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Personal Injury

Recent Posts in Personal Injury Category

  • Missouri’s Process for Workers’ Compensation Claims

    Hopefully, employees never have to go through the workers’ compensation system, because doing so means that you suffered a significant injury. However, for those that do have to rely on workers’ compensation for their recovery, the process can be confusing. Here, the workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyers at the Smith Law Office provide an overview of the process. Contact them online or ...
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  • Parking Lot Accidents Can Be Severe

    In our last couple of blog posts about car accidents , we have looked at who has the right of way in a parking lot and how common parking lot accidents can be . The general conception of these accidents is that they are trivial. However, that is not always the case. Some of them can be quite significant, especially when the victim is elderly or a child. Unfortunately, these victims are likely the ...
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  • 8 Reasons a Workers’ Compensation Claim Can Get Denied

    In Missouri, if you are an employee and you get hurt on the job, you can be entitled to workers’ compensation . However, workers’ compensation is a type of insurance: Your employer pays regular premiums to an insurance company so the company pays for certain costs of workplace injuries that fall within the policy’s coverage. Importantly, some workplace accidents and injuries are going to fall ...
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  • How Common are Car Accidents in Parking Lots?

    In a recent blog post, we looked at who has the right of way in a parking lot . This might seem like a trivial topic for personal injury law . However, parking lot car accidents are more common than you might expect, and can be far more devastating than you would think , given the low speeds of the crash. In this post, we will look at how common these accidents are. In our next post about car ...
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  • My Employer Denied My Workers’ Compensation Claim. What Can I Do?

    If you get hurt on the job, you can report the injury to your boss and initiate the workers’ compensation process. However, there are times when your employer or the workers’ compensation insurance company denies the claim. While there are numerous legal justifications for them to do so, it does not necessarily end your case. Why Would a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Get Denied? As we will show ...
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  • Car Accident Fatalities Increase 7 Percent

    A new federal study estimates that fatalities from car accidents increased at some of the highest non-lockdown levels in decades earlier this year, with Missouri seeing a higher increase than the national average. The data paints an alarming picture of roadway safety. Study Estimates a 7 Percent Increase in Accident Fatalities This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ...
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  • Can Workers’ Compensation Cause an SSDI Offset?

    In our last blog post about workers’ compensation , we looked at Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits , and when injured workers were eligible for them. One thing that we mentioned but did not detail was what happened when you receive both workers’ compensation benefits and SSDI benefits. The SSDI Offset Injured workers can recover both workers’ compensation benefits as well as ...
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  • Who Has the Right of Way in a Parking Lot?

    Lots of car accidents happen in parking lots in St. Joseph. Some of them can be surprisingly serious , especially when a pedestrian is involved. Understanding who has the right of way in a parking lot is not always easy, but it can help you avoid making a decision that puts others at risk and let you know when someone else can be held liable if you got hit and hurt. The Three Different Areas of a ...
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  • What is SSDI and am I Eligible After a Workplace Injury?

    If you get hurt at work in Missouri, you are usually entitled to workers’ compensation . However, if you suffer a significant disability that makes it impossible for you to work after the accident, you may also become eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. While these benefits can help you get closer to your original wage rate, the eligibility requirements are strict. ...
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  • If a Car Accident Involves a Non-Street-Legal Vehicle, What Happens?

    In our last blog post about car accidents , we looked at two important legal issues raised when a car hit an equipment buggy while trying to pass it . Something that we did not cover in that post was just as important, though: What happens when you crash into a vehicle that is not street legal? What Does it Mean to Be “Street Legal”? A motor vehicle is “street legal” if it: Has all of the legally ...
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  • What Happens When You Offer New Evidence on Appeal?

    The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC) recently affirmed a denial of workers’ compensation by the administrative law judge (ALJ) . The reason for the denial was straightforward and a crucially important part of the process for unrepresented accident victims to know about: The trial is where you present your evidence, not the appeal. Hurt Worker Tries Presenting New Evidence on Appeal ...
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  • Car Hits Buggy While Trying to Pass

    A victim was seriously hurt in a car accident involving an SUV and an equipment buggy, also known as a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle. The incident raises two important issues in personal injury law and car crashes: The eggshell skull rule, and Liability for crashes caused while passing other vehicles. Car Hits Buggy While Trying to Pass The incident happened on the evening of July 11, 2022. ...
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  • Why are Lump Sum Awards Preferred in Workers’ Compensation Cases?

