Driving under the influence poses serious threat to society. Every year, drunk driving causes several injuries and fatalities not only in Missouri but the entire United States.
This legal professional has shown exceptional competence and dedication in their field. I highly recommend their services to anyone seeking legal representation that is committed to unwavering advocacy and support throughout the entirety of their case.
I would describe this lawyer as highly educated, sharp, and top of his game. Explains the car accident process and treatment options well. The lawyer said if they don’t pay you, we will have the jury take it from the insurance company. Great lawyer. Dynamic person.
Interviewed all the TV car accident lawyers and decided to call this law firm that had great reviews. So happy I did. What a difference!
Response from the owner: TV car accident lawyers are just mass production. This is not a good fit for litigated cases. Paralegals instead of lawyers. Monthly quotas for settlements. Car accident victims end up in a cattle call with the lawyers on TV.
Love my car accident lawyer. This law firm is a step above.
Response from the owner: Our lawyers train and track the best approaches on cases. Whether litigation in cases or the practicalities of certain treatment, the growth of our lawyers over time is paramount. Always staying ahead of and setting practice trends. Thank you.
Serious family member have a car accident injury? Look no further. This litigator is for real. Always two steps ahead of the other lawyer.
Response from the owner: This is a sad reality for car accident lawyers. The #1 passenger in an auto accident is a relative. Helping a family make it through this and putting the family back together is one of the most rewarding things I do as an automobile accident attorney.
This lawyer handles really big accident cases in St Louis. He is a lawyer, accountant and has his masters in tax so he gets the injury cases for individuals that can never go back to work or individuals own a business and cannot run it due to injury. He specializes in valuations of massive loss. Thank goodness a firm like this exists.
Response from the owner: Thank you. When accident are severe and you lose the ability to work or to continue a business, having an accounting and tax background is key. Valuing large losses are second nature for us.
Asked a trauma surgeon who operates on car accident victims who are the best injury lawyers that have taken his deposition. He said “by far” it was Mr Hoffmann. Interviewed several attorneys and this was a correct assessment. In a league of his own!
Response from the owner: Our attorney have deposed nearly all the trauma surgeons at every Level 1 Trauma Center in Saint Louis. These doctors save lives after a car accident. Whether controlling bleeding or reestablishing blood flow or bone structures, they are life savers.
Few lawyers in St. Louis can handle the biggest injury cases! This is one of them!
Response from the owner: Our law firm has made great efforts in terms of training to handle life changing injury cases. Whether in depth knowledge of the medical, loss of income and earning capacity, or lifetime medical care plans, our clients feel confident and know their case is in good hands. Thank you for the compliment.
Cannot say enough about this lawyer. Call if in an accident. This attorney handles the biggest car accidents in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Ash! Our biggest source of cases is our clients. Our second biggest referral source is defense lawyers telling their relatives to call us. Few lawyers can handle the largest cases. Our law firm welcomes and has trained for this. We don’t do mass production settlement like the lawyers on TV. Our clients can never go back to work. Their cases need massive focus and effort and often long fought litigation.
So glad I called attorney Hoffmann. This time I got it right! So glad I hired the Hoffmann Law Firm - professional, reliable and available.
Response from the owner: Thanks Taylor. Our lawyers answer the phone day, night, weekends and even during lunch. Being professional means training to beat the best defense lawyers. Client rely on us to get results and we do.
Great lawyer. Cares about his clients, knows his stuff and goes the extra mile. I recommend this lawyer for car wreck injury claim. Every other lawyer on TV would not even help with my property claim. This attorney did.
Response from the owner: Thank you for the kind words. Every case starts with a great client. You are correct the car accident lawyers on TV are mass production settlement mills. When injury clients fire them, we get their files and the cases are not worked up at all. Appreciate your confidence in us!
Major car accident injury in St Louis area for a family member. Four different lawyers we know said the same thing - call Chris Hoffmann. On another level.
Response from the owner: This is such a great compliment. Most of our cases come from prior client or lawyers that also do car accidents cases but the particular case is too large or too difficult. Being a lawyer and an accountant, we specialize in cases with total lost of income, earning capacity and/or often the inability to continue a family business. Evaluations such as these are second nature for our lawyers. Thanks.
Best in St Louis for auto accident cases. Nobody else is even close.
