A negligent driver may change your life forever. After a car wreck, you may have significant damages like physical injuries, lost wages, pain, suffering, and emotional distress. You may also be unsure of how to get compensation for the injuries that someone has caused you or what to do next. A Kansas City car accident lawyer from Kopit Law Firm can help.
The insurance company for the negligent driver will almost always attempt to contact you shortly after the wreck. They may ask for your information, medical treatment, bills, pictures, or even attempt to have you give a recorded statement about what happened. They may ask you open-ended questions like “Are you okay?”
These are all strategies insurance companies use to get information that they can later attempt to use against you. You are encouraged to seek legal representation as soon as possible and avoid speaking to the at-fault driver’s insurance company until you consult with a lawyer.
It’s equally commonplace for insurance companies to offer extremely low settlements in the days or weeks immediately following a crash, hoping that you’ll take the offer without consulting a lawyer first. They know that accident victims who haven’t yet sought legal representation are more likely to accept low offers that don’t cover 100% of their damages. You don’t need to fall prey to these tactics. Partner with a lawyer who can protect your rights.
If you’ve been injured or a loved one has been killed in a motor vehicle crash, you should consult with Kopit Law Firm immediately. We can:
Working with a Kansas City car accident attorney is the most effective way to advocate for yourself following a motor vehicle crash. You’re more likely to receive a fair settlement if you work with a lawyer to file your claim. Kopit Law Firm is known for offering aggressive representation for their clients and leveling the playing field against insurance carriers.
Often times we get calls from people that have received low-ball offers from insurance companies or sometimes no offers at all. We work hard to build your case, present your story, and secure much higher recoveries than if you were to do it alone. While there are no official reports, it is estimated that people who are represented by a lawyer get three to four times more compensation for their injuries than doing it alone. Why? Because corporations and insurance companies understand that most people do not know how the process works and have little recourse if an insurance company does not treat them fairly. By contrast, when you work with Kopit Law Firm, insurance companies may understand that if we cannot resolve your case amicably, then we have the knowledge and means to file a lawsuit.
Driver error is the leading cause of car accidents, by far. Common sources of driver error include:
You’ll need to prove that the liable driver was acting negligently in order to recover. You can do this by reconstructing the accident with the help of your lawyer and, if necessary, an accident reconstruction expert. You can also use eyewitnesses to the crash. Your lawyer can also use evidence such as cell phone logs, surveillance videos, and photographs of the accident site to show that driver error caused your accident.
In some cases, accidents are caused not by drivers themselves, but by motor vehicle manufacturers or Municipalities. If road conditions, such as potholes, inadequate signage, or poor maintenance, played a role, you may be able to hold the municipal authority responsible for maintaining the roads liable. If design or manufacturing defects caused the crash or your injuries, the automobile manufacturer may bear responsibility.
The extent of the injuries you sustain during a car wreck will depend on the nature of the wreck and what kind of safety features your car has. Accidents involving large commercial vehicles and those that involve high speeds are some of the most likely to cause catastrophic injuries, but you can file a claim against the liable driver even if you didn’t sustain a life-altering injury. Some of the most common car wreck injuries include:
Severe injuries can cause lasting medical complications, including permanent disability.
There are several steps you need to take immediately after a car wreck to protect both your health and that of your potential legal claim. You should always prioritize getting necessary medical care as quickly as possible, but if you’re able to move around the scene of the crash while you wait for the police to arrive, you can also collect evidence in the form of photographs of the scene and witness statements.
Once the police arrive at the scene, you should take the time to make an official statement. Stick to the facts when talking to investigating officers, and don’t speculate about the cause of the crash.
After the police have given you permission to leave the scene, you should make plans to have your car towed, as leaving this task to local law enforcement can lead to unnecessary storage fees. At that point, you’re ready to leave the scene and head to the hospital.
You should make sure you get a full medical exam following the crash, even if you don’t believe you’ve sustained severe injuries. Some injuries take a while to show symptoms, and you want to have evidence that they occurred during the car crash, not some time afterward.
