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St. Francois County, MO

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Posted by Emily Herr on March 23, 2022

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Francois County, MO

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Francois County, MO. We love our pet dogs and may even go so far as to call them members of our family or fellow staff members. A lot of us have pet dogs in St. Francois County, MO and interacting with any dog can bring us a lot of joy. However, dogs are animals and cannot communicate with us verbally. Whether they felt threatened, were sick or for one reason or another were prompted to act on their instincts to attack, when a dog bites you, you should be given a recovery. There are St. Francois County and Missouri laws in place and many things responsible pet owners can do to mitigate the risk of an attack, but dog bites and dog bite injuries still take place in St. Francois County, MO. When it happens to you or a loved one, it is our job to ensure that you get a fair recovery.

If your or your family member has been injured in a dog bite incident, contact Combs Waterkotte today at (314) 900-HELP. Our St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyers represent each case fervently and with great care and dedication. You did not deserve to be injured and you should not have to deal with the consequences on your own. Missouri law provides a path for you to recover full compensation for the full extent of the losses you have suffered as a result of the attack, but for a chance to receive the full value of your damages, you will likely need an experienced St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer standing by you. Our distinguished team of attorneys have the experience and resources to get you full compensation that will restore you after been harmed. Discuss your St. Francois County, MO case with Combs Waterkotte for free today. Start your recovery by contacting us now.

What compensation can my St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer help me receive?

Every dog bite injury case in the St. Francois County, MO area is unique and you are likely to experience anxiety and uncertainly about your case after being injured by a dog. The amount in damages you could recover in your St. Francois County, MO dog bite case ranges anywhere from $10,000 in bites that cause minor but evident injuries to easily over $100,000 for bites that result in severe, long-term damage and costly medical bills. However, to find out the possible settlement amount you can expect to receive in your St. Francois County, MO dog bite claim, you must speak to a qualified St. Louis dog bite injury lawyer like the attorneys of Combs Waterkotte. Your compensation depends, in addition to other factors, on how extensive and debilitating your injuries and other damages are.

Damages you can recover in a dog bite injury case in St. Francois County, MO include:

  • Medical costs
    • Ambulance bill
    • Emergency room fees
    • Hospital stay costs
    • Doctors’ bills
    • Surgery
  • Costs of treatment
    • Prescriptions
    • Physical therapy, chiropractic, and other outpatient care
    • Mental health counseling
  • Physical pain
  • Emotional and psychological suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Lost wages
  • Lost future earning capacity
  • Loss of benefits

The total sum you recover is determined by a combination of a variety of factors, including whether you hire an experienced St. Francois County, MO lawyer. It is important to note that a Combs Waterkotte dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO will only agree to represent you if they can add value to your case and help you recover more than you could by yourself. This includes our contingency-fee model, which means that your Combs Waterkotte St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer will not charge you anything unless we win your case. Then, at the end of the case, we collect a percent of your full settlement. That means our experienced dog bite injury lawyers in the St. Francois County, MO area work on your case at no out-of-pocket costs to you. You have nothing to lose by contacting our St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer team about your case to find out if we can help.

How much can I get for my case with a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO?

The average dog bite injury settlement is about $40,000 for a “severe but typical dog bite injury”, while dog bites that leave disfiguring scars settle for closer to $100,000 and dog bites that result in permanent disability can settle for over $200,000.

Unfortunately, these numbers are not guarantees for your particular case outcome. Because your recovery depends on the unique circumstances and characteristics of your individual case, you need to speak to a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO. Turn to the St. Francois County, MO dog bite attorneys of Combs Waterkotte and contact us to review your dog bite injury case today.

Factors That Influence Your Settlement in a Dog Bite Case

The following factors determine the value of your case:

  • You have scarring or are disfigured as a result of the dog bite.
  • Your injuries have caused permanent disability.
  • Your dog bite injuries necessitated emergency medical attention.
  • You had to receive surgery or other significant medical treatments for your injuries.
  • You required mental health treatment for the psychological injuries you suffered due to the dog bite.

These are all facts of your case that your Combs Waterkotte St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer will work diligently to get to the bottom of and prove. We dedicate our full resources to trracking down evidence, examining liability and building an infallible argument to get you an excellent outcome in your St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury claim.

Beyond the circumstances of the accident and the severity of your injuries, the total compensation your St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer can secure for you will also depend on other factors, such as:

  • What party or parties are liable for the dog bite
  • The insurance coverage policy limits
  • The sum of the economic damages you have suffered as a result of the bite, including the total cost of all of your medical expenses
  • How your dog bite injury lawyer assesses and calculates your non-economic damages
  • How effectively your dog bite injury lawyer negotiates and how resistant the defendant is

Average settlements in dog bite attacks and other personal injury cases are threefold for plaintiffs who hire a dog bite injury lawyer for representation than for those in dog bite cases who attempt to reach a settlement on their own. Discover how Combs Waterkotte can help you collect a higher, more just settlement in your St. Francois County, MO dog bite case by reaching us at (314) 900-HELP today to go over your case with a knowledgeable St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer.

