Oakville, MO Personal Injury Lawyer

Oakville, MO Personal Injury Attorney

A personal injury is never easy to deal with, and it can be financially stressful on top of bringing emotional and physical stress. When these injuries are caused by another person’s negligence or recklessness, you may be able to recover some or all of the cost of your damages. Unfortunately, filing for personal injury damages is time-sensitive, and it is hard to do when you’re injured. Having an Oakville, MO, personal injury lawyer by your side can make the process simpler.

Financial compensation cannot make up for every loss you suffer from an injury, but it can allow you the time you need to rest, heal, or readjust to a new way of life. Filing a claim and or lawsuit can also help you hold the party who caused the injury responsible for their actions. An attorney significantly increases your chances of success in a personal injury claim succeeding and increase the amount in a settlement.

The Cagle Law Firm: Personal Injury Attorneys in Oakville

The attorneys at The Cagle Law Firm work hard to help victims of other people’s negligence and carelessness. We can investigate accidents, gather evidence to prove liability, and secure the fair compensation needed to help our clients recover. Many people who are injured because of another’s negligence have never dealt with insurance claims process or civil lawsuits and this can be very overwhelming. We understand these processes and how to successfully navigate them.

You should not have to deal with legal claims or insurance adjusters when you must spend time recovering, but securing compensation is often crucial to your financial well-being. Our firm can help you by negotiating and filing on your behalf.  That way, you can secure the compensation you need to cover medical costs, lost income, and other losses while getting going through your physical recovery.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim?

A personal injury claim is brought by an individual injured due to the negligence of someone else. As the injured party, it allows you to recover economic and noneconomic losses sustained due to another party, In these cases, the negligence causing the injury was not intentionally harmful, When a party intentionally harms another, it usually falls into the classification of criminal charges.

The majority of personal injury claims are filed under the theory of negligence, which means that a person or group’s actions or inaction failed to uphold reasonable care for the people they affected. To hold the other party liable, an injured party must prove through a preponderance of evidence the following elements:

1. The other party owed the injured party a duty of care.
2. The other party breached this duty.
3. This breach directly led to the accident or injury.
4. The accident caused the injured party to sustain damages.

If all these are proven, then the other party is liable for all the injured party’s damages.

Types of Personal Injury Claims We Handle at The Cagle Law Firm

There are many types of personal injury claims, each requiring different investigation techniques and different methods for filing an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit. At The Cagle Law Firm, we have worked on personal injury claims in some of the following areas:

Car Accidents

Car accidents are among the most common causes of personal injuries. Minor car accidents can still result in property damage and less severe injuries, while more serious car accidents can cause life-changing injuries and disabilities. In reality, the amount of property damage is not always representative of the severity of a physical injury. In fact, the idea that one cannot be seriously hurt unless there is significant property damage is a myth.  In Oakville, Missouri, car insurance claims are filed with the insurance carrier of the at-fault driver when multiple parties are involved in a collision. A knowledgeable attorney can help those injured in car accidents file insurance claims and lawsuits for compensation.

In serious injury accidents, it is quite obviously harder to physically recover from injuries and attaining the needed compensation gets more complicated.  It gets more complicated because insurance carriers do not always work for fair compensation but for the lowest amount possible. Therein, your interests and the insurance carriers’ interests are not in conflict. Our concern is the injured party and not the bottom dollar for the insurance company.  You should not wait for an insurance carrier to “decide liability” or “agree with your medical providers about your medical condition” but should hire an experienced Oakville car accident attorney immediately.

Truck Accidents

Truck accidents often result in more significant injuries to people and property than the average passenger car accident. Severe injuries make recovering fair compensation all the more important.  Truck accidents or common carriers and have more insurance coverage than passenger vehicles.  Commercial coverage involves corporate coverage and more expert insurance adjusters. When we say “expert”, we mean they are experts in delaying and devaluing your claim verses experts at assessing fair compensation. Additionally, truck accidents are more likely to have multiple parties who are potentially liable, including:

• The truck driver
• The trucking or shipping company
• A truck maintenance contractor
• Another party driving on the road

Truck accident cases are more complicated and require significant resources and investigation to determine what party or parties are at fault.

Working with an attorney is also helpful because many truck accident claims mean that you are filing against the insurance carrier of the trucking company. These insurance carriers have a lot of resources, and their primary goal is to avoid as many costs associated with liability as possible. Insurance adjusters either attempt to argue degrees of fault and argue the validity of your injuries, no matter how serious the injuries are. Having the legal expertise of an attorney can lower the stress of these claims.

Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycles by design do not provide their riders with as much protection as passenger vehicles. In a collision with another motor vehicle, a motorcyclist is likely to receive much more severe injuries, and they are often thrown from their vehicle. This means that a rider experiences the force of the collision and the force of hitting the ground. Accidents between motorcycles and passenger vehicles often do little to the larger vehicles, but they can cause catastrophic or fatal injuries to motorcycle riders.

If you or a loved one was injured in a motorcycle accident, and the accident was someone else’s fault, you could recover the cost of medical bills, property damage, lost wages, and other damages.

Bicycle Accidents

Collisions between motor vehicles and bicycles can be devastating for cyclists. A driver may be at fault for their distracted driving, aggressive driving, failure to yield, or drunk driving. If the driver was at fault, they can be held liable for a cyclist’s damages. Bicycle accidents can also be caused by improperly maintained roads or the failure of an important bike part. In some cases, these situations can also result in a civil claim.

Slip and Fall

Slip and fall claims, or premises liability claims, occur when property owners do not uphold their responsibility to keep relatively safe premises causing injury to an individual. This applies to both public and private property owners. Dangerous premises may include slippery floors, improper lighting, broken railings, collapsed stairs, improperly maintained elevators and other hazards. Property owners have different levels of responsibility to licensees and invitees, but they have no responsibility for trespassers. An Oakville slip and fall attorney can help you determine if the property owner was negligent, causing your physical injury on their property.

Wrongful Death

A wrongful death claim is a type of personal injury claim that is needed when the injured party is fatally injured. The victim may have died during the accident at the scene or later succumbed to the severity of their injuries. When someone’s negligence was the reason for their death, their surviving family members can file a wrongful death claim. This claim can recover losses like funeral and burial costs, lost financial support, and loss of companionship and consortium.

Some other types of personal injury claims that The Cagle Law Firm has handled include:

• Dog attacks and injuries
• Jones Act claims
• Train accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Defective products

If you are unsure whether you have a viable claim, our attorneys can help.

FAQs

Q: What Percentage Do Most Personal Injury Lawyers Charge?

A: Most personal injury lawyers base their fee structure one a certain percentage from a final personal injury outcome whether settlement or verdict. The exact contingency is agreed upon in advance based on whether the case is settled or litigated. This is a contingency fee, which means that individuals who are injured can hire legal counsel without fear of needing to pay upfront legal fees. Instead, they do not owe attorney’s fees if they lose their claim, and they owe their attorney a percentage of the settlement or verdict if they win. This contingency fee works for the client’s advantage as only few types of lawyers operate on a fee structure based on the success of the case. Cases that are complex or are litigated usually have a higher contingency percentage because the attorney finances the litigation and assumes all of the expense risks.

Q: How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Missouri?

A: The amount of time you have to file a personal injury claim in Missouri is five years. This is the statute of limitations, which begins from the date of the injury. There are very few exceptions to this five-year statute of limitations and when the statute of limitations expires, you are forever barred from making a claim despite the merits of your claim. There are other statutes of limitations for actions against healthcare providers and against governmental agencies. It’s important to act quickly after discovering an injury caused by another’s negligence.

Q: What Is the Statute of Limitations on Slip and Fall Accidents in Missouri?

A: The statute of limitations on slip and fall accidents in Missouri is five years from the date the injury occurred. Slip and fall accidents are a form of premises liability claim, which holds a property owner and their insurance carrier liable for injuries sustained by those injured on their property. If a claim is not filed within those five years, then the injured party loses the right to recover compensation regardless of the merits of their claim. Although five years may seem like a significant time, it’s important to act quickly to obtain important evidence for the claim.

Q: Can You Sue for Emotional Distress in Missouri?

A: Yes, you can sue for emotional distress in Missouri in a personal injury claim. Filing a claim for only emotional distress is much less likely to succeed in the absence of a physical injury.  Emotional distress that results from an injury or other loss is a common aspect of personal injury claims. Emotional distress is a form of noneconomic damages. The significance of emotional damages often relies on the severity of your injury, medical treatment required and how much the injury will impact your daily life.

Work With a Skilled Oakville Personal Injury Attorney

You should not have to handle a personal injury alone. The Cagle Law Firm can help if you have been injured because another party acted carelessly. Contact our firm today.