Missouri Personal Injury Lawsuit
How Do I Know if I Should File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Missouri?
As you’re trying to put your life back together after a damaging incident, it may not be obvious whether or not it makes sense to take legal action. A lawsuit is a big step, and it can feel overwhelming. The best way to determine if a lawsuit is worthwhile is to talk to a local personal injury lawyer.
Most firms taking on personal injury cases offer free evaluations, so you shouldn’t have to pay a fee to get good advice. A lawyer will look over your situation and give you an honest and expert opinion about a lawsuit and any other options.
What Are the Steps in a Missouri Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Starting and following through with a lawsuit is a big deal. It helps to know how it will proceed before you begin. Expect that a lawsuit will take time to resolve, potentially years. In Missouri, your case will follow some or all of these steps:
- Hiring a lawyer. Your first step is to find and hire the right lawyer. You do not have to settle for the first firm you talk to. Look for a lawyer or firm focused mostly or entirely on personal injury and local to the St. Louis area. They should offer contingency payment and make you feel confident in their ability to take your case all the way to court if necessary.
- Notifying the defendants. Your lawyer will notify the defendants of your allegations and lawsuit by filing a complaint. This triggers the discovery period and makes the lawsuit official.
- Investigations and discovery. During the discovery period, lawyers on both sides investigate the incident and gather evidence. They hold depositions, hire experts to analyze the accident, and talk to witnesses about what happened.
- Settlement negotiations. With more information about what happened, your lawyer can try to negotiate a settlement on your behalf. Most defendants are willing to take this step to try to avoid a lengthy, costly trial.
- Trial in court. Good personal injury lawyers are willing and able to take a case all the way to court. If negotiations fail, your lawyer will litigate in court, proving to the jury that you suffered from the defendant’s negligence. The jury can decide in your favor and award damages.
- Appeals. If you win the jury award, the defendants may appeal the decision and take it to a higher Missouri court to have it overturned. Your lawyer will defend against the appeal and attempt to get the jury award to hold.
How Will My Lawyer Prove My Case?
To prove negligence in Missouri, your lawyer needs to show that the accident or incident proceeded in four main steps:
- The defendant had a duty to act reasonably or in an accepted way.
- The defendant did not act reasonably.
- This led directly to your injuries.
- Your injuries led to significant damages.
The damages do not have to be monetary to make your case. If you suffered emotional trauma rather than physical harm, for instance, you can still sue and recover damages. Your lawyer will use physical evidence and expert and witness testimony to prove the defendant was negligent and is liable for damages.
Is There a Statute of Limitations for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
According to Missouri law, you have five years to bring a personal injury suit against defendants. If you are past the five year statute of limitations, the courts will likely dismiss your lawsuit.
What Can I Recover in Damages?
The amount of damages you can recover in a personal injury lawsuit depends on several factors. Your lawyer will use these to estimate a reasonable amount to seek:
- The severity of your injuries
- Any permanent injuries, disabilities, or disfigurement
- Medical bills related to the injuries
- Costs you may have in the future for medical expenses or care
- Lost wages
- Lost future earning potential
- Non-economic factors, such as trauma, pain, suffering, and loss of companionship or reputational damage
Missouri law does not cap non-economic damages, so you can request what you think is fair. The state does have a comparative fault rule that can limit your damages. This rule states that if you share some of the blame in the accident, the court will reduce your jury award by the same percentage.
Examples of Missouri Personal Injury Lawsuits and Outcomes
These examples of real personal injury lawsuits and their outcomes in Missouri can give you an idea of the possibilities for victims of negligence:
- The University of Missouri recently settled with more than 20 plaintiffs for $16.2 million in total. The lawsuits arose over a knee surgery developed by two university employees. They sold it to patients as a way to avoid a total knee replacement, but the procedure had a high failure rate. The plaintiffs’ lawyers showed that the surgery was unproven and experimental.[1]
- The family of Destiny Chambers recently settled with the Joplin School District and USF Holland. At the time, Chambers, eight years old, died after being struck by a USF Holland truck driver while crossing a road to get to her school bus in 2018.[2]
- A Jackson County judge awarded $52 million in damages to residents of a Kansas City apartment building over unlivable conditions. The management company and landlord were found liable for the damages resulting from the conditions in the low-income housing units.[3]
- In 2020, several plaintiffs in Missouri won their case against Johnson & Johnson. The women and their lawyers proved that the company failed to warn consumers about the risks of talcum powder products, resulting in numerous cases of ovarian cancer. The jury awarded over $2 billion to the plaintiffs. The company lost an appeal in the Missouri Supreme Court.[4]
If you think you have a case for personal injury in Missouri, contact a lawyer specializing in these cases. They can help you by providing advice and filing a personal injury lawsuit to recover damages.