A collision caused by an intoxicated motorist brings immediate pain, sudden financial pressure, and deep frustration over a completely preventable choice. When a person decides to get behind the wheel after drinking, they break the law and put every commuter on local roads in immediate danger. Our St. Louis drunk driving accident lawyers step in to hold these reckless operators accountable while securing the financial recovery you need to heal.
Going through the legal aftermath of a severe crash involves dealing with aggressive insurance adjusters who want to settle your claim for as little as possible. These corporate representatives frequently pressure injured parties to sign quick release forms before the true extent of their physical trauma is even known. If you accept a fast, lowball offer, you forfeit your right to seek additional funding when future medical complications arise.
At Sumner Law Group, we protect your rights by taking over all communication with the insurance companies so you can focus completely on your physical rehabilitation.
Why Choose Sumner Law Group for Your Drunk Driving Case?
Sumner Law Group is trusted with serious drunk driving injury cases because our attorneys bring more than 50 years of combined experience and prepare every case for the possibility of trial.
Managing partner Brent Sumner, recognized among the Top 50 personal injury attorneys in Missouri, has built a reputation for handling complex injury litigation. The firm has secured verdicts and recoveries reaching $14.2 million and $25 million in serious injury cases.
We also offer direct communication with our lawyers; your case receives tailored strategy sessions and regular status updates directly from the lawyer handling the claim. Serious crashes do not happen on a schedule. Our team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to answer questions and provide guidance after a drunk driving accident.
Understanding Your Recovery Options Under Missouri Civil Law
The financial losses stemming from an impaired driving collision quickly become difficult to manage without legal intervention. Victims have a right to pursue multiple categories of financial damages under state law depending on how the injury affects their daily lives, long-term health, and ability to work.
The scope of your financial recovery depends heavily on the specific losses incurred during your treatment and recovery periods. We document every expense to build an accurate valuation of your claim.
| Damage Category | Type of Recovery | Legal Purpose |
| Medical Expenses | Compensatory Damages | Reimburses all emergency room visits, surgeries, medications, and future physical therapy sessions. |
| Lost Wages | Compensatory Damages | Restores the exact income, bonuses, and benefits lost due to missed time at your place of employment. |
| Earning Capacity | Compensatory Damages | May be available in limited cases involving particularly reckless or intentional misconduct. |
| Punitive Awards | Non-Compensatory Damages | Punishes the intoxicated driver for extreme recklessness and deters similar behavior in the community. |
How Intoxicated Drivers Cause Catastrophic Collisions on St. Louis Roads
Impaired motorists lack the physical coordination and cognitive judgment required to operate motor vehicles safely. Alcohol consumption slows a driver’s central nervous system, delaying their physical responses to changing road conditions, traffic stops, and merging vehicles. This impairment routinely leads to high-speed impacts because the driver fails to apply the brakes before colliding with another vehicle.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, alcohol impairment remains a leading cause of fatal traffic crashes in the United States. Alcohol affects judgment, reaction time, and coordination, which increases the risk of serious collisions.
Based on over 50 years of experience handling serious injury cases throughout the St. Louis area, impaired-driving collisions often involve higher-impact crashes because intoxicated drivers are less likely to brake, react to traffic conditions, or take evasive action before impact.
- Operating a vehicle in the wrong direction on major roadways due to impaired judgment and reduced awareness of surrounding traffic conditions.
- Failing to stop at marked intersections along major local paths such as Kingshighway Boulevard or Grand Boulevard because of diminished visual processing.
- Crashing directly into stopped or slowing traffic at high speeds because alcohol impairment eliminates normal depth perception.
- Weaving across multiple lanes of traffic on local roads without utilizing turn signals or checking mirrors.
Establishing Liability and Negligence After an Impaired Driving Crash
Missouri law requires motorists to exercise the highest degree of care while operating vehicles on public roadways, a standard that is completely violated by driving under the influence.
At Sumner Law Group, we use the police report, breathalyzer results, and officer testimonies from the initial arrest to build a strong foundation of fault. Our legal team builds strong cases by gathering specific types of evidence that tie the driver’s intoxication directly to the crash. We do not rely solely on the basic police report to establish our claims.
Specific items of evidence to build the strongest possible foundation for your civil claim include:
- Blood alcohol testing records
- Officer testimony
- Patrol vehicle video
- Vehicle black box data
What is the Missouri Dram Shop Law?
Missouri Revised Statutes Section 537.053 may allow an injury victim to pursue a claim against a business that served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person under specific circumstances. Dram shop claims are highly fact-dependent and require evidence that the establishment violated Missouri’s statutory requirements.
Our firm investigates the hours leading up to the collision to track where the driver consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel. We target specific pieces of evidence to prove a local business violated state liquor liability standards, including:
- Reviewing the timestamped transactions to determine the exact volume and timing of alcohol served to the patron.
- Subpoenaing internal video recordings to observe the driver’s physical demeanor, balance, and speech while being served.
- Analyzing timestamped photos and videos posted online that document the driver’s actions inside the venue.
- Questioning bartenders, servers, and other customers who witnessed the driver’s visible impairment firsthand.