Once you’ve been medically stabilized, it’s time to call a car accident lawyer. You should hire a lawyer before you sign anything coming from the liable party’s insurance company or accept any settlement offer – or even before speaking to them at all. Your attorney can make sure your rights and interests are protected, advocating for you and negotiating a fair settlement on your behalf.
While you’re waiting for your claim to move forward, you should avoid talking about the crash to anyone other than your lawyer and should not post on social media. Insurance adjusters often times try to search social media to see your condition, your posts, and spy on you.
You’re required to file a car accident report in Missouri either immediately if it involves a fatality or property damage exceeding $500, by calling the police from the scene of the accident, or by yourself within 30 days of the crash.
It doesn’t take much to reach $500 worth of property damage on vehicles, so it’s generally worth calling the police to report the accident immediately. Doing so will also give you access to the official police accident report, which can act as valuable evidence in your eventual car accident claim.
When law enforcement arrives at the scene of a car accident, they will take control of the situation, make sure everyone is safe, and write a police report. Try to remain calm and be polite while conveying your side of the story and stick to the facts. Some of the information the officer will collect to file their report includes:
Law enforcement officers are not usually witnesses to the accident, so these reports can’t determine fault by themselves. Instead, insurance adjusters analyze the data presented in police reports to determine who caused the accident.
You’ll need to obtain a copy of the police report for your insurance claim. This can be done by contacting the Police Department that responded to the scene. However, if you hire an attorney, the attorney usually does this for you. You can also request a copy of your highway crash report online in some jurisdiction in Missouri
Most people’s primary concern is who will pay for the damages. That’s where fault and liability come in. In Missouri and Kansas the liable party is responsible for paying for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages sustained by crash victims.
The current minimum liability insurance requirements for car accidents in Missouri and Kansas are:
Kansas also requires every driver to carry at least $4,500 per person for medical expenses called Personal Injury Protection benefits. These are no fault benefits that you can utilize regardless of who was at fault to start paying and getting medical treatment. The amount of compensation you receive may be affected in part by how much liability insurance the at-fault driver was carrying. However, Missouri and Kansas also require drivers to carry uninsured motorist coverage. If you were hit by an uninsured motorist, you should be covered up to $25,000 for bodily injuries per person and up to $50,000 for bodily injuries per accident.
In any wreck, fault must be apportioned between the parties involved. Kansas courts allow litigants to use the “empty chair” defendant meaning that fault can be apportioned to non-parties in the case. Missouri requires that fault be apportioned only to the named parties. Kansas follows a modified comparative fault system that provides that a plaintiff may recover damages in a negligence action only if their fault is less than the combined fault of the defendants. Specifically, if the Plaintiff’s negligence is 50% or greater, recovery is barred. If the Plaintiff’s negligence is less than 50% the damages awarded are reduced in proportion to the percentage of fault attributed to the Plaintiff, if any.
Missouri employed a “pure” comparative fault system. Under this system, a plaintiff’s contributory fault does not bar recovery, regardless of the percentage of fault to the plaintiff. Instead, the plaintiff’s damages are reduced in proportion to their percentage of fault. Moreover, with some exception, if a defendant is found to bear 51% or more of fault, they are jointly and severally liable for the entire judgment. However, if a defendant’s fault is less than 51%, they are only severally liable for their proportionate share of the damages.
Accident victims are entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages in Kansas and Missouri. You may also be awarded punitive damages, depending on the circumstances of your crash.
Some of the damages in your car accident are sum certain. These economic damages can include:
Other types of damages are harder to quantify. These non-economic damages include things like pain and suffering, mental anguish, and emotional distress. Your lawyer can help you understand and evaluate the true cost of your economic and non-economic damages to make sure you aren’t missing out on a full settlement. Or that you present the strongest case for damages to a jury.
