As a Missouri dog bite lawyer based in St. Louis, I've seen many serious injuries which occurred from a dog attack.  The majority of the times, people call me expecting we'd have no problem obtaining payment to cover their medical bills and injuries as a result of being attacked by someone else's dog.  Over the year, I have seen many brutal attacks.  These have often resulted in surgery to repair the wounds.  These surgeries often cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

                However, what many people were surprised to find out was that under Missouri law, dog bite owners traditionally were not automatically responsible.  Additionally, Missouri does not employ a "one bite rule" as many others mistakenly believe.  The so-called "one bite rule", is commonly understood to mean that the dog's owner is automatically responsible if their dog has previously bitten someone.  Rather, the traditional rule in Missouri has been that the dog owner was responsible if they have prior knowledge of their dog's dangerous propensities.  Now, often this was satisfied if we could show that there was a prior bite.  However, this was not a requirement.  Additionally, there were other ways to prove liability in dog attack injury cases.  This included utilizing municipal leash laws when the dog bite occurred off of the owner's property and the dog was not restrained on a leash.  However, under these laws, I had to pass on representing many victims of severe dog bite injuries because we could not find any evidence of a prior attack or anything that would prove prior knowledge of dangerous propensities.  Of course, in dog bite cases, the owner hardly ever admits to knowing about a prior bite.  In fact, I remember one dog bite case where we found out from a neighbor that the dog had previously jumped the fence and bit her in the throat.  She even had pictures of the dog's bite marks on her throat.  Yet when I deposed the dog's owners, they continued to deny the prior bite.  When I confronted them with the pictures that the neighbor had taken of her throat, which occurred before the dog attacked my client, they simply waved it off and said it looked more like a scratch from the dog's nails.  (Regardless, we ultimately settled the case for $75,000.00). 

                However, what few people are now aware of is that the Missouri Legislature quietly passed a law in 2009 which now holds dog owners automatically responsible for the dog bites.  Essentially, the law eliminates the old "dangerous propensities" standard.  In today's era of tort reform, it is very seldom that we see a law passed which actually protects injury victims.  In fact, I've been shocked at how little publicity there has been surrounding this law.  Even yesterday, I was speaking with a very experienced Missouri injury lawyer who was unaware of this new development.

                Simply put, Missouri's dog bite laws have now changed to hold the dog bite owner automatically responsible, however, regardless of any prior attacks.  If you have been attacked or bitten by a dog, make sure your St. Louis dog bite lawyer is familiar with these new laws.  They should often be familiar with the aggressive tendencies of breeds such as Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and German Shepherds.  While certainly these breeds are not always dangerous, they are the breeds that we see most often in dog bite injury cases. 

                If you've been attacked and injured by a dog and wish to speak to a top Missouri dog bite attorney, feel free to contact Josh Myers at 888.956.2487 or 314.720.2706.  Based in St. Louis, Missouri, he handles dog bite cases in all of Missouri and Illinois.  It's always free to discuss your case and there are never any retainer hourly fees.  Rather, his fee is a percentage of the amount he recovers on your behalf.  If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee.

We handle a number of ATV accidents at our law firm and this accident underscores how dangerous they can be.  An additional issue that always arises in ATV crashes is insurance coverage.  Many times, automobile insurance will not provide coverage for accidents occurring on an ATV.  Most of these policies have off-road vehicle exclusion; however, many homeowners' insurance policies will provide coverage but there are many technical hurdles.  An experienced Hillsboro personal injury lawyer should be able to navigate those issues.

If you have been injured and would like to speak with a Missouri personal injury lawyer, feel free to contact us at 888-956-2487.  It is always fee to discuss your case and there are never any fees until and unless we recover on your behalf. 

The crash happened at 8:10 p.m.  Obviously it would have been dark out; however, motorists always have a duty to pay attention to all of their surroundings.  Further investigation into this case should reveal exactly where on the road Tasco was riding his bike and whether he had any reflectors.  The answers to those questions are not being reported; however, it is known that Tasco was taken by ambulance to Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois.

Joshua P. Myers is a Missouri Personal Injury attorney specializing in significant accident cases.  He travels throughout all of Missouri and Illinois in his cases.  If you have been seriously injured and would like to speak with Missouri car accident lawyer Josh Myers, please feel free to contact him at 888-956-2487.  It is always free to talk about your case.

First and foremost, you are never required to give a recorded statement.  But the answer to whether you should give a recorded statement is that it depends on your ultimate goals.  In my cases, I rarely let my clients speak with the adjuster simply for the fact that the adjusters hardly ever offer a fair settlement value anyways, and there is no point in letting the insurance company have two bites at the apple.  By this I mean that once we file the lawsuit the defense attorney will be able to depose my client under oath so why give him a head start by allowing him to read the recorded statement too?  On the other hand, there are times where, for various reasons, we may not want to file suit on the case but rather settle it up front with the insurance company.  In these situations where they ask for a recorded statement, sometimes we have no choice but to let them do it.  Obviously, there is no requirement that insurance companies settle your claim with you and there certainly is no requirement that they pay a certain amount.  Simply put, insurance companies have one goal and that is to pay you as little as possible.  The recorded statement only serves their purposes as they will often try to pick apart your words and twist them into something they are not so they can use it against you later.

Of course if you are trying to handle your claim yourself you may have little leverage in denying the insurance company a recorded statement.  They may say that without it, they will not offer you a settlement.  Again, there is no rule that says they are entitled to a recorded statement but if you do not have a lawyer, they know there is nothing you can do about it.

For those who will give a recorded statement, I highly suggest that you limit your discussion only to the facts at issue in the case.  Never make any kind of statements which may implicate you of being guilty of any negligence if that is not the case.  Additionally, if you are going to talk to the insurance agent about your injuries, make sure you tell them every last detail.  Generally, a person's out of court statements cannot later be brought into court because it is hearsay.  However, there is an exception when you are the plaintiff in the case.  Your out of court statements can always be brought into court and used against you. 

And finally, never be fooled into thinking that the insurance adjuster is your friend or will be fair to you if you are fair to them.  Again, they have one goal and that is to pay you as little money as possible.  Many good insurance adjusters will try very hard to sound very sweet and very caring but at the end of the day it's all about the bottom line to them.

Joshua P. Myers is a St. Louis personal injury lawyer specializing in auto accidents.  He is president of Myers Injury Law and handles car accident lawsuits throughout all of Missouri and Illinois.  If you have been seriously injured in a car wreck and would like to discuss your case with him, please feel free to call at 888-956-2487.  It is always free to discuss your case and there are never any attorney's fees until we collect on your behalf.

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