Response from the owner: So kind of you to leave this review. Whether our lawyers are going after big insurance or their lawyers, skill and experience are essential and win the day for our auto accident clients. Thanks!
This attorney is very smart, very experienced, returns phone calls and knows the answers when asked. One call and I knew this was a great law firm for auto accidents.
Response from the owner: Our law firm appreciates this. This is a comment we get from so many people who call…”none of the lawyers we called told me all the things that you did.” Whether we take a car accident case or not, helping people is a good thing.
5 Star Lawyer for sure! Best you will find in Saint Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the 5 Star Rating. Reviews like this are great. Injury victims quickly figure out the TV advertisers are not good. We work hard at being the best we can be and it reflects in our representation of car accident victims.
Watch this lawyer in action. Was way better than all the others. Get this lawyer for an automobile accident for sure.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the recommendation. Besides doing cases, our attorneys train for this. Hard work, case knowledge and technique is key to success in car accident litigation.
Very pleased with The Hoffmann Law Firm. Lawyers are attentive, friendly and go the distance to force the settlement you want. The TV lawyers recommend low offers. This law firm gets the maximum.
Response from the owner: We get calls from car accident victims that had to fire the TV lawyers that they hired. They give the same two reasons: 1) they never spoke to a lawyer at the Big TV law firms, only a paralegal, and 2) the paralegal recommended they accept a low offer. At our law firm, you only talk to the lawyer and if an offer is low we tell you to sue. Thanks!
Several lawyers said to call this lawyer because he is the best. You will appreciate this law firm. Helped with the injury and property claims. Attentive and knowledgeable. Great reputation in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Lexi. Our #1 source of cases is other lawyers referring us cases that are too big for them to handle.
Would use this accident law firm. Best in Saint Louis. Highly rated and it shows. After one phone call, you just know this attorney is better. 5 Stars!!
Response from the owner: Thanks for recommending our lawyers in St Louis. There is a major difference in lawyers as you well know.
Car accident lawyers on tv are not good . Get this attorney ! He is a pro !!
Response from the owner: Thanks Nathan. TV lawyers market for car accidents, use paralegals instead of lawyers and give their employees settlement quotas hence forcing cheap settlements. At our law firm, you get a lawyer who keeps pushing forward for more.
Quality lawyer. Best law firm for a car accident. Advice was way better than other lawyers I called in St. Louis. Helped with property and injury.
Response from the owner: Thanks. The TV lawyer advertisers are just car accident settlement mills. As soon as people call a real attorney, they always tell us how much better and more helpful we were. Appreciate this.
This lawyer is big time. Smooth. The other lawyers on the other side were not nearly as good as this attorney. I recommend friends in St Louis to him for accident injuries and they all say the same thing…”that lawyer is great.”
Response from the owner: Very nice of you to say. Our lawyers work hard on auto accident cases.
Family used this car accident attorney after a crash. Located in St Louis. This lawyer answers the phone and will walk you through the process. Knows his stuff!
Response from the owner: Taking calls, going over the car accident injury and property process is important. Clients that call always say we are the only lawyers that explained everything. Much appreciated.
Tried the lawyers on TV. They were not good. Hired this car accident lawyer instead because he had great reviews. The reviews are correct. This attorney is as good as they get. He does big injury cases that need to be litigated.
Response from the owner: Car accident lawyers on TV do not litigate cases. It is mass production. They have quotas. Local attorneys are best on auto accidents.
Used this attorney for an auto accident. Highly recommend this lawyer in St. Louis. Communicates well.
Response from the owner: Communicating with clients is essential. Taking the client though the car accident claims process is important otherwise major mistakes can occur. It is an effort that we make. Thanks!
Fantastic law firm, I would recommend! Received free consultation related to an auto accident when my parked car was damaged by a baseball. Very supportive advice, these guys are good!
I was in a car accident in St.Louis and hired Chris as my lawyer. He was amazing!!! He helped me every step of the way and was able to get me a great settlement!!!Highly, highly, highly recommend him!
Response from the owner: Each step is important in a car accident. Thanks for recommending us for car accidents injury claims.
This brings to mind the case of a St. Louis driver who just got a nine-year prison sentence for causing two accidents within a period of eight months, leading to one death and severe injury to a young girl. He was found to be driving under the influence of marijuana and alcohol.