    In our last blog post about workers’ compensation , we looked at how cases tend to settle in Missouri . In that article, we said that the settlement amount “is almost always made in a lump sum” payment. A Missouri Court of Appeals just dealt with a case that did not settle in a lump sum. The case, which has been ongoing for 20 years now, shows why lump sum payments are the preferred method of ...
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  • NHTSA Releases Data on Self-Driving Car Accidents

    Recently, there was a huge development in the regulation of self-driving vehicles: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released information about 392 car accidents involving vehicles with driver-assistance technologies over the span of 10 months. While the information is meant to be used to inform the agency about safety trends, NHTSA officials said that there was not enough ...
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  • How Do Missouri Workers’ Compensation Cases Settle?

    The vast majority of workers’ compensation claims in Missouri settle out of court. Only a few go to trial with the administrative law judge , and even fewer are appealed to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC) or into the court system. Settling your claim, however, ends your case. If you do not settle for enough, you will not have the full amount of compensation that you need and ...
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  • Older Motorcycle Accident Victims Protected By the Eggshell Skull Rule

    It is motorcycle season in western Missouri. While it is intuitive and well known that car accidents involving motorcycles are more likely to cause serious injuries to the biker than other types of crashes, one contributing factor is often overlooked: The rising age of the average motorcyclist. Motorcycle Accident Injuries Tend to Be Serious Given the lack of protective equipment that bikers have, ...
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  • Can I Get Fired for Filing for Workers’ Comp?

    A frequent concern that employees have when they get hurt on the job is getting fired for exercising their rights to workers’ compensation . The law in Missouri is clear: Your employer is prohibited from retaliating against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim or reporting a workplace injury. In practice, though, it is more complicated. Missouri Law Forbids Retaliation Against Workers ...
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  • What are Loss of Consortium Damages in Missouri?

    Something that many accident victims in Missouri are surprised to learn is that their loved ones may also be entitled to compensation in a personal injury claim. Even though the loved one may not have been hurt in the victim’s car accident , he or she may still suffer from it. Personal injury law aims to compensate everyone for the losses they suffered in the accident. This includes the various ...
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  • Why is the Second Injury Fund Statute So Confusing?

    Many of the recent disputes in Missouri workers’ compensation law have centered on the reading of Missouri Statute 287.220 . The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC) has been repeatedly reprimanded by Missouri courts for applying the wrong subsection of the law. Why has the LIRC, which is supposed to be intimately familiar with workers’ compensation law in the state, consistently made ...
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  • NHTSA Releases Fatal Car Accident Data from 2021

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its preliminary estimates about fatal car accidents across the country in 2021. On paper, the results do not look good, with a 16-year high in the number of roadway fatalities and a staggering increase from the year prior. But the data is misleading in several years – sometimes extremely misleading. While the numbers are still ...
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  • LIRC Affirms Award Under Last Exposure Rule

    Given the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission’s (LIRC) longstanding trend towards denying any claim for workers’ compensation that it can, a recent affirmation of an administrative law judge’s grant of temporary total disability and survivor benefits comes as a surprise. The specific facts of the case offered an opportunity for the LIRC to deny the claim, but it chose not to. Diesel Mechanic ...
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  • What Compensation is Available in Personal Injury Cases?

    In our personal injury blog posts, we have talked a lot about the need for victims to get the compensation that they deserve. But what does that mean? What types of compensation is a victim entitled to receive after, say, a car accident ? What Compensation Can Victims Recover? The short answer is that victims are entitled to financial compensation for all of their losses – be they financial, ...
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  • What is Maximum Medical Improvement in Missouri?

    Maximum medical improvement, or MMI, is a fundamental concept in workers’ compensation law in Missouri. It is the point where the victim’s workplace injuries have stabilized and will not improve any more. Once MMI has been reached, workers’ compensation benefits shift from medical care and temporary disability benefits to permanent disability benefits. What is Maximum Medical Improvement in ...
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  • Who Can I Sue After an Intentional Car Crash?

    A New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with numerous crimes after he appeared to deliberately run over a woman after a car accident . Leaving the criminal aspects of the case aside, the incident raises an important issue in personal injury law: Will the victim be able to recover any compensation for her injuries because the “accident” was intentional? Man Appears to Intentionally Run Over ...
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  • How Light Duty Roles Can Create Workplace Conflicts

    After a workplace injury, the goal for most workers is to get back on the job. While workers’ compensation will cover their medical expenses and the wages they have lost while they were recovering, once a doctor clears the worker for light duty, those temporary disability benefits can disappear if the worker refuses a reasonable offer to come back to work. While employers in Missouri are not ...
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