St. Francois County, MO Dog Bite Injury Lawyer: Who Is Liable

To settle your case at a sum that makes you whole after the losses you have suffered following a dog bite incident, you will need to work with your St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer to figure out who is legally responsible for the damages you have suffered and, thus, who to hold accountable for your suffering.

The idea of liability in a dog bite or any personal injury case describes who is at fault for your losses. A knowledgeable dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO with Combs Waterkotte is well-acquainted with Missouri law and has first-hand experience with a variety of situations related to liability in dog bites and other personal injury cases. We will make sure we hold the right people accountable and make sure they pay for the damages you have experienced.

In Missouri, Revised Statute Section 273.036 puts into effect a practice of strict liability in dog bite injury cases. Strict liabillity is a legal policy that names a party accountable — in this case, the dog owner — regardless of fault or intention. That means that your St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury attorney does not need to show that the dog owner was negligent or had the dog attack you on purpose. In your Missouri dog bite injury case, you only need to show that you were injured and that the owner’s dog bit you. Specifically, the Missouri statute lays out that the St. Francois County or Missouri dog bite owner is liable for your injuries if:

  • you were injured by a dog bite;
  • you were on the property lawfully when you were bitten (in other words, you were not trespassing); and
  • you did nothing to provoke the dog to attack.

If you were not trespassing and a dog bit you unprovoked, your Combs Waterkotte dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO can get you a fair settlement in your strict liability claim against the dog’s owner, and most of the time it is the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance that pays out the settlement for your damages. However, there may be other types of liability and parties who are to blame for your dog bite injures, too.

  • Negligence: You may have a negligence claim if a person was negligent, either in their actions or failure to act, in their duty to keep you safe. Someone who allows a dog to run free through the neighborhood unsupervised or fails to crate their anxious dog when strangers or children visit their home could be considered negligent and your Combs Waterkotte dog bite injury lawyer can fight to hold them accountable in a negligence case. If a property owner or landlord was aware of but neglected to fix a broken fence and a tenant’s dog got out of the property and bit someone, the landlord may be negligent.
  • Negligence per se: Negligence per se is when a party is legally liable by the act of breaking a law. Rather than proving that the defendant did not act with care as a reasonable person would, your St. Francois County, MO dog bite lawyer can show that the person is liable for your injuries because of the simple fact that they broke a law that was meant to protect you. For example, some cities and municipalities have laws that require owners to keep their dogs on leashes or prohibit dogs from being on others’ properties without permission from the property owner. If the person in possession of the dog violated one of these rules and their dog bit you, ask your attorney about a possible case of negligence per se.

Who is responsible for my dog bite injuries?

Due to the potential for negligence claims outside of Missouri’s strict liability policy, you may have a case against other parties other than the owner of the dog. Depending on the circumstances of the parties that were present, where the bite occurred, and how the parties behaved, your dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO may build a case against other parties in your St. Francois County, MO dog bite case, such as:

  • Landlords
  • Stores
  • Employers
  • Government organizations
  • Dog walkers
  • Places of business where dogs are present, such as pet stores, dog daycare facilities, etc.

If you or someone you love were bitten by a dog but you believe that additional parties share the blame or that the owner has more blame than strict liability covers, act right away and speak to a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO about your case as soon as possible. Combs Waterkotte has a team of exceptional St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury attorneys willing to fight for your recovery and hold the right parties accountable. You did not deserve to be attacked or harmed, and you should be allowed to recover through all avenues of compensation Missouri law provides. The legal team at Combs Waterkotte will get you a just recovery. Call us now at (314) 900-HELP.

Our St. Francois County, MO attorneys can help you seek justice in any type of personal injury or criminal case. The types of cases we take on include but are not limited to:

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Francois County, Missouri: Hire a Lawyer Now

When you or a loved one are suddenly thrown off course by way of an unexpected dog bite injury, a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Francois County, MO with Combs Waterkotte will work hard to bring you justice. A dog bite can be quite traumatic, often leaving you with lasting physical and mental scars that can have a significant impact on your life. Give yourself a chance to receive the recovery you deserve by consulting with an accomplished St. Francois County, MO dog bite injury lawyer today.

As your dog bite injury lawyer, we make it our mission to secure just compensation for you after suffering the harm of something like a dog bite attack. After being bitten and injured by a dog, call Combs Waterkotte right away at (314) 900-HELP or send us a message to learn how we can help you with your case.

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