The main factors responsible for crashes such as the ones involving the St. Louis driver have been identified to be substance abuse and addiction. At The Hoffmann Law Firm, we feel that with April being the National Alcohol Awareness Month, it is relevant to discuss action that can be taken to reduce the amount of fatalities and injuries caused by driving under the influence in St. Louis.
Teenagers Driving Under the Influence
It has been observed that one effective means to curb the dangers of driving under influence is to raise awareness. Efforts to curtail driving under the influence should begin with teenagers. Why? Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) found in a survey that teenagers whose parents were against alcohol consumption by underage people were about 80 percent less likely to consume alcohol, compared to their peers whose parents do not hold similar view.
Teenagers who did not have their first drink before reaching 21 years of age have about an 80 percent less probability of becoming alcohol dependent in comparison to those who have their first drink before reaching the age of 15.
About 7,000 young people below the age of 16 take alcohol for the first time every day, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. This increases the risk of such young people becoming dependent on alcohol and putting their lives in grave danger on the road. Around 10,000 deaths are recorded annually as a result of auto crashes, with underage drinking responsible for about 4,700 deaths, according to MADD.
What If a Passenger Was Drinking?
Most other states have open container laws, but it is currently not illegal to carry an open container of alcohol in a car when you are a passenger in Missouri and you are 21 or older. If you do get pulled over, or are in an accident, the fact that your passenger might have an open glass of alcohol does not automatically mean that you are doing something illegal. Although 31 smaller municipalities, including St. Charles and Independence, have local open container laws.
It is, of course, illegal in Missouri, as in all states, to drink and drive. Like other states, to be considered legally intoxicated a driver must be over the legal limit according to their “blood alcohol concentration” (or BAC). If a driver is tested and their BAC level is 0.08% or higher, then they are legally intoxicated and will be charged with a DUI. So although it is not illegal to have open containers of alcohol in your car, if you were drinking before you got behind the wheel or you were drinking alongside the passenger and have a BAC of 0.08 or higher, you will get a DUI.
Zero Tolerance in Missouri and Open Containers
If you are under the age of 21 and have a passenger who is drinking, that is really not a good idea. If your passenger is under 21 and drinking, that is illegal and can lead to them getting a ticket – or worse, being arrested for underage drinking. Missouri also has Zero Tolerance Laws. If you are under 21 and your BAC is more than 0.02, then you can be accused of driving while intoxicated, which can have severe consequences.
Can a Drunk Driver File Bankruptcy to Avoid Paying?
Bankruptcy is an option for people with a debt to erase their financial burden and start fresh. If someone is held financially responsible for an accident, one solution to discharge this debt is through filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, whether these debts are related to personal injury or property damage.
However, the Missouri
law specifically adds two main exceptions to this rule:
1.
Driving Under the Influence
If an individual is caught driving while under the influence, and as a result has caused injury to another party, then they cannot discharge this debt through bankruptcy. They may still continue the procedure and discharge any other debts you may have at a time, but any fees involving criminal fines, court fees, and such payments still have to be made.
2.
Harming on Purpose
If the investigation reveals that someone has purposely caused the accident that resulted in injury or property damage, then they cannot discharge this debt through a bankruptcy claim. As such, the heat of the moment accidents makes them completely accountable. As an example, if someone runs their car through a neighbors property on purpose, they will have to cover for the damages.
Missouri drivers must also carry auto insurance with certain minimum coverages:
$25,000 per person for bodily injury
$50,000 per accident for bodily injury
$10,000 per accident for property
However, the insurance company may deny to cover the costs if a they driver is found guilty of a crime (like driving under the influence), or if the damages exceed the minimum coverage.
How to guard against drinking under the influence
The dangers of driving under the influence are very apparent. It important for everyone, especially those who are under the age of 21, to be educated about the dangers of drinking alcohol. Never get behind the wheel of a vehicle drunk. If you are of legal drinking age and plan on drinking, make arrangements to have a designated driver or have a taxi take you home. Do not allow a friend who has been drinking drive you home.
If you have been involved in an accident with someone who was driving under the influence in St. Louis, you deserve to be compensated for any resulting injuries and damages. Contact our law firm by calling (314) 361-4242 and scheduling a free consultation.
