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When you are injured in an accident, the last thing you should be worrying about is legal fees. At Schmittgens Injury Law Firm, Rob handles every case on a contingency basis. You pay nothing up front and no fees at all until Rob wins. That commitment removes the financial barrier that keeps too many injured people from getting the representation they deserve. Se habla español.
Rob has spent a decade practicing personal injury law, guiding clients from the first call all the way through resolution. He founded Schmittgens Injury Law Firm after nearly ten years working at St. Louis-area practices, handling cases like car accidents, trucking collisions, dog bites, pedestrian accidents, and serious injuries. Whether your accident happened last week or you have been dealing with an insurance company for months, Rob brings the same diligent, hands-on approach to every case he takes. If you were hurt in St. Louis, Rob is ready to get to work.
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Choosing the right personal injury lawyer changes everything about how your case goes. Here is what sets Schmittgens Injury Law Firm apart.
Rob has spent ten years exclusively representing injured people, never insurance companies or corporations. He has handled cases from intake through resolution at multiple St. Louis-area firms before founding his own. That means he knows how these cases are built and won.
Rob takes every case on a contingency basis. He advances the costs of building and prosecuting your case out of pocket, and his firm only gets paid when you do. There are no upfront fees, no hourly billing, and no financial surprises.
At Schmittgens Injury Law Firm, Rob is your lawyer throughout the entire process. He is not a figurehead who passes your file to a paralegal. When you call, you reach the person actually working your case.
Schmittgens Injury Law Firm represents personal injury clients in St. Louis and surrounding communities throughout Missouri and Illinois. Wherever your accident happened in the greater metro area, Rob is ready to help. Contact him for a free consultation today.
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Most injury claims trace back to a handful of recurring causes. From crashes on I-64 to hazards on commercial properties, the same patterns of negligence appear again and again across St. Louis. Below are the ones we see most often in our practice.
Alcohol and drug impairment remain leading factors in fatal Missouri crashes. These cases sometimes support punitive damages on top of compensatory damages.
Texting, scrolling, eating, and adjusting GPS while behind the wheel. A driver looking down for five seconds at 55 mph travels the length of a football field without watching the road.
Speed reduces reaction time and multiplies crash forces. It also makes injuries worse when crashes do happen.
Cars with bad airbags, household products that malfunction, and tools that fail unexpectedly. These cases often involve product liability claims against manufacturers.
Owners who let dangerous dogs roam or fail to restrain known biters. Missouri law gives victims strong recourse in these cases.
Wet floors without warning signs, broken handrails, ice that hasn’t been cleared. Property owners owe visitors a duty of reasonable care, and breaches show up in slip and fall cases regularly.
Hours of service violations, inadequate maintenance, improperly loaded cargo. Federal regulations govern much of this and create additional avenues of liability.
Apartment complexes, parking garages, and businesses can be liable when foreseeable harm occurs because security was lacking.
Personal Injury Lawyer St. Louis, MO
If you’ve been hurt in an accident in St. Louis, you may be eligible for compensation, and our team is here to help you.
Schmittgens Injury Law Firm represents injured people across the St. Louis area. Our founder, Rob Schmittgens, has spent the last decade handling personal injury cases from intake through resolution. When we serve as your St. Louis, MO personal injury lawyer, we take over the parts of the process that drain your time and energy: the calls with adjusters, the collection of medical records, the determination of fault. You focus on getting better. We handle the rest. Schedule a free consultation to talk through what happened.
Rob Schmittgens has spent ten years representing injured people. Before founding the firm, he handled personal injury and workers’ compensation cases at several St. Louis area firms, taking files from initial intake through final resolution. He’s seen what insurance companies do at every stage of a claim, which means he knows where they push, where they bluff, and where they actually pay.
Rob is admitted in Missouri, Illinois, and the Eastern District of Missouri, which lets us handle cases on both sides of the river without referring them out to other firms.
We have helped clients recover millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. Recoveries cover medical bills, future care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. We handle every personal injury case on a contingency fee, which means no money out of your pocket up front and no fee unless we win.
Rob is a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, both organizations focused on advancing the rights of injured plaintiffs. He also belongs to the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.
A few things shape almost every case we handle.
Most cases follow a similar timeline, though the duration varies based on injury severity and how cooperative the insurer is.
Bring whatever you have. We can fill in the gaps later, but the more you bring to the first meeting, the faster we can evaluate your case.
Plan on the consultation lasting 30 to 60 minutes. We’ll explain your options, answer your questions, and tell you honestly whether we think you have a case worth pursuing.
