Recover Fair Compensation with a Lee's Summit Personal Injury Lawyer
Accidents may be an everyday occurrence, but they do not all have the same impact. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Lee’s Summit accident, you might find yourself fighting an uphill battle to recovery. Even if the accident was not your fault, you could be saddled with an exhausting assortment of expenses, from ever-mounting medical debt to prescription medication co-pays and physical therapy fees.
If another person’s negligence caused your injuries, you could be entitled to significant compensation through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. However, recovering damages could present unexpected challenges. While insurance companies exist to ease the financial pain of accidents and tragedies, they are—ultimately—for-profit businesses that prioritize shareholder interests over paying equitable settlements. Whenever you speak to an insurance adjuster, they are likely looking for every excuse to devalue your personal injury claim, even if it means depriving you of the means to reclaim your independence.
Foster Wallace’s founders once worked for some of the biggest insurance companies in America. Today, we use our insider knowledge to stand up for accident victims’ rights because we believe that nobody should ever have to pay the price for another person’s negligence.
You deserve better than the insurance company’s excuses and red tape. Please contact Foster Wallace, LLC, online or call us at 816-249-2101 to speak to a legal professional and schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
Foster Wallace Is Here to Meet Legal Needs in Lee’s Summit
We at Foster Wallace take our commitment to the Lee’s Summit community seriously. While other law firms stonewall accident victims who come seeking advice, refusing to furnish any information without an appointment, we endeavor to provide our neighbors with the resources they need to understand and navigate Missouri’s complex legal system.
We offer:
A Virtual Database of Legal Self-Help Resources
We understand that insurance claims and court processes can be confusing and complex, which is why our website hosts a virtual database of legal self-help resources, including an ever-growing volume of library articles and FAQs. Foster Wallace also maintains a helpful blog, helping Lee’s Summit residents make sense of everything from the most important types of car crash evidence to the benefits of filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
Free e-Books, Investigative Reports, and Other Downloads
Foster Wallace’s in-house legal team writes and publishes a variety of free e-books and investigative reports, many of which are available in both English and Spanish.
Scholarships
Foster Wallace’s attorneys put their education to work every time we accept a new case, which is why we strive to empower today’s youth to reach high and make a difference within their own community. Each year, we offer competitive scholarships to students in Lee’s Summit and across Missouri and Kansas, providing them with assistance to pay for academic credits or purchase textbooks.
No-Cost, No-Obligation Personal Injury Consultations
Most people think that skilled attorneys are borderline unaffordable. However, Foster Wallace is passionate about advocacy—we believe that nobody should be deprived of their right to petition their courts because they lack the resources to hire competent and highly experienced counsel. We encourage all of our clients to take the opportunity to contact us and schedule an absolutely free, no-obligation consultation.
During your initial consultation with one of our attorneys, you will have the opportunity to discuss the facts of your case, ask questions, and get answers. While we cannot predict the outcome of any case, we strive to be open, honest, and transparent, telling prospective clients what they need to hear, even when it does not benefit us.
However, Foster Wallace’s community-oriented philosophy goes beyond consultations: since we know that many accident victims cannot afford to choose between paying for medical treatment and paying for an attorney, we operate on a contingency fee basis. This means that we only take payment as a percentage of your eventual settlement. If we cannot secure the compensation you need, we will never ask you to reimburse us for our services.
Contacting Foster Wallace is easy, and it does not cost anything. Please send us a message online or call us at 816-249-2101 to discuss your options for legal relief.
Our Personal Injury Practice Areas
Foster Wallace, LLC, represents Lee’s Summit accident victims who have been injured in:
- Premises Liability Accidents
- Wrongful Death
- Car Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Nursing Home Neglect
- Sports Injuries
- Dog Bites
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Pedestrian & Bicycle Accidents
Common Accident Injuries
Every accident is different. Regardless of whether you have been involved in a slip-and-fall accident, a motor vehicle crash, or a premises liability incident, you could sustain serious injuries, including but not limited to:
- Amputations
- Back injuries
- Broken bones and fractures
- Bruises and contusions
- Burns
- Cuts and lacerations
- Head injuries
- Paralysis
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Whiplash
- Wrongful death
Unfortunately, even the most minor of these injuries could impair an accident victim’s ability to work, play sports, and otherwise lead an ordinary, fulfilling life. Although an insurance settlement could help you afford the high-quality medical care you need to begin moving past a tragic accident, the insurance company will likely be more concerned about its profitability than your well-being.
