Consistent Excellence in Dog Bite Cases

Properly opened, a Missouri dog bite file can take on a life of its own. A dog bite case is like a puzzle in that many pieces are used to complete the picture. Because of this, the Missouri dog bite injury attorneys at Page Law have put together a standard operating procedure for handling new dog bite files. The procedure below works well for dog bites, serious dog attacks, and other animal bites and attacks.

Below is a brief summary of one way to open a Missouri dog bite case file. A properly opened file leads to consistent excellence in handling Missouri dog bite cases.

The client stories, though based upon cases handled by this office, are representative only and should not be viewed as an assurance of a particular result. Each case must stand on its own facts and circumstances. No representation is made that the quality of the legal service to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.

Immediately after a dog bite client signs a contingent fee contract, the attorneys at Page Law do the following:

  1. Create a label with the following information:
    • Dog bite victim's name;
    • Dog bite victim's address;
    • Dog bite victim's phone numbers;
    • Dog bite victim's alternate contacts;
    • Dog bite victim's date of birth;
    • Date of Incident;
    • Dog bite victim's social security number;
    • The referring lawyer; and
    • The Page Law lawyer handling the personal injury case.
  2. Ask the dog bite victim to fill out a New Client Information Packet.
  3. Send a letter to the police department where the dog attack or personal injury occurred asking for any reports that were filed.
  4. Send a letter to animal control where the dog attack or personal injury occurred asking for any reports that were filed.
  5. Send a lien letter to the dog owner and the dog owner's insurance company.
  6. Depending on the case, send a letter to the Missouri dog bite victim's health insurance company to see if they will be seeking a subrogation for medical bills paid.
  7. Send a letter to Page Law's private investigator instructing him to take photos and take recorded statements from everyone with knowledge of the dog bite or personal injury.
  8. Send requests to Plaintiff's medical providers immediately. Be careful and make sure you request all records and bills. Many surgeries have numerous bills related to them. For one surgery, the hospital and the surgeon typically bill separately.
  9. In addition, MRI's, X-ray's, and CT scans are often billed separately. The dog bite lawyers at Page Law use a medical records company to request the medical records and bills quickly.

If these 8 steps are taken when the dog bite victim first signs a contract, the file will grow on its own. Obviously some personal injury cases may require a variation from the outline above. See the Page Law article titled "What to do with Incoming Documents" to see where certain documents are filed as they come into the office.