100+ years of combined experience and over $200 million won for our clients in Missouri and Illinois. Contact a personal injury lawyer near you.
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(314) 500-HURTFile, litigate and try the case. This is what I did for the Smith- Washington
family a few weeks ago. On February 18, 2016, I tried their auto accident case in St. Clair County, Illinois
and obtained a $234,317 judgment. This is an excellent victory as our medical specials were
about $24,000, with about $9,000 in property damage and rental car costs. The court gave $200,000 for pain and
suffering for our two clients. They had low back injuries with chiropractic care and some epidural steroid
injections.
Most people assume that if they are in a car accident and it is someone else’s fault, the case should
settle quickly for all their damages. Nope. Ultimately the only power a car crash victim has is to file a lawsuit
and go to trial. Suing the at-fault driver is necessary to combat cheap insurance companies. Those companies have
contracts with the insured to indemnify, or pay, for personal injury damages that the negligent party causes.
That’s what we did for the Smith-Washington family. We filed suit and litigated the case. Our clients’
depositions were taken and we took depositions as well. We presented our medical evidence through evidence
depositions of physicians. You think that a crash that is so violent that it takes the back bumper off a car would
settle easy. Not!!
But no, there were a number of lawsuits related to this case.
The lawsuit we tried and won, a separate declaratory judgment action against the defendants regarding insurance
coverage, which we appeared in and litigated, and an arbitration case against our own clients’ insurance company
recovered damages under their policy. For a previous article on that case, click here. We continue to
fight for the Smith-Washington family and continue to fight for all of our clients, despite the position taken
by our opponents. Thanks for reading.
Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO
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This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Gary Burger who has more than 30 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury trial attorney. Gary’s robust legal knowledge is recognized by his peers as demonstrated by his industry awards and frequent Continuing Legal Education (CLE) lectures.
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