Schultz & Myers

Hi, I'm attorney Josh Myers of Schultz & Myers, Based here in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the questions our office often gets is "how long after an accident do you have to file a lawsuit?" otherwise, this is what's known as the statute of limitations.

So i want to run through these answers real quickly for you. In Missouri, you have 5 years to file a lawsuit. If it's not filed within that time, it's forever barred. For any kind of wrongful Death case it's 3 years, and for medical malpractice, it's 2 years.

So those are your answers for the Missouri statute of limitations laws. I hope that helps. If you're ever in need of a personal injury lawyer, or just have a general question, feel free to call us. Our number is easy, just remember the fours; 314.444.4444

Hi i'm Stephen Schultz and you're watching "Ask Schultz & Myers"
Today i want to answer the question, "what happens if I hit something else in the road that fell off of a truck?"
In a situation such as this, it commonly occurs if there's a truck in front of you. A tractor trailor or just a pickup truck transporting something. It could be a mattress, it could be a tarp. Anything that falls off the truck and ends up in the road and you have no way to avoid it, and it causes a crash.
Well two things can happen. 1: if we're able to find the driver of the truck, that's easy. We go after their car insurance company to failure to secure a load, and we can seek reimbursement for you for the property damage to your car as well as your personal injuries.

What happens if we don't find that person? In the situation where we cannot locate the person who caused the incident, meaning they didn't secure the load properly, we then file what's called a UM claim. That stands for uninsured motorist. We seek reimbursement through your own car insurance company.

Either way the process can be complex. whether you filed against the at fault driver's insurance company, or your own car insurance company. Either way, it's adversarial in nature. So if you ran over something in the road, it could be a tarp, or anything that fell off another vehicle, and you have questions about what your rights are, please call us. We're available 24/7 at 314.444.4444.

Thanks for watching.

Hi, I'm attorney Josh Myers and you're watching an episode of Ask Schultz & Myers. Today I'm going to answer the question "what do I wear to a deposition?"

We always tell our clients, and this is always true, it's an informal process. However, that doesn't mean you should be wearing your sweatpants as though you're watching the ball game on Sunday. Remember, You're being evaluated by the insurance company's lawyer.

They're going to go back and tell the insurance company not only what you said, but also about your appearance.

So much that goes on in a trial is the non-verbal communication, and the impressions jurors are getting just by looking at you. Part of that obviously is going to be your dress.

So I always tell clients that you need to dress as though you're going to a job interview. In many ways, you are. In this case, we're going to be asking for a lot of money for you, so you'll need to be dressed appropriately for that.

Again, when you're going to a deposition, take it seriously. Obviously your attorney will prepare you well, but you need to dress well for the occasion. So if you have any questions about this, or any other personal injury related questions, give us a call. Our number is easy, just remember the fours. 314.444.4444.

Hi, I'm Stephen Schultz, Founding partner of Schultz & Myers law firm. I'm going to address a question we get a lot from our clients and from new callers as well, and that is, "Is my personal injury settlement taxable in Missouri?"

Now, the answer to that question is going to vary on a few things, but I want to start by saying this; Any time you're expecting a settlement, always run that by a qualified accountant.

Typically, personal injury settlements are not taxable. If you are receiving compensation for medical bills or damages, you won't have to pay taxes on it.

However, if you missed work because of your injuries and were compensated for it, wages are income. You MAY have to pay taxes on that income. This is because it would have been taxed if you were to have gotten it as a paycheck.

Of course, in personal injury law, taxes will vary on a case by case basis, so you'll really want to talk to an accountant about your taxes.

Hi, i'm Josh Myers, Attorney at Schultz & Myers. Today I want to talk a little bit about a question we get a lot which is "should you, or do you have to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company"

So, I hear the same story all the time from new clients or people calling in. They've been in a car accident and all of a sudden the other person's insurance agent or their insurance adjuster is calling them up and they're being very nice and very sweet, and telling them it will be okay and they'll take good care of them. And that always then leads into the next step which is "hey, let me take this quick recorded statement for the file."

That's the trick. That's where they get you.

You are NEVER required to give anyone a recorded statement, and there's nothing by law that even allows them to take a recorded statement. In fact, what they're doing, their sole purpose, is to get you down on record as saying whatever.

Sometimes, they will even try and coach you and ask you leading questions along the way, and you are being very casual in your answers, and you're not really thinking much about it.

What you don't realize is they are trying to twist up your words so that maybe even 6 months, a year down the road, they can come back and use that statement against you.

So the answer is no. YOU NEVER HAVE TO GIVE ANYONE A RECORDED STATEMENT. And they know that. They'll try to press you for it, but you need to be firm with that.