How Insurance Companies Try to Sabotage Settlement Negotiations
While it might not be fair, insurance adjusters are trained negotiators who have a range of strategies designed to downplay their client’s liability. The adjuster could try to devalue or deny your claim if they believe:
- You do not have enough evidence to prove their client’s negligence caused your injuries.
- You could have prevented or minimized your injuries by exercising more caution.
- Your injuries were caused or exacerbated by a pre-existing medical condition.
How to Protect Your Legal Rights to Recovery After a Serious Lee’s Summit Accident
Since the insurance company could be searching for any excuse to reduce your potential compensation, the decisions you make in the immediate aftermath of an accident could make the difference between a complete financial recovery and an underwhelming settlement offer. You could protect your legal recovery by:
Calling 9-1-1
You may be obligated to call the police after an accident. For example, Missouri law requires that motorists who have been involved in an accident inform police if the collision resulted in bodily injury, death, or substantial property damage. However, contacting law enforcement can have other advantages. Even if the investigating officer is unable to determine who caused the accident, their report could contain information that can later be used to establish liability.
Seeking immediate medical attention
You should always seek medical attention after an accident, even if you do not believe that you have been seriously injured. A physician could help you identify, diagnose, and treat injuries that you may not have realized you sustained. Furthermore, seeing the doctor will show the insurance company that you have legitimate concerns about your physical health and are not simply trying to profit off a settlement.
Collecting evidence
If you do not require urgent medical care, you could begin collecting evidence at the accident site. For example, if you have been injured in a supermarket slip-and-fall, you could take pictures of the slippery conditions that caused you to lose your balance. You could also photograph your visible injuries or start a pain diary to chart the progression of your accident-related symptoms.
Speaking to eyewitnesses
If you believe that somebody else witnessed your accident, ask them for their full name, their phone number, and other contact information. Eyewitness testimony can be critical in personal injury cases, especially if you cannot demonstrate fault or if negotiations devolve into “he-said, she-said.”
Contacting an attorney
Foster Wallace, LLC, has years of experience defending accident victims’ rights. While we always try to offer our clients rapid relief by settling out of court whenever fair and possible, we do not back down from challenges. If we cannot persuade the defendant or their insurance company to do the right thing, we will take them to court.
The Three Forms of Damages Available in Personal Injury Claims
Missouri recognizes two forms of general damages:
Economic damages.
State law defines “economic damages” as the financial losses caused by the accident or expected to be caused by the accident. Typically, economic damages are objective and easily calculable. They include medical expenses, lost wages, and diminished earning capacity.
Non-economic damages.
Non-economic damages are intended to compensate for the more subjective consequences of an accident injury, such as emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and disfigurement.
The Show-Me State also recognizes a third category of damages: punitive damages, which are damages intended to punish an individual or an entity that either inflicted intentional harm or acted with a deliberate and flagrant disregard for the safety of others.
However, punitive damages are not available in every personal injury case and can only be pursued if the defendant was particularly negligent.
How Foster Wallace Can Help You Recover Damages
Foster Wallace can help you assess your losses by:
- Calculating the value of your pre-existing losses and incurred expenses
- Using Missouri law to determine the value of your non-economic damages
- Consulting medical experts to determine your long-term and continuing care needs
Since Missouri does not currently cap compensation in most personal injury claims, Foster Wallace, LLC, could help secure as much money as you need to overcome your losses.
However, you have to act fast: while Missouri does not limit available damages, it does have a strict statute of limitations. If you do not file a claim for compensation before the statute of limitations lapses, the court could automatically dismiss your lawsuit without giving you the opportunity to plead your case or share your side of the story.