The vast majority of motorcycle injuries and accidents occur from inattention by other drivers, and this is my experience as an injury lawyer. This is the case here, the gross negligence and recklessness of a driver doing 100 MPH and not even hitting the brakes before ramming into the back of Paul's motorcycle and causing severe personal injury.

The rest of the pictures are not shown for client privacy and the gore would be inappropriate

Paul is lucky to be alive and his helmet saved his life. He is unlucky that the accident occurred but lucky the driver has a high policy of insurance. The minimum amount of insurance a motorist must carry under Missouri law is 25,000 for liability. This would not even come close to compensating Paul for such injuries. The driver surprisingly has a high policy limit.

Question here, do we take the policy limit and settle the case? Or do we pursue the policy limits plus liability personally on the driver? I am of the persuasion to go after the driver due to the recklessness in this case, not just inattention, but blatant recklessness. I will update this blog entry when my client decides if he wants to stop at the policy limits or keep going.

There is evidence the driver was drinking but he was not cited for DWI.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Motorcycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Our new client, Erin, was recently involved in a bike accident in St Louis MO while on the Grant Trail. The Grant Trail crosses Grand and at that intersection there is also a gas station. Erin suffered serious personal injury as the result of a driver who failed to yield to her right of way when crossing the intersection. She had the walk signal and the driver simply did not see her, why? because many driver's simply do not look out for cyclists. Erin wound up int he hospital for 4 days with lacerations, bruises, and a severely broken ankle.

The driver admitted fault to Erin and another cyclist witnessed the admission, however, when the police arrived the driver's story changed. Fortunately this is a case supported by evidence of independent witnesses and the fact of the light and crosswalks signal timing, which will show the driver made and illegal right turn on red.

Some bicyclists end up a lot worse than Erin, there are several reported cases of Missouri bike accidents where the bicyclists have died, over 4 dozen in the past 5 years. One such instance was about 30 days ago when 2 cyclists died when rammed from behind by a pickup truck. Charges against the driver are under review, chances are a fine and community service will result.

Bicyclists all know it, many drivers do not like us! and, unfortunately, that sentiment is no different in the legal system. As I have posted before, I am an avid cyclist, I will go for a weeks without missing a day of 20 mile rides and 50 mile rides on the weekend. It is a great activity, however, many drivers just do not pay attention to us or do not care to; that is when injuries or even death occurs.

I am one of the few injury lawyers I know who take bicycle accident cases (unless it is an egregious case, most lawyers take those cases), in fact, some of the best bicycle cases I have are "orphan cases" meaning other lawyers did not want them for whatever reason. I think many injury lawyers draw on their experiences as a motorists and maybe they have had frustration with cyclists in the past and therefore cannot see the side of the cyclist.

Coming up in the nest couple of weeks is the MS 150 in Columbia MO, I am on a a team riding in the event and I hope this year is as great as the last 5 years we have attended, no serious accidents!

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Posted In: Injury Law , Bicycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Kathy, a successful self employed business owner, suffered personal injury as the result fo a dangerous condition at the premises of the Lowe's garden center in Rolla Missouri. She often visits the garden center as she runs a landscaping company. It is common for there to be standing water, however, there was standing water that was different this day and there was no warning of the dangerous condition. When the plants are given food through a liquid solution it makes the water particularly slippery, much more so than typical standing water. Lowes failed to put up signs informing patrons of this condition and therefore Kathy had no notice of this condition despite the fact she knew she was stepping into standing water.

Upon stepping into this unmarked and dangerous condition Kathy fell and injured her knee and hamstring. Currently she is being treated for a torn meniscus cartilage in her knee, torn hamstring, and other injuries to her knee.

Personal injury lawyers know the issues presented by this case and many premise liability cases in Missouri are (1) Was there a dangerous condition, (2) notice of the condition, constructive or actual, (3) duty to make safe; (4) damages; and (5) comparative fault of the injured party, i.e. was the condition "open and obvious". Particularly in this case the first defense reaction will be that she saw the water and knew she was stepping into it so she is partially at fault. Not the case here! This was not typical water, but water infused with plant food making it very slick as compared to normal standing water. This is a condition that Lowe's generally marks with signs, but did not on this occasion.

In this case, Lowe's breached their duty to inspect and make their premises safe for business customers (a higher duty than private property not for the operation of a business) by failing to mark a known dangerous condition that was not open and obvious as it appears to be regular water.

This is a case were I feel it is reasonable to demand payment based on Lowe's being 100% at fault and not apportioning any fault to Kathy as the fact that water was there was open and obvious, but the nature of this water was not open and obvious.

In the past, Sansone Law, LLC has recovered for many clients that have been injured as a result of unreasonably dangerous conditions on a business premises. For examples, see our sample verdicts.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Premises Liability , Our Injury Cases

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A car accident occurred in Illinois as the result of a truck going approximately 60 MPH and ramming into the back of our client's, Donald's, vehicle that was sitting at a stop light. We are pursuing two claims on behalf of Donald, a personal injury claim against the at fault driver as a result of his negligence and an Illinois Workers' Compensation claim as Donald was driving a company vehicle at the time of the accident and was on duty for is employer.

