Find Lawyers in St. Louis, Missouri for Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
Practice Area Overview
To meet the legal definitions of malpractice, the poor care must be more than a mere mistake by a doctor or more than a health care provider’s simply “being human.” Malpractice occurs when the care or treatment falls below accepted community standards. Such substandard care is commonly referred to as “negligent” care.
Although medical malpractice most commonly is associated with inattention or carelessness on the part of doctors and other health care professionals, the term also includes reckless or intentional misconduct, ranging from discharging a patient prematurely for financial reasons to performing surgery for which the patient has not consented to sexual assault on unconscious patients.
If the victims of such conduct or inaction are able to prove that the provider’s wrongdoing caused their injuries, they will be entitled to a money award to compensate them for what they have lost as a result. Many attorneys will accept such cases on a “contingency fee basis,” that is, taking fees only out of the money they win for you.
This area of law is complex and difficult for injured patients because of numerous technical advantages held by the providers (and their insurance companies). It is therefore particularly important in medical malpractice cases to find an excellent attorney to represent you. It is also important to do so promptly because there are severe (and often arbitrary) time limits on when you may bring your case (“you snooze, you lose”).
There are many questions you should ask when selecting a medical malpractice attorney. Have they handled cases like yours in the past? Do they have a medical background or other medical resources to enable them to compete effectively against the vast resources possessed by the other side? How are they rated by their colleagues and peer organizations? What honors, awards, or other objective ratings of success have they received? Superior qualifications and successful track records are far more important to the outcome of your case than are flashy advertisements.
Timothy M. Cronin is a skilled trial attorney that focuses his practice on personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, and class action matters. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, majoring in economics. After graduating and while attending law school at night, Tim worked as a performance analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. He graduated magna cum laude from Saint Louis University School of Law with a certificate in civil li...
M. Graham Dobbs graduated with honors from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2000, where he served as a Student Editor of the Journal of Health and Hospital Law, was a member of the Health Law Association, and completed the school’s nationally recognized Health Law Certificate program. Mr. Dobbs also received an Academic Achievement Award in Evidence, and served as an intern at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri. He obtained his BSN, nursing undergraduate degree...
Maurice B. Graham is President of Gray Ritter Graham and concentrates his practice in the areas of complex business and commercial litigation and catastrophic injury and death cases. He is a frequent speaker and author in the areas of litigation and legal ethics. Mr. Graham was educated at Central Methodist University and the University of Missouri, where he received both his B.A. and J.D. degree. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the Fifth, Eighth and Nint...
Amy graduated cum laude from Saint Louis University School of Law in 1996 where she served as managing editor of the Saint Louis University Law Journal . Amy joined The Simon Law Firm, P.C. in 2002, after practicing for six years as a defense attorney in the areas of general negligence and products liability. This experience provides Amy a unique perspective, which helps her understand how better to represent her current clients, those who have been injured or lost a loved one due to someone ...
Joan Lockwood graduated with honors from Boston College in 1990 with bachelor's degrees in finance and human resource management. She earned her law degree from Saint Louis University in 1993, again graduating with honors. She served as a staff member of the Saint Louis University Law Journal and Editor of the "Health Law Edition." She was elected into the Order of the Woolsack, a scholastic honorary association. Ms. Lockwood is admitted to practice before all Missouri state courts, the U.S. ...
Don Schlapprizzi is the President of Schlapprizzi Attorneys at Law and is one of the most highly regarded trial lawyers in the State of Missouri. In 1981 he founded Schlapprizzi PC, which he has continued to expand through the years, to ensure those hurt by another's negligence or other wrongful act could obtain justice. He was the lead trial lawyer in the longest civil jury trial in the history of Missouri. Over the years, his firm has handled a wide variety of cases in Missouri and Illinois...
John G. Simon is the founder of The Simon Law Firm, P.C. He received both his undergraduate (1983) and law degree (1986) from Saint Louis University. John handles many types of cases including product liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and commercial litigation. During his career John has obtained more than 150 verdicts and settlements over $1 million, including 15 over $10 million and one over $100 million. On two occasions, John had the highest verdict in the state of Missouri....
Erica joined The Simon Law Firm, P.C. in 2014, coming from a background in insurance defense litigation. Erica uses her legal experience to assess how the attorneys on the other side operate in order to craft the strongest claim possible for the families she represents. Erica takes the time up front to counsel, listen, and guide her clients who are often faced with desperate needs. Erica graduated cum laude from Saint Louis University School of Law where she received multiple awards for her w...
Special Areas of Focus: Automobile Collision Birth Trauma Brain Injury Catastrophic Injury Hospital Malpractice Medical Malpractice Medical Negligence Nursing Homes Personal Injury Product Liability Professional Malpractic Wrongful Death Awards and Associations: American Bar Association The Missouri Bar Illinois State Bar Association The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis The Association of Trial Lawyers of America American Association for Justice Missouri Association of Trial Attorney...
Stephen R. Woodley is a native of St. Louis who completed his undergraduate degree at Washington University in 1978. In 1982, Mr. Woodley received his DMD degree, also from Washington University, and in 1986 he graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law. In 1982, after completing his DMD degree, Mr. Woodley joined the then Gray & Ritter firm as a full-time law clerk, assisting primarily in the development of professional negligence cases. After graduation from law school in 1...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.