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Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Peters, MO

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Posted by Emily Herr on March 23, 2022

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Peters, MO

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Peters, MO. We love our pet dogs and may even go so far as to call them family members or honorary coworkers. A lot of us have pet dogs in St. Peters, MO and we get a lot of joy from spending time with them. However, dogs are animals and do not have the ability to verbally communicate to us how they feel or what they are thinking. When a dog bites for whatever reason — they felt unsafe, were sick or in pain or were otherwise spurred to act on their instinct to attack — and you are hurt, you should be compensated. There are St. Peters 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 happen in St. Peters, MO. When you or someone you know becomes the victim of a dog bite, it is our job to help you recover fair compensation.

If your or your family member has been injured in a dog bite incident, call Combs Waterkotte today at (314) 900-HELP. Our St. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyers handle each case fervently and with great care and dedication. You did nothing to 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 damages and losses you have suffered as a result of your injuries, but for a chance to receive just compensation, you are going to need help from a skilled St. Peters, MO dob bite injury lawyer. Our distinguished team of attorneys have the experience and resources to make sure you are made whole again and allowed to move forward from this experience. Review your St. Peters, MO case with Combs Waterkotte for free today. Begin by contacting us now.

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

Every dog bite injury case in the St. Peters, MO area is different and it is normal to have a number of questions running through your mind after a dog hurts you. The amount in damages you could recover in your St. Peters, MO dog bite case ranges anywhere from $10,000 in bites that cause minor but demonstrable injuries to easily over $100,000 for bites that result in severe, permanent damage and costly medical care. However, to find out what kind of settlement you can recover in your St. Peters, MO dog bite injuries, you must speak to a qualified St. Louis dog bite injury lawyer like the attorneys of Combs Waterkotte. Among other considerations, the amount of compensation you can recovery depends on how extensive and debilitating your injuries and other damages are.

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

  • Medical costs
    • Ambulance bill
    • Emergency room fees
    • Hospital stay costs
    • Doctors’ bills
    • Surgery
  • Treatment costs
    • 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 final dollar amount you collect depends greatly on many variables, including whether or not you hire a lawyer in St. Peters, MO. It is important to note that a Combs Waterkotte dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, 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. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyer will not charge you anything unless we win your case. At that point, we accept payment through a percentage of your total settlement once you receive your payment. That means our experienced dog bite injury lawyers in the St. Peters, MO area work on your case at no out-of-pocket costs to you. You have nothing to lose by contacting our St. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyer team about your case to find out if we can help.

How much is my case worth if I hire a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, 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 permanent disabilities caused by dog bites can settle for over $200,000.

Unfortunately, these numbers are not guarantees for your particular case outcome. In order to understand the complexities of your unique case and learn what to expect from your recovery, you need to speak to a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, MO. Count on the St. Peters, MO dog bite attorneys of Combs Waterkotte and ask us for a free review of your dog bite injury case today.

Factors That Influence Your Settlement in a Dog Bite Case

Factors related to the dog bite that can affect the value of your claim include:

  • The dog bite leaves visible scarring or disfigurement.
  • 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 suffered psychological harm from the dog bite incident that required professional mental health treatment.

When you hire Combs Waterkotte, your St. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyer will remain committed to investigating and proving the statements above that apply in your case. We put the full weight of our resources behind collecting evidence, determining liability and building an infallible argument to make sure you get the best possible result in your St. Peters, MO dog bite injury claim.

Beyond the situation surrounding the accident and the severity of your injuries, the total compensation your St. Peters, 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 liable party’s 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 calculates the value of your non-economic damages
  • How effectively your dog bite injury lawyer negotiates and how resistant the defendant is

On average, settlements in personal injury claims like dog attacks are threefold for victims who hire a dog bite injury lawyer to represent them in their claim than for those in dog bite cases who attempt to reach a settlement without legal representation. Discover how Combs Waterkotte can help you collect a higher, more just settlement in your St. Peters, MO dog bite case by reaching us at (314) 900-HELP today to ask an experienced St. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyer about your case.

St. Peters, MO Dog Bite Injury Lawyer: Determining Who Is Liable

In order to settle your case at a sum that makes you whole after being harmed in a dog bite incident, you will need to work with your St. Peters, MO dog bite injury lawyer to determine who is legally responsible for the damages you have suffered and, thus, who to hold accountable for your suffering.

Liability in a dog bite or any personal injury case has to do with who is responsible for your losses. A knowledgeable dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, MO with Combs Waterkotte knows Missouri law and has seen many different situations regarding liability in personal injury cases including dog bite injuries. We help you hold the right people accountable and make sure they pay for the losses you have suffered.

dog bite injury lawyer St. Peters, MO | Combs Waterkotte Missouri dog bite injury lawyers

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. In application, it means that your St. Peters, MO dog bite injury attorney does not necessarily have to show that the owner of the dog that bit you was negligent or that they intentionally allowed the dog to attack you. 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. Peters or Missouri dog bite owner is legally responsible for your injuries if:

  • you were injured as a result of a dog bite;
  • you were on public property or were on a private property legally (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. Peters, MO will work to get you an excellent settlement in your strict liability claim against the owner of the dog, and most of the time it is the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance that pays out the settlement for your damages. However, you may have claims against other parties under other types of liability standards, 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 lets their dog roam the neighborhood freely or fails to crate their anxious dog when they are expecting visitors to their home could be considered negligent and your Combs Waterkotte dog bite injury lawyer will diligently hold them accountable in a negligence case. A property owner or landlord could be partly liable for your injuries in they knew or should have known about a broken latch on the gate to a normally fenced-in yard and failed to fix it, allowing a dog to get out and attack.
  • Negligence per se: Negligence per se refers to liability that is assigned automatically through the act of breaking a law. Rather than comparing the defendant’s behavior to that of a reasonable person in the same situation, your St. Peters, MO dog bite lawyer proves 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, certain 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 broke one of these rules and that dog bit you, you may have a case of negligence per se.

Who is responsible for my dog bite injury?

Because of the potential for negligence claims beyond the strict liability statute in Missouri, it is possible that you have other cases against other defendants in addition to the owner of the dog. Depending on considerations such as who was present, where the bite happened, and how the parties behaved, your dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, MO may identify additional responsible defendants in your St. Peters, MO dog bite case, such as:

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

If you or someone you love have been injured in a dog bite incident and you suspect that someone beyond the owner is to blame, or that the owner has more blame than strict liability accounts for, act right away and speak to a dog bite injury lawyer in St. Peters, MO about your case as soon as possible. Combs Waterkotte is equipped with a dedicated team of talented St. Peters, MO dog bite injury attorneys ready to fight for your recovery and make the right parties pay. You did nothing to deserve being attacked by a dog, 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. Peters, MO attorneys can help you seek justice in any type of personal injury or criminal case. Some of our practice area specialties include:

Dog Bite Injury Lawyer St. Peters, Missouri: Talk to 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. Peters, 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 affect your life in profound, unrelenting ways. You have a chance to be made whole again by consulting with an accomplished St. Peters, 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 you or someone you love have been injured by a dog bite, call Combs Waterkotte as soon as possible at (314) 900-HELP or reach us online to learn how we can help you with your case.

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