It is difficult to estimate exactly how much a car accident claim will be worth without understanding all the particulars of the accident, including who was liable for it and how severe the injuries it caused were. The factors that influence car accident settlement amounts include:
Many car accident claims are settled outside of court. Insurance companies often use what’s known as the multiplier method to get a general idea of how much a claim might be worth. To do this, the adjuster totals up the car accident claimant’s medical bills and then multiplies the resulting number by a factor of between one and five to get an estimated value of harder-to-quantify non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.
The adjuster then adds all of the damages together to arrive at an overall estimate of how much the claim is worth. However, this is a not a rule. Furthermore, at Kopit Law Firm, we do not let insurance companies value your claims. Instead, we prepare your case and present the strongest facts to the insurance company to determine whether case can be settled outside of court. We do detailed investigations into your case and have a general idea of what similar cases have settled for in the past. Factors that can raise or lower the multiplier used to estimate non-economic damages can include:
Your attorney can help estimate what the fair value of your case is. They then use this figure as a benchmark when negotiating with the insurance company. Ultimately, it is up to you on whether you chose to settle your claim pre-suit with an insurance company or proceed with filing a lawsuit in court.
The statute of limitations or deadline for filing a car accident claim that occurred in Missouri is five years from the date of the wreck and two years in Kansas. You shouldn’t wait until years have passed to contact a Kansas City car accident attorney, though. You can benefit from starting to work with a lawyer to file your claim as soon as possible while evidence is still easy to find and your recollections are clear. Moreover, if the case has to be filed, it will take an attorney some time to prepare the filings. Therefore, it is always encouraged to contact a lawyer immediately.
Get the help you need. Start with your free consultation.
Call Us: (816) 878-4400
A: A car accident can cause spinal stenosis. The high-impact trauma from the accident can injure your spine in ways that narrow the spinal column, causing herniated discs, vertebral fractures, or dislocations. These injuries can, in turn, lead to an acute narrowing of the spinal canal or foraminal openings, which places pressure on nerves and results in the pain, numbness, and tingling associated with spinal stenosis.
A: You should never admit fault after a car accident because the liable party’s insurance company can use it as a reason to deny your claim or significantly reduce the amount of compensation you are able to receive. Avoid even seemingly innocuous statements like politely apologizing to the other driver, as these can be construed as admitting fault.
A: Generally, yes. Many people who are involved in a car wreck may have a medical history that started before the accident occurred. They get into an accident, and now their condition has worsened or become aggravated. Missouri and Kansas allow you to recover damages if a pre-existing condition is aggravated or made more severe by the negligent act of another.
A: Sleep apnea can be caused by a car accident if you sustained neck trauma, whiplash, or a traumatic brain injury. All of these injuries can disrupt your central nervous system or cause damage to the physical structures of your airway, leading to either central or obstructive sleep apnea. Existing sleep apnea can also be worsened by the injuries sustained in a car accident.
If you retain the Kopit Law Firm after a car wreck, your attorney can start collecting evidence and building your case. In fact, once you retain a lawyer, neither the auto insurance company nor its lawyers are permitted to speak to you directly about your injuries or bodily injury claim. Instead, your lawyer advocates on your behalf and keeps you informed every step of the way. You focus on getting the medical help and recovery you need.
Whether through negotiations with an auto insurance company or through filing a lawsuit, Michael Kopit at Kopit Law Firm pursues the compensation you deserve based on the facts and the law of the claim/case.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, don’t face the aftermath alone. Call the Kopit Law Firm or contact the firm online for a free consultation.
Fields marked with an * are required
"*" indicates required fields
Disclaimer: The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. The information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Contacting us through this website does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent using this website. The information you obtain on this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. By contrast, it is provided for informational purposes only. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Kopit Law Firm expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all contents of this website. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in the future – each case must be judged by its own merits.
Copyright © 2026 Kopit Law Firm. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy. Digital Marketing By: 
*Images are obtained under license from Canva and other third-party stock image providers, with attribution included where required.
