How to File a Personal Injury Claim in Missouri

Most of the details of filing your injury claim will be handled by your personal injury attorney, and you won’t need to worry about them. It is always helpful, however, to know a little about the process and what to expect to avoid mistakes. Here, we’ll briefly discuss the Missouri personal injury process from start to finish.

“I’ve dedicated my entire life to helping our clients receive full compensation for their injuries.”

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Gary Burger

Litigation attorney

Step One – Find a Missouri Personal Injury Attorney

The sooner you get legal representation after your accident, the better. You might start getting lowball settlement offers from the insurance company as soon as 24 to 48 hours after the injury—even if you are still in the hospital.

Never speak with insurers or accept any amount until you have consulted an injury attorney. There is no cost to you to hire a personal injury attorney, so don’t hesitate to book a consultation.

Step Two – Evidence Gathering

Your lawyer’s team will start the process of gathering evidence as soon as possible. This can involve requesting medical reports, police reports, talking to witnesses, examining photos and/or taking additional photos, legal or medical research, gathering expert witnesses (medical experts, car collision experts, etc), and more.

Step Three – Sending a Demand Letter

Generally, the personal injury process begins with your lawyer sending the other party something called a “demand letter.” This is a formal letter outlining the incident causing your injury, how you were injured, the extent of your injuries, and what you are asking the other party for in terms of compensation. If you have already decided that you want to settle, you and your attorney may skip this step and simply start with settlement negotiations.

Step Four – Negotiations

Although trying to negotiate a settlement is not a required part of the process, most lawyers will recommend attempting to settle a case before going to court. Of course, each case is different, but most personal injury cases are indeed settled out of court. Your lawyer will have a solid understanding of how much to ask for based on working similar cases and understanding the law. People trying to handle their own personal injury cases frequently accept low-end settlement amounts because they don’t know what similar cases have settled for.

Step Five – Filing the Personal Injury Lawsuit

If a demand letter and/or settlement negotiations have failed to yield an acceptable result, the last straw is to file a lawsuit. The initial lawsuit filing will contain much of the same information as the demand letter. Your legal team will take care of filling out, filing, and serving the lawsuit petition.

Step Six – Discovery & Trial

At this point, the trial process begins. It begins with something called “discovery.” This is when both lawyers exchange the evidence they have and conduct special recorded interviews called “depositions.” Once all of that is complete, your case will go to trial. A settlement can still happen at any point—even one minute before the judge is about to read the verdict.

Call Our St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyers Today

Let our St. Louis, MO, personal injury attorneys help you through the personal injury process with compassion and tenacity. Schedule your confidential consultation today and allow us to advocate for your rights.

Gary Burger

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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