A broken femur or any injury that needs surgery changes the claim. The bills do not stop when you leave the hospital, the recovery can take a year or more, and the insurer's first offer is usually made long before anyone knows how this ends.
Updated October 2026
This page is attorney advertising. It offers general information about Missouri law and is not legal or medical advice for your situation. Reading this page or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship, which is formed only by a written agreement signed by both you and the firm. Any case results described are specific to the facts of those cases; past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict a similar outcome in any other matter. Finney Injury Law is licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri. The full disclaimer appears at the bottom of this page.
A fracture that needs surgery is a different kind of injury from a sprain or a bruise. It means an operation, a hospital stay, often hardware in the bone, weeks without bearing weight, and a long course of physical therapy.
It is also the kind of injury insurers like to discount early. A client who is still on crutches is being asked to settle a claim whose real cost is still being written.
Surgery, the hospital stay, imaging, therapy, and follow-up are the visible costs. The future costs, such as additional procedures, ongoing therapy, or pain management, have to be documented by your doctors to count. Ask your surgeon what the long-term outlook is and make sure it is in your records.
Lost income during recovery and any lasting limits on what you can do for work are part of the claim, as is the effect on sports, family life, and daily activities. For a younger person or a physical job, that can be the largest part of the claim.
A serious injury can exceed the other driver's liability coverage. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and any other policy that applies, can matter a great deal. Finding all of it is part of the work.
Missouri follows pure comparative fault, so your share of fault, if any, reduces your recovery rather than ending it. Early evidence, such as photos, witnesses, and the crash report, is what decides that argument.
In a case from a different kind of accident, a national retailer offered $125,000 after an unguarded pallet fractured our client's femur. A previous firm had declined the case.
The case settled for $2.5 million. The injury did not change between the offer and the outcome. What changed was how much of the case had been built.
Past results do not guarantee a future outcome, and every case depends on its own facts. These are public-record results in serious injury cases.
A national grocery retailer offered $125,000 for an unguarded pallet that fractured our client's femur. A previous firm had declined the case. Read full story →
A red light runner. Multiple disc replacements, a lower back fusion, and blood clots. A St. Louis County jury returned $10,000,000. Read full story →
Rear-ended on I-270 and left needing a cervical disc replacement. Built on a life care plan documenting his future medical needs. Read full story →
Going to every appointment and doing the therapy is good for your recovery and for your claim. Gaps in treatment are what insurers use to argue that an injury was not serious.
Future surgery, hardware removal, arthritis risk, or lasting limits only count if they are in your medical records.
A simple daily log of pain and what you could not do is useful later, when memory has faded.
An early offer comes before the full cost of the injury is known, and a signed release ends the claim even if more surgery turns out to be needed.
Health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, and others may have a right to be repaid from a recovery. Those amounts are often negotiable, and they should be handled before a case is settled.
Look for a firm that tries cases, documents future medical needs, and personally reviews your case. Finney Injury Law is a Missouri trial firm, and an attorney personally reviews every case. The case review is free, and you can ask any lawyer what serious-injury results they have handled.
There is no set number. Value depends on the surgery and recovery, future medical needs, lost income, how the injury affects your life, the insurance available, and fault. Anyone quoting a number before knowing those facts is guessing.
Usually not. An early settlement is calculated before the full cost and lasting effect of the injury are known, and a signed release ends the claim even if more care turns out to be necessary. It is better to understand your long-term outlook first.
Often your health insurance, or medical payments coverage on an auto policy, pays first, and a recovery later may have to repay some of it. Your lawyer can sort out who has a right to repayment and negotiate those amounts. See our page on who pays medical bills after a car accident in Missouri.
Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply, depending on your policy, and other policies may also be available. Serious injuries often exceed a minimum liability policy, so it is worth identifying every source of coverage early.
Yes. Missouri follows pure comparative fault, so your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than eliminated. Insurers routinely argue comparative fault to lower what they pay.
We handle serious injury and wrongful death cases on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless we recover for you. The case review is free, and an attorney personally reviews every case.
No cost, no obligation, and nothing is shared outside our firm. We read every message and respond quickly.
Free case review. An attorney personally reviews every case. English- and Spanish-speaking staff available.