If you’re thinking about contacting a personal injury lawyer for an accident you were injured in, you likely have some questions. One of the most common questions potential clients have at our law firm is the question regarding the initial case consultation. Many potential clients wonder about the costs for a consultation, what will happen during the consultation itself, and what determines whether or not a case is accepted.

At the Law Office of Mike Campbell, we believe in being honest and upfront with our clients at all times during the process of filing an injury claim. Here is some information you may find useful if you choose to contact our firm for an initial case evaluation:

After a car crash, you start the claim process so you can get compensation for the accident. You’ll have to speak with the other party involved in the accident and your insurance company. One of the main factors with compensation is finding who was responsible for the accident. In some cases, the responsible party may own up to their mistake and admit fault outright. Others who were clearly in the wrong could insist that the accident wasn’t their fault. There may be a few circumstances where one person wasn’t completely at fault and the accident happened because of both parties’ actions.

The car accident fault laws vary from state to state. It’s important to know yours so you’re informed about how your car accident claim will work. If you’ve been in a car accident, the Law Office of Mike Campbell can help. A Missouri car accident lawyer will listen to your case and do everything possible to get you a favorable settlement.

Missouri has a new expungement law going into effect this January. It allows people to get convictions expunged from their criminal record. The time people have to wait to apply for expungement has been reduced, too. This will open a lot of doors for people who might not have been able to get a job, housing, get a loan, or volunteer their time because of a previous conviction.

Applying to have convictions expunged from your record can be overwhelming to take on alone. You need a Columbia criminal defense lawyer that you can depend on. The Law Office of Mike Campbell is ready to help you fight for your rights. We’ll make sure you’re meeting the requirements to get convictions expunged from your record.

If you were the victim of a violent crime in Missouri and have filed a case against your offender, you may be in a position where you feel helpless. Information and updates can be hard to come by and the hours, days, and weeks can seem to crawl by as you wait to find out how the case resolved. Luckily, there are ways in which you can track the offender’s case yourself. We’re going to tell you about those options today.

If you want to track an offender’s case as it moves its way through the criminal justice system in Missouri, you have two options: Vinelink and Missouri Case Net. Beyond working with the prosecutor or with the victim’s advocate, you can use these online options to track a case and keep notified of case updates.

The Missouri Crime Victim’s Compensation Program is designed to financially assist victims who have sustained bodily or psychological injury in paying for reasonable medical expenses, counseling expenses, funeral expenses, and lost wages or loss of support after experiencing a violent crime. To apply for this compensation, victims need to fill out an application. Here is some information about the application process and how eligibility is determined:

The first thing you’ll need to know is that the application must be filed with the office within two (2) years of the crime date, or in cases involving persons under 18, within two (2) years of discovery. The term “discovery” here refers to the date when the event occurred or in the case of a loved one whose life was lost, the date the event was discovered.

It’s no secret that when it comes to education, entrepreneurship, and industry, those of us who live and work in Columbia, Missouri know how to get down to business. That being said, we also know how to party. Stroll the streets of downtown Columbia during a major holiday or Mizzou sports weekend, and you can definitely see the alcohol flowing freely. Though our law enforcement has made great strides in the past several years in reducing the number of drunk driving fatalities and arrests, we still have a long way to go to get that number down to zero.

On a national level, there were nearly 10,000 alcohol related driving fatalities in 2014. 205 of these occurred in Missouri, ranking us in the top 10 for drunk driving for that particular year. Add these statistics to our extremely low beer and wine taxes (2nd and 3rd lowest in the nation, respectively) and you have a toxic brew.

Teenagers who can drive often have reckless driving behaviors. They’re most likely to drink and drive, or drive without wearing a seatbelt. About 6,000 teens die in car accidents each year, and teenagers are more likely to crash when other teenagers are in the car.

In an effort to reduce these numbers, teenagers in most states have a curfew until they can get their senior driver’s license. A study from UT Dallas found that teenage curfews reduce car accidents and teenage crimes.

We all go into bars and clubs expecting to have a good time.  We expect that the bar staff and bouncers are trained to keep us safe and to watch out for any signs of trouble.  Unfortunately, many staff members and even bouncers are not trained to properly handle bar fights that happen.  Even worse, some bouncers actually end up hurting members of the general public when they try to break up fights or make things worse when restraining people they think are fighting.  Sometimes these bouncers believe they have a free pass in their job and are able to use any force necessary to restrain people.

Know this: If you are assaulted by another patron in a bar, if a staff member assaults you, or if you are assaulted by a bouncer at a bar, you have rights.

Drunk driving leads to 28 deaths each day in the United States. It’s taken more than 10,000 lives per year. With a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02, you’re already losing judgment and feel more relaxed than usual. As the BAC gets higher, you steadily lose more control. But whether or not your BAC is .02 or .15, you’re not in any condition to drive. Unfortunately, people might still think they’re in good condition to drive, so they do and run the risk of injuring or killing themselves or others on the road.

How do we stop drunk driving? We don’t have the answer to that yet, but some actions help reduce drunk driving. In Springfield, Missouri, Uber might be helping bring those numbers down.

The holidays are a busy time of year with gift-giving, decorating, and spending time with family and friends. There are so many ways to celebrate this time of year, and you might not know everything that your city does during the holidays.

Columbia, Missouri has many holiday events, local shops to get gifts, delicious bars and restaurants, and close Christmas tree farms that will fill your holiday season with festive cheer. Want to know the best places to get your holiday game on? Read on! It’s our 2017 ultimate guide to holiday fun in Columbia, MO!

If there’s anything you feel we’re missing, do us a favor and drop us a line! We’ll be sure to add it in.