Not hiring a St Louis Missouri personal injury lawyer after an accident can have many consequences, including losing out on compensation, struggling with the legal process, difficulty dealing with insurance companies, limited access to expert witnesses, and increased stress, just to name a few.
Without a personal injury lawyer by your side, you may also struggle to determine the true value of your claim. Also, personal injury claims have specific deadlines, called statutes of limitations. If you miss these deadlines, your right to claim compensation could be lost.
Navigating the legal system after a serious accident can be a daunting and complicated task, especially if you are trying to do it on your own. Without the guidance of a lawyer, you might make mistakes that could hurt your chances of receiving compensation. To win your case, you must prove that the other party was negligent, something that can be challenging without the help of a knowledgeable attorney who understands the legal standards and has experience gathering evidence to support your claim.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases
Some common types of personal injury cases are:
Car Accidents
These personal injury cases involve collisions between vehicles or vehicles and pedestrians, cyclists, or other objects. They can happen because of negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of drivers, like drunk driving, speeding, or road rage.
Slip and Fall Accidents
These personal injury cases are caused by hazardous conditions on someone else’s property, such as wet floors, icy sidewalks, uneven stairs, or poor lighting. Property owners have a duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe manner.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider, like a doctor or nurse, injures a patient through substandard medical care. Examples include surgical errors, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, and improper prescriptions.
Workplace Injuries
Workplace injuries occur when an employee suffers an injury or illness due to the negligence or misconduct of an employer or a co-worker. They may include falls, burns, electrocutions, exposure to toxic substances, and repetitive stress injuries.
Product Liability
When a consumer suffers an injury from an unreasonably dangerous or defective product, they may have a product liability case. Product liability claims can involve design defects, manufacturing defects, or failure to warn of defects.
Premises Liability
These cases involve injuries caused by dangerous conditions on someone else’s property other than slip and fall accidents. They may include dog bites, swimming pool accidents, elevator accidents, and fire accidents.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death suits are the result of negligence or misconduct of another person or entity leading to loss of life. Wrongful death claims can arise from any of the above types of personal injury cases, as well as from other causes such as criminal acts or intentional harm. Wrongful death claims seek compensation for the losses suffered by the surviving family members of the deceased person.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim?
The deadline to file a personal injury claim in St. Louis, Missouri, is five years from the date of the injury. This means that you must file your claim within five years of discovering the injury, or you may lose your right to recover damages from the at-fault party. However, there may be some exceptions to this rule depending on the circumstances of your case.