It affects nothing. it doesn't get them out of having to pay for your car repair or for your injuries or lost wages. It is solely just a tactic by them to get you to say as much as you can, so that they can later use it against you.

So, we always recommend to all our clients NEVER GIVE A RECORDED STATEMENT.

So, if you've been in a crash, and you have any questions, feel free to call us at 314.444.4444 or email info@schultzmyers.com

Hi, I'm Josh Myers, Personal Injury attorney and founding partner of Schultz & Myers Law Firm. Today I'm going to talk to you about a little known website called FACEBOOK.

One of the biggest problems I see plaguing our clients and other personal injury clients is the use of Facebook. If you've been injured, and you're making any kind of claim, or being represented by a lawyer, do yourself a favor and SHUT DOWN YOUR FACEBOOK.

Here's a real life example from one of my own cases recently. A client of mine had several back surgeries, and all of a sudden, I get some pictures from the defense in the mail. And these pictures are of my client on vacation, smiling, not doing anything overly active, in fact, she mentioned this vacation was pretty rough on her, but in the pictures, she's looking like she's having a good time.

That's all the defense made their case on from there on out, and it was very powerful; they say a pictures worth a thousand words, and in this case it may have cost her several thousand dollars. I'm certain to this day that the insurance company would have paid more money if it weren't for those pictures.

Bottom line, Facebook can be used against you. Don't even think that by making it private, you can avoid it. Defense lawyers are sending us requests all the time, asking you to print out everything on your Facebook. I don't think that should be allowable, but judges are letting it happen. So take my advice, if you're in a personal injury case, SHUT IT DOWN. Delete it completely during the duration of your case. You can always set it back up when the case is settled.

If you have any other questions about personal injury, give us a call at 314.444.4444, or visit us at http://www.schultzmyers.com.

To put it simply, having a Facebook can wreck your personal injury case. learn more at http://www.schultzmyers.com

Hi, I'm attorney Josh Myers. Today I want to talk to you about an issue which is you've slipped or fell and hurt yourself on someone else's property and the insurance company has told you that they're gonna pay for your medical bills.

So, the question is "now that the insurance company is paying for medical bills, does that mean they are accepting fault for my injuries?"

And, generally, the answer to that is no.

What most people don't realize, and what the insurance companies don't generally there is a type of coverage which usually applies on every property that's called medical payments coverage.

And medical payments coverage is a type of insurance coverage that reimburses you for your medical bills if you get hurt on that property regardless of whether anyone was at fault, or if anyone was negligent, anything like that.

So If i come over to your house, and I fall, break my ankle, your insurance company will reimburse me for my medical bills up to a specified amount. Usually $1,000-$3,000.

And, so when you get hurt on someone's property and the insurance company says "hey we'll pay for your medical bills" DON'T assume that means that they are accepting liability, or assume that they are recognizing that it was someone else's fault for your injuries and they'll be somehow paying you more money later.

All they're doing is paying you under that medical payments coverage.

Now, a lot of times, they won't tell you that because they want you to think that they are accepting liability and that there'll be more money to come down the road for pain and suffering, loss of wages, things like that.

They want you to believe that. They think, if you're under that assumption, you wont hire an attorney right away and they want you to stretch that out as long as possible and make all these little mistakes along the way. All the little land mines that they look for people to fall into.

Just because the insurance company is paying your medical payments under the medical payments coverage, again it's usually just a small amount and will cap out at or 2 thousand dollars. That doesn't mean that there's more coming down the line. They will not gratuitously just offer you money like that.

If you ever have any questions about such a situation or anything i've said today, always feel free to call us. Our number is easy to remember it's 314.444.4444. or email info@schultzmyers.com

Hi, I'm Stephen Schultz and you're watching Ask Schultz & Myers. Today I'm going to answer the question "what kind of claim can I make if I can't work after an accident?"

http://www.schultzmyers.com/personal-injury

Well, there are two things we can do. Number one is we can make what's called a loss of earning capacity claim, and the second is to just make a wage loss claim.

So a wage loss claim is if you missed work after the crash or accident, even if you took vacation time, we can still get reimbursement from the car insurance company to pay you for the time your vacation time, as well as vacation time you had to take, or any time you weren't paid.

The second thing we can do is the loss of earning capacity claim. That arises when you have a permanent injury that prohibits your ability to make what's called gainful income.

So in that situation, if you can't work in the future because you're so badly injured, we can file a future loss of earning capacity claim. Either way, those take documents, they take experts.

So if you have a crash or an accident where you are injured to the extent that you miss work, please call us. We'll be sure to gather the evidence to make that claim and how to make it. Our number is 314.444.4444.