$300,000.00 Uninsured Motorist Recovery – Mogab and Hughes Attorneys

About a year ago, I received a call from a grade school classmate inquiring whether he had to pay a $28.00 balance on a medical bill that had already been paid by Medicare.  When I inquired as to what the nature of the bill was, he told me that he had sustained burn injuries about three years prior when he was attempting to help a friend prime the carburetor in a vehicle on his friend’s property.  I had previously represented my childhood friend in an automobile accident in 1994 where we recovered $100,000.00, and I also had a successful hearing before an Administrative Law Judge and obtained Social Security Disability benefits for him in 2007 due to his ongoing back and knee problems which prevented him from continuing in his career as a certified automobile mechanic for various dealerships in the St. Louis area, but I had not been in touch with him for a while.

In discussing his situation with him, I explained that he may have a lawsuit, and he indicated that he did not want to do anything which would result in his friend having to pay anything out of his pocket.  I agreed to that, and I filed suit against my client’s friend to determine if there was any liability insurance coverage which would cover this particular incident.  After suit was filed, we determined that his friend’s homeowner’s insurance did not apply because it contained an exclusion which did not provide coverage if the negligent act occurred arising out of the use of a vehicle.  We also determined that his friend’s automobile liability coverage did not apply because we determined that the vehicle that was involved was not a covered vehicle under the terms of his automobile policy.  (This individual had a number of vehicles that he kept on his property that he collected as a hobby, most of which were inoperable.)

After determining there was no available insurance coverage from this individual, we filed a separate lawsuit against my client’s uninsured motorist policy, and after engaging in extensive discovery, we were able to obtain a settlement for all of the available coverage of $300,000.00 from my client’s uninsured motorist carrier.

If you have been injured in an accident and would like to speak with an experienced attorney, please call Thomas Gregory at Mogab & Hughes Attorneys at 314-241-4477.

Out-of-state Automobile Accident – St. Louis Attorney Thomas J. Gregory

I recently settled a case for a woman who was a passenger in a car which was struck by another vehicle that failed to yield the right-of-way.  The case was complicated by the fact that the accident occurred in Oregon, which meant Oregon law applied to this claim.  Unlike Missouri, Oregon has a modified no-fault law which provides for limited personal injury protection (PIP), but still preserves the right to sue the negligent driver.

My client had been diagnosed with a concussion at the emergency room in Oregon and had only been getting chiropractic treatment for a sore neck since she returned to St. Louis when she came to see me almost a year after the accident.  I immediately noticed that she complained of signs of post-concussion syndrome that needed specialized treatment by a neurologist, and I made arrangements for her to treat with a neurologist who was able to significantly improve her symptoms.

Total recovery was approximately $80,000.00.  An important thing that any lawyer handling a case in another state must be aware of is the statute of limitations in the state whose law applies to the case.  Missouri has a five year statute of limitations for auto accidents while Oregon’s statute of limitations is only two years, so my client would not have been able to recover anything if she waited too long to retain a lawyer who could investigate the applicable law in the state where the accident occurred and get a lawsuit filed within the specified time period.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, please call Attorney Thomas J. Gregory at 314-241-4477.

Worker’s Compensation – $595,000.00 Lump Sum Settlement St. Louis Attorney Thomas J. Gregory

I represented a union plumber in 2005 who sustained an on the job injury to his low back that required surgery.  We reached an excellent settlement of his worker’s compensation claim and my client recovered successfully from the surgery and continued in his career as a plumber.

He returned to see me in 2017 after sustaining a knee injury that also involved a related condition known as deep vein thrombosis.  My client was now 61 years old, and after his knee surgery, he found it difficult to get back to work.

We went to trial before an Administrative Law Judge against the Employer/Insurer and the Missouri Second Injury Fund and alleged that my client could not return to any work based on his age, education and work experience, and was therefore permanently and totally disabled and entitled to lifetime benefits.  Both opposing sides argued that my client could do other lighter work, and therefore, would only be entitled to a one-time payment of permanent partial disability benefits, not lifetime benefits.  They also argued that if the employee was found to be permanently and totally disabled, it would be the responsibility of the other party.  If my client was found to be permanently and totally disabled from the last injury (the knee injury and deep vein thrombosis), then the Employer would be responsible for lifetime benefits.  If the total disability was found to be the result of the last injury in combination with the prior back injury, the Second Injury Fund would owe for lifetime benefits after the Employer paid for any disability related to the last injury.

The Administrative Law Judge found that my client was permanently and totally disabled and entitled to lifetime benefits and found the Employer/Insurer, not the Second Injury Fund, to be responsible for those benefits.  The Employer/Insurer filed an appeal with the Industrial Commission of Missouri, which upheld the decision of the Administrative Law Judge.

Following the Commission’s decision, the Employer/Insurer agreed to pay a lump sum of $595,000.00 to my client in lieu of the future payments based on life expectancy tables, and in addition, also agreed to provide future medical treatment as needed for the injuries he sustained in the work-related injury as awarded by the Administrative Law Judge.

If you or a loved one has been injured on the job, please call Attorney Thomas Gregory at 314-241-4477.