Personal injury claims and Workers' Compensation claims vary in many ways. In Workers' Compensation claims the amount of money, or damages, Donald is entitled to is based on his injury translated into a disability rating which is then calculated by different factors depending on what part of the body is injuried and how much he earned per week at the time of the injury.

The personal injury claim is filed through the Illinois court system as a negligence case against the driver. The primary issues are liability and damages, or in other words, whose fault it is and how much money the victim should get as a result of that fault and the resultant injuries. These cases are ultimately decided by a jury, if a settlement is not reached, and damages are based on the jury's determination based on bills, economic damages, and pain and suffering, non economic damages. There is no magic formula for determining the damages but it is left to the jury.

When both types of cases are filed, the Workers' Compensation insurance company is entitled to a lien on the proceeds from the personal injury case. This lien is based on the fact that in workers' compensation claims liability is not an issue and medical bills are paid by the work comp insurer, entitling them to a lien to recover their expenses for paying the medical bills as the result of the 3rd party's negligence.

It is always worthwhile to pursue both the work comp case ans the negligence case when their is an a fault party that is not also employed by the same employer. Many clients worry about the lien, however, this can often be negotiated down to make sure the client receives a good recovery on both cases, and ultimatley a larger recover than if they pursued only one case.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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After a traumatic motor vehicle accident in Illinois involving a large pickup truck and a smaller sedan with three severly injured passengers, the families of the victims desperately needed a personal injury lawyer and contacted us, we immediately cleared our schedule and traveled to the hospital in Illinois to visit the families.

Our investigation of the truck accident revealed that the driver of the pickup truck was drunk, had several bottles of liquor in his car, and was doing about 80 MPH when he struck the sedan that was coming to a stop to make a turn. The impact from the truck threw the sedan about 150 yards into a ditch and there were no skid marks from the truck evidencing that he did not even touch his brakes. The property damage to the sedan is severe and it is amazing that all of the passengers survived.

We now represent three of the passengers that were in the sedan. Two of the passengers have severe and debilitating injuries. The man in the back seat was trapped in the car for several hours and suffered degloving injuries (removal of the skin from the impact) to his face and has endured a severe and traumatic brain injury. The young girl in the back seat suffered a broken pelvis and broken neck.

When faced with a case such as this a lawyer's primary concern is insurance coverage and if there will be enough to fully compensate our clients, the victims. The sedan driver's insurance may be on the hook as she apparently stopped suddenly and may not have used her turn signal, the injured parties insurance may provide coverage under their medical payments ("Med Pay") coverage, under-insured motorist coverage, and uninsured motorist coverage. The interesting issue will be what insurance we can get to cover for the truck driver's negligence. The driver of the truck was clearly the most negligent and reckless, additionally, he is the son of a local car dealer and the truck had dealer plates on the truck. Therefore, the auto or general liability policy of the auto dealership should cover. Moreover there is a potential case of negligent entrustment of the vehicle by the parents or the dealership potentially allowing access to home owner's or umbrella coverage.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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Wrongful death personal injury practice covers cases where families have suffered the tragic lose of a loved one. In one case our client died as the result of a surgeon's failure to treat post op complications about 2 weeks after a gastric bypass surgery. The doctor was enabled by the sponsoring hospital that aggresively advertised the procedure across the midwest and loaded him up with 100s of surgeries per year. The case is still pending against several other defendants, including the hospital, and we expect the case to settle for over 5 million dollars.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Medical Malpractice , Gastric Bypass Malpractice , Wrongful Death , Our Injury Cases

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Workers' Compensation Claim for post traumatic stress disorder based on the fact that my client, Nathan, witnessed his brother, Jason, fall from a water tower to his death after a safety clip failed to close and failed to keep him attached to the structure after he slipped on ice and fell. Working just a few feet from him, his brother witnessed the entire event.

The alleged causes are the failure to have proper safety measures in place by the employer, as well as product liability based on defective safety equipment. The employer was cited by OSHA and fined almost $30,000. The employer, Phoenix Fabricators, is disputing the citations and that matter is ongoing.

There is also evidence that the caliper (pictured below) failed to close due to a defective design. This matter is currently under investigation by my firm. The picture above was taken from the position my client was when he slipped and fell to his death and from the vantage point my other client, Nathan, was when he witnessed the fall.

We have filed a Workers' Compensation claim on behalf of both brothers (the survisors for the deceased brother). Additionally, third party claims will be filed once the OSHA investigation report is released.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Workers' Compensation , Our Injury Cases

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Currently I represent a wonderful lady involved in a bike accident who rides her bike several times a week early in the morning and on lightly traveled roads. About 6 months ago a driver in a hurry to get to work around 6:00 a.m. passed her and then made a sudden right turn directly in front of her causing her to strike the side of his truck and that caused her to be thrown off her bike. The driver got out, asked if she was ok, and then immediately left! She went to the hospital and was found to have a fractured elbow and had to have a bolt placed in her arm. She underwent months of pain and medical treatment. I filed a negligence claim on her behalf against the driver.