If you’ve been injured in the St. Louis area, contact us to schedule a free consultation. We handle every personal injury matter on a contingency basis, so there are no fees unless we win your case. During the consultation we’ll review what happened, walk you through the next steps, and answer your questions about what your case might be worth. We respond promptly to inquiries and can usually meet within a few days.
If you have questions after an accident, you are not alone. Here are answers to what Rob hears most from injured clients across the St. Louis area.
Generally, five years from the date of injury for most personal injury claims, under RSMo 516.120. Wrongful death claims have a three-year deadline. Medical malpractice has a two-year statute of limitations. Claims against government entities can be much shorter, sometimes 90 days. Don’t wait. Evidence disappears and witnesses become harder to find.
Yes! Absolutely. Both Missouri and Illinois follow the “egg shell plaintiff” rule. This is a legal theory which states that a Defendant (the person responsible for your injuries) must take you as you come and they cannot claim that you were already injured as a defense to your claims for damages.
Pre-existing conditions can affect the total value of your case but they are only one of the factors we consider in evaluating your case. Give us a call to discuss your case and how your prior injury may impact your current claim.
Every personal injury case is unique and our goal is to maximize your recovery. This means it’s impossible to put a specific timeline on the conclusion of your case.
In every case, our office will investigate the insurance coverage that is available to you and all potentially liable parties. While we investigate your case, you will need time to recover from your injuries with the advice and recommendations of respected medical doctors.
Once you have been released from medical care and we have conducted a thorough investigation, we will be able to negotiate a settlement on your behalf or file a lawsuit against all potentially liable parties. Ultimately, in consultation with you, we will take all necessary steps to resolve your case with the aim to maximize your recovery.
It’s hard to evaluate a case without seeing all the evidence and we believe any lawyer or law firm telling you how much your case is worth before they have done any work on the case is just trying to get you to sign a contract. That is why we do not determine value until we have ample evidence to evaluate your case.
At our firm, we determine the value of the case based on three primary factors: liability (who is responsible for injury), injuries and the treatment for those injuries (how much medical care was necessary to get you feeling better), and the available insurance (some policies have more coverage than others).
In every case, we seek to maximize the recovery for our client, but we are limited by the three factors mentioned above. As soon as you hire our firm, we will investigate your claim and help you get the necessary medical care you need.
Once your medical treatment has been completed and we have investigated the available coverage(s), we will be able to give you a better idea of how much we believe your case is likely worth. Give us a call to get your case started and we will do everything we can to maximize your case.
ABSOLUTELY YES. At our firm, we utilize contingency fee agreements, meaning that we do not get paid unless we win your case! We understand that your personal injury case almost certainly has caused significant financial hardship on you and your family. The last thing we want to do is add to the stress, that is why we take every case on a contingency so that you do not have to worry about paying us for our services.
We advance all of the costs of pursuing your case; collecting records, hiring investigators, filing fees, etc., and you do not and will not owe us a dime unless and until we win your case. Moreover, we guarantee that our fees will never exceed your share of the recovery, regardless of the circumstances.
Car accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and workplace accidents are some of the most types of personal injury cases. If you can prove that your injuries were someone else’s fault, you likely have a case.
The most frequent basis for compensation is through a legal theory called “negligence.” Negligence has four elements and you must prove all of them to win your case. The four elements of negligence are:
While negligence is the most common way to pursue a personal injury claim, it is not the only way. For a more complete explanation and analysis of your situation, contact our office for a free case evaluation.
Sometimes you don’t, particularly if injuries are minimal and the insurance company offers fair value quickly. But “minor” injuries sometimes turn out to be more serious, especially soft tissue injuries and whiplash that take days to fully present. A free consultation costs you nothing and helps you make an informed decision.
Yes. Rob is licensed in Missouri and Illinois and handles cases throughout the metro area, including St. Louis County, St. Charles County, and Metro East Illinois.
You can still recover. Missouri uses pure comparative fault, which means even a plaintiff who is 80 percent at fault can recover 20 percent of their damages. Insurance companies often try to inflate your share of fault to reduce what they pay. We push back on those tactics.
Economic damages like medical bills, lost wages, and future care. Non-economic damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. In some cases, punitive damages when the defendant’s conduct was particularly egregious.
Legal insights and resources from a St. Louis personal injury lawyer helping injured clients understand their rights and options after an accident.
Your consultation is free and you pay nothing until Rob wins.