Motor vehicle accidents—car crashes, SUV rollovers, car-truck collisions, motorcycle crashes, tractor-trailer accidents, and post-collision fuel-fed fires—are the most common cause of serious and fatal injuries in Kansas and across the nation.  These accidents can change lives in an instant and require an experienced Kansas City and Johnson County personal injury attorney to handle them properly.

If you have been injured because of the reckless or negligent actions of another driver, or from a defective car part such as defective brakes, defective seat belt, or defective airbag, you may have a personal injury claim for compensation. Contact the Olathe law office of Jeremiah Johnson. Your initial consultation is free.

We prepare every case with the assumption we are going to court so we will be in the best position to negotiate on your behalf or take your case to trial.

Proving the Case for an Injury Claim

There are several aspects of a personal injury case that must be proven:

• Who or what caused the accident?
• Was negligence a factor?
• What were the injuries?
• What are the short- and long-term costs of those injuries?

These are the questions Kansas personal injury attorney Jeremiah Johnson will investigate in order to pursue your claim in court or in negotiations with the insurance company.

At the Law Offices of Jeremiah Johnson, we look for every available source of financial recovery for our clients. If you were driving for work purposes, we may be able to assist you with a workers’ compensation claim.

If faulty signal lights contributed to your accident, or roadway construction equipment or signage obstructed your view and contributed to your accident, we may have a claim against a construction crew or municipality. We ensure our clients achieve the full financial compensation they may be entitled to.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists

If you were injured, or a loved one died in an accident with an uninsured or under-insured motorist, you may still be able to bring a claim to recover your full damages. The claim will be brought against your own insurance company and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist policy.

What is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage?

Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (UM coverage) pays for your injuries if you are struck by a hit-and-run driver or by someone who does not have adequate insurance -- either because they have no coverage or because they do not have enough coverage -- to pay for your injuries. Normally, this type of coverage is limited to bodily injury, and it will not pay for damage to your vehicle or for other types of property damage. To get that kind of coverage, you will have to add collision coverage to your policy.

Who is usually included in my uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

Most UM coverage will pay up to your policy's UM limits for injuries caused to:

• you or a relative who lives with you, while a driver or passenger inthe vehicle named in your UM insurance policy or any other vehicle, or while a pedestrian
  
  
• anyone else driving your insured vehicle with your permission, and
  
  
• anyone else riding in the vehicle named in your insurance policy, or in any other vehicle you are driving but which you do not own.

What are the limits on my ability to collect under an uninsured/underinsured motorist provision?

UM coverage usually limits your ability to collect -- and the amount you receive -- as follows:

• If your accident involves a hit-and-run driver, you must notify the police within 24 hours of the accident.
  
  
• If your accident involves a hit-and-run driver, the driver's car must have actually hit you -- being forced off the road by a driver who disappears is not sufficient.
  
  
• Your UM coverage will be reduced by any amounts you receive under other insurance coverage, such as your personal medical insurance or any applicable workers' compensation coverage.
  
  
• If you or a relative are injured by an uninsured motorist while you are in someone else's car, your UM coverage will be secondary to the UM coverage of that other car's owner.

For more info, see our page on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

Contact our Johnson County law office for a free consultation and aggressive legal representation.

Phone: (866) 656-1268

What Is A "Statute of Limitations"

A statute of limitations is a law which places a time limit on pursuing a legal remedy in relation to wrongful conduct. After the expiration of the statutory period, unless a legal exception applies, the injured person loses the right to file a lawsuit seeking money damages or other relief.

Proliferation of Statutes

Although people often speak of "the statute of limitations", in fact there are many statutes which apply limitations periods to civil actions. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of the various statutes and their exceptions. Thus it is a very good idea for somebody who is concerned about losing their right to sue as a result of the expiration of the statutory limitations period to consult with a qualified lawyer, who can help determine which statute applies, and help preserve the right to recover damages.

Specific Civil Actions

The following periods represent a small sample of the statutory limitations periods in Missouri. Please note that it may be possible to bring multiple causes of action from a single incident of wrongful conduct, and thus even if it appears that the relevant statute of limitations has run it may remain possible to bring a different claim. Also, there may be an exception to the standard limitations period that applies to any given situation. The following list is provided by way of example. If you wish to know how the statute of limitations applies to a specific situation, you should verify the statutory time period and its relevance to your situation with a qualified Missouri lawyer.

Professional Malpractice: Medical malpractice, 2 years from the date of discovery of the act or omission giving rise to injury, to a maximum of ten years after the date of that act.

Personal Injury: For most personal injury based upon negligent conduct, 5 years. For most personal injury resulting from intentional misconduct, 2 years.

Fraud: 10 years.

Libel / Slander / Defamation: 2 years.

Injury to Personal Property: 5 years.

Product Liability: 5 years.

Contracts: 5 years. Written contract for repayment of money or property, 10 years.

Statute of Limitations or Statute of Repose

A statute of repose is different from a statute of limitations, in that after the statutory period has expired it is not possible to file a lawsuit even if an injury occurs after that time. For example, if there is a twenty year statute of repose on the manufacture of aircraft, a claim cannot be filed against the manufacturer more than twenty years after the date of manufacture, even if a design or manufacturing defect is responsible for a later accident.

Accrual of Claims

A statute of limitations is said to start running at the time a claim accrues. Ordinarily, that is the time at which an injury is suffered.

The Discovery Rule

Sometimes it is not reasonably possible for a person to discover the cause of an injury, or even to know that an injury has occurred, until considerably after the act which causes the injury. For example, an error in the drafting of a will might not be noticed until the will is being executed, decades after it was drafted, or a financial planner's embezzlement might not be noticed for years due to the issuance of false statements of account.

In Missouri, the statute of limitations starts to run when the injury suffered by the plaintiff is "capable of ascertainment." Ordinarily, that language is interpreted to mean the point in time when the plaintiff's damages are substantially complete. For a phyiscal injury, that date is ordinarily no later than the day upon which the injury was diagnosed.

Tolling of the Statute of Limitations

In addition to late discovery, it may be possible to avoid the harsh result of a statute of limitation by arguing that the statute has been "tolled". When it is said that a statute is "tolled", it means that something has stopped the statute from running for a period of time. Typical reasons for tolling a statute of limitations include minority (the victim of the injury was a minor at the time the injury occurred), mental incompetence (the victim of the injury was not mentally competent at the time the injury occurred), and the defendant's bankruptcy (the "automatic stay" in bankruptcy ordinarily tolls the statute of limitations until such time as the bankruptcy is resolved or the stay is lifted).

Under Missouri law, minors injured by medical malpractice while under the age of 8 must file a medical malpractice action by their 20th birthday.

Contractual Limitations

It is often possible to shorten a statutory limitations period by contract. For example, an employment contract might require that any claim relating to the employment relationship, including wrongful termination, be filed within one year of the claimed wrongful conduct. Courts often uphold these clauses, particularly in the context of business transactions, even though they provide for a shorter limitations period than the statute of limitations would otherwise apply.