Countering the Tactics of Insurance Adjusters After a Crash
Insurance adjusters work for multimillion-dollar corporations, and their primary job responsibility is to reduce the amount of money the company pays out on claims. Following a severe crash involving an impaired driver, these representatives may call you to express sympathy while recording the conversation. They look for any statement they can twist to claim your own actions contributed to the collision or that your injuries were pre-existing.
Insurance companies know who we are. They know Sumner Law Group prepares cases for trial and has a history of taking difficult cases into the courtroom when reasonable settlement discussions fail. That reputation affects how insurers evaluate serious injury claims.
We stop these corporate tactics immediately because once you hire our firm, all insurance communications must go through our office. First, we prevent adjusters from harassing you during your recovery. Then, we neutralize the common strategies used by corporate insurance teams to devalue or delay your valid claim:
- Premature Settlement Offers: Rejecting immediate, lowball checks that fail to account for future medical care or long-term complications.
- Exploitative Recorded Statements: Preventing adjusters from conducting leading interviews designed to get you to minimize your own physical pain.
- Unreasonable Medical Record Requests: Restricting the insurance company’s access to your lifelong medical history, stopping fishing expeditions for unrelated conditions.
- Blame Shifting Defenses: Defeating assertions that your own driving contributed to the collision despite the other driver’s absolute intoxication.
The Civil Court Process vs. The Criminal Case in Missouri
A common point of confusion for crash victims is the difference between the driver’s criminal prosecution and your personal injury lawsuit. The local state prosecutor handles the criminal case, which focuses entirely on punishing the driver with jail time, fines, or probation. Your injury claim is a completely separate civil action that focuses exclusively on securing financial compensation for your personal losses.
While these two actions proceed along separate paths, the progress of the criminal case can provide major advantages for your civil lawsuit. A criminal conviction can provide powerful evidence supporting a civil injury claim, although each civil case must still be evaluated on its own facts and evidence.
Our legal team monitors the local criminal proceedings to capture useful assets for your ongoing civil claim:
- Guilty Pleas as Admissions: Utilizing the driver’s formal courtroom guilty plea as direct, binding evidence of fault within your civil lawsuit.
- Certified Police Data: Extracting validated breathalyzer calibrations and officer narratives from the criminal case file for civil use.
- Restitution Coordination: Ensuring any court-ordered criminal restitution integrates correctly with your broader civil financial recovery strategy.
- Witness Testimony Preservation: Reviewing criminal court transcripts to lock in witness descriptions before they have a chance to change their stories.
FAQ for St. Louis Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers
What should I do immediately after being hit by a drunk driver in St. Louis?
Call law enforcement to the scene immediately so officers can document the crash and assess the other driver’s sobriety. Seek immediate medical attention at a regional trauma center like Barnes-Jewish Hospital or SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, even if you do not feel severe pain right away. Request a copy of the initial police report and avoid making any statements to the other driver’s insurance company until you speak with our firm.
Can I still pursue an injury claim if the drunk driver is not convicted in criminal court?
Yes, you can still pursue your civil claim because civil lawsuits operate under a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. Criminal courts require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas a civil personal injury claim only requires a preponderance of the evidence to prove fault. Our independent investigation can still establish liability for your medical care and lost wages even if criminal charges are reduced or dismissed.
How long do I have to file a drunk driving accident lawsuit in Missouri?
Missouri law provides a five-year statute of limitations for most personal injury claims under Missouri Revised Statutes §516.120. Missing this deadline may prevent an injured person from pursuing compensation.
Who pays for my medical bills if the intoxicated driver did not carry auto insurance?
If the impaired driver lacks active insurance, we look to your own auto policy to file an uninsured motorist claim to cover your medical care. We also investigate whether a third party, such as a local bar or restaurant, bears dram shop liability for overserving the driver before the collision occurred. Our trial attorneys exhaustively research every potential avenue of recovery to find active insurance policies that can cover your losses.
How do contingency fees work if my case requires a long courtroom trial?
The percentage structure of our contingency fee agreement remains clear from the first day you hire us, regardless of whether your claim settles early or requires a full courtroom trial. We continue to fund all litigation expenses, deposition costs, and expert fees out of our own pocket throughout the trial process. You will never receive a bill for these courtroom expenses, as our firm is only reimbursed out of the final judgment or settlement we win for you.
Contact an Experienced St. Louis Drunk Driving Trial Attorney Today
If you or a loved one suffered severe physical harm because of an intoxicated motorist’s reckless decision, you do not have to handle the financial and legal pressure alone. Sumner Law Group, LLC provides the trial-tested representation required to stand up to major insurance corporations and secure full financial compensation.
We operate on a contingency basis, meaning you pay our firm absolutely nothing upfront, and we only collect a fee if we win your case.
Our team is ready to investigate your collision, identify all liable parties, and fight for the recovery you need to move forward with your life. Call Sumner Law Group today at (314) 669-0048 or fill out our online contact form to receive your free case evaluation. You can also visit our main office located in Clayton, Missouri, at 7777 Bonhomme Ave #2100.