The Missouri Driver's Guide States:

If you are following a bicyclist and need to make a right turn, you must yield to the cyclist. It is often safer to slow down and remain behind the cyclist until you are able to turn.

The case is currently set for trial in December 2007. One of the difficulties I anticipate we will have is jury selection. As we all know, drivers do not particularly like bicyclists, they get in our way when we drive! I am an avid bicyclist and I often have these thoughts when someone is riding their bike on a busy street.

Hopefully we can overcome the bias that is apparent in our society, especially considering my client in this case was riding early in the morning, on a side road with a large shoulder area, and she was riding on the shoulder which was several feet wide.

Missouri Law related to Bicyclists - As published by the Missouri Bicycle Federation

Statements from Missouri Driver's Guide about Sharing the Road

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Posted In: Injury Law , Bicycle Accidents , Our Injury Cases

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M.A.E. v. Dr Smith, M.D. (confidentiality agreement), Missouri 2006

Medical Malpractice settlement after my client underwent a de Quervain's release, a simple outpatient procedure designed to relieve pain caused from injured tendons at the base of the thumb and wrist. The Dr. negligently cut 90% of the siatic nerve when making the incision, reducing our clients ability to feel the back of her hand and causing a numbing sensation.

My client incurred nominal additional expenses and lost wages as a result of the doctor's negligence. There was a zero offer from defendant to settle the case until 2 days before trial and the case was settled for $60,000. Additionally, because the underlying injury that required surgery in the first place was work related, we settled her work comp case for medical bills plus $20,000.

This was not a record breaker, but given the nature of the injuries it was definitely a victory. The primary reason any offer was made at all on the case was that we destroyed the Defendant's medical expert in deposition the week before trial. He is the type of doctor that believes most, if not all legal cases against doctors are frivolous, in the deposition he all but admitted the doctor was negligent.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Medical Malpractice , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Recent wrongful death case that may be filed as either a Missouri or Illinois lawsuit is the result of a December 2006 fatal accident of our client's late husband when fell to his death when working on a water tower. The possible defective clip to his safety harness failed to close and secure him as debris from welding builds up in the closing mechanism. Allegedly, the employer, Phoenix Fabricators, failed to replace the safety equipment, additionally, the safety clip itself may have been poorly designed or malfunctioned.

Its a disturbing case to me especially considering his death could have been prevented by taking the required safety measures. OSHA has issued several citations to Phoenix Fabricators based on their continued failure to follow safety measures.

These tank workers have high risk jobs and they deserve the proper safety equipment. Below is a link to an article talking about the dangers of the job and the experiences of several workers for Phoenix Fabricators.

General Article about Water Tank Workers

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Posted In: Injury Law , Premises Liability , Workers' Compensation , Wrongful Death , Our Injury Cases

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December 2003, my client was in a car accident when she was rear ended by a driver who claimed she hydroplaned and lost control of her vehicle. My client sustained about 10k in medical bills, however, the other driver's insurance company, The Hartford Insurance Company, would only offer a few thousand over my client's medical bills.

In February 2007 in the face of a low offer (but more than the medial bills) by the insurance company we took the case to a jury and recovered $30,000, more then double the offer on the case and three times the amount of the medical bills.

This is not a huge case, but it is significant, many lawyers want to take the easy money and not take the risk of pushing for just compensation as the result of the personal injury sustained. We do not take this approach and will take a case to trial whether it is large or small.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Bus accident resulting in personal injury: Our injured client was struck by a Greyhound bus at a rest stop when he walked between parked cars and failed to look before crossing. Several other law firms refused to take the case, and understandably so, because he admitted to not looking where he was going.

Attention to detail by us lead us to this great settlement. Upon extensive investigation we learned that the Greyhound bus recently had brake problems and we tracked down a witness who was on the bus that was willing to testify that the brakes were malfunctioning and that was the reason the bus stopped at the rest stop to begin with.

Of course, Greyhound's records did not indicate this problem, however, the bus driver admitted to the brake issue during his deposition. Our client incurred about $12,000 in medical bills and the settlement reached was excellent considering the comparative fault and damages.

Madison County Illinois Court Record of Greyhound Bus Lawsuit

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Posted In: Injury Law , Automobile Accidents , Truck Accidents , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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Negligence by school and its employees when my client, a 6 year old boy, was on the school playground when he fell from the monkey bars and severely sprained his wrist. The school was liable because they failed to properly supervise the boy and they failed to have a safe surface under the monkey bars.

The parents were responsible for about 2k in medical bills and their son had symptoms and problems with his wrist and forearm for several months. The boy fully recovered but was left with a scar on his wrist and months of pain and suffering.

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Posted In: Injury Law , Premises Liability , Our Injury Cases , Verdicts & Settlements

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