Results

In 2019, Mr. Cox secured a $3 Million judgment at trial against a Texas satellite installation company that ignored all requests from an injured worker for medical assistance and compensation.  His serious injuries rendered the worker disabled and unable to provide for himself or his family.

Mr. Cox pursued a unique legal strategy to secure millions for his client on a claim that normally would have been reduced to the statutory limits of a worker’s compensation claim. Mr. Cox’s work on this case was featured in Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly in 2022.

In 2006, Mr. Cox represented the sole survivor of a tragic collision in a construction zone. The driver of the vehicle in which Mr. Cox’s client was a passenger ran a stop sign and possessed limited insurance coverage for the accident. Despite the inability to question the driver as to why she drove through the intersection without stopping due to her death in the collision, Mr. Cox argued that the construction company overseeing the construction project at the intersection had not installed a forty-eight (48) inch stop sign as required by the Missouri Highway Transportation Commission. Testimony of various MHTC employees as well as photographs of the intersection taken shortly after the accident revealed a smaller 36 inch stop sign that was much more difficult for approaching traffic to see. Despite the legal and factual challenges involved, Mr. Cox was able to help broker a global settlement of $2.2 million in the case. This case was recognized as one of the top settlements in the state in 2006 by Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly.

Mr. Cox secured $1.15 Million in an automobile case for a woman who sustained pelvic fractures after her vehicle was hit head-on by a teenage driver traveling 25 miles per hour over the posted limit. After initially confronting limited insurance coverage for the teen, discovery in the case revealed the application of a $1 million umbrella policy held by the teen’s father. By arguing that the teen’s reckless behavior warranted punitive damages, Mr. Cox was able to maximize his client’s recovery.

In 2018, Mr. Cox secured $1 Million for a client who suffered serious injuries after getting rear-ended at close to highway speeds by a teenager who had been texting while driving. The teen’s insurance company fought the case hard, only offering $13,870, leading to four years of litigation. Due to tenacious advocacy, Mr. Cox was able to secure deserved and much-needed compensation for his client.

In 2020, Mr. Cox secured a confidential settlement for the family of a woman who sustained terrible burns to her upper torso, arms, and neck after a defective firework blew up thirty minutes after it had been properly used as intended. Mr. Cox pursued a products liability lawsuit against multiple corporations, including the Chinese manufacturer and distributors and retailers in the United States. Following years of litigation against corporations with deep pockets, Mr. Cox uncovered the sad truth that many fireworks manufactured in China and later sold in the U.S. contain illegal flash powder in burst charges. U.S. companies have known about this for years while continuing to sell the products. Flash powder in burst charges is illegal for good reason: flash powder is 4-6 times more powerful than black powder.

In 2020, Mr. Cox and co-counsel brokered a confidential settlement for the family of a young woman who died of an aortic dissection while at her third emergency room visit within 5 days.  At her first ER visit, after being admitted with severe pain in her ear and jaw, radiating into her chest, the emergency room doctor ordered a chest x-ray, which he advised the woman was normal despite a radiologist informing him the next morning showed a prominent thoracic aortic arch with descending aortic ectasia, which are both indications of a life-threatening aortic dissection demanding immediate attention.  Despite this abnormal finding, neither the ER doctor nor the hospital made contact with the woman to advise of the results.  When the woman returned to the emergency room several days later with similar complaints, another emergency room doctor did not look at the chest x-ray.  Furthermore, the radiologist’s report making note of the emergent finding was not in the chart.  When the woman returned to the emergency room for a third time two days later, a third emergency room doctor reviewed the chest x-ray film and report, but took no action.  While in the process of discharging the woman, she died.This tragedy was a complete system failure of the doctors and hospital network.  The woman’s death was entirely preventable and would not have occurred but for the multiple layers and episodes of negligence.  If the woman had been properly advised of the abnormal x-ray even hours before her death, she could have immediately been taken into emergency surgery with an excellent chance of survival.As part of the settlement, Mr. Cox and his co-counsel insisted on changes in effective communication between emergency room doctors, hospitals, and patients.

In 2022, Mr. Cox and co-counsel went to trial against a primary care physician and his medical group, arguing that they had failed to diagnose and timely treat a cellulitis infection that developed into a hematoma, ultimately leading to an above the knee amputation.

Despite worsening symptoms and visible blistering and weeping of fluid from the leg over the course of almost two weeks, the doctor and his nurse instructed their patient to simply elevate and wrap the leg.  By the time the patient’s family intervened and took him to a local emergency room, his leg was unsalvageable and had to be amputated.

After the doctor took the stand to testify in his defense, he was asked whether his patient could have died from the infection, which had become severely septic by the time he arrived at the emergency room.  His response, which received audible gasps from the jury, was that sometimes it is better for patients to die.

Following the doctor’s testimony on the fourth day of trial, the case was settled for the maximum amount allowed under Missouri state law, which sets caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

In 2018, Mr. Cox secured an award of workers’ compensation benefits for a hardworking 60-year-old woman who had suffered numerous work-related injuries over a 34-year career with the same company.  After sustaining another work-related injury, she was denied workers’ compensation benefits, including much-needed medical care related to her new injury, by the same employer after she was not physically capable of returning to work due to her injuries. Despite her dedication to the employer for over 30 years, the case was fought hard, leading to five years of litigation, including an appeal. The award included ongoing permanent total disability payments from the state-administered Second Injury Fund pursuant to Missouri law.

In 2019, Mr. Cox secured $750,000 for a man who shattered his ankle when a careless woman failed to follow a basic rule of the road requiring her to yield to the man’s vehicle which was traveling through an intersection on a green light.

In 2010, Mr. Cox secured one of the highest dog bite recoveries in Missouri history for a man bit on the arm by a pit bull mix. Research conducted by Mr. Cox, the St. Peters Police Department and St. Charles County Animal Control revealed that at the time of the attack, the dog’s owner was in violation of at least four St. Peters city ordinances, including sections 205.020 (failure to provide adequate food, shelter and protection), 205.120 (dog loose on owner’s property without sufficient restraint), 205.130 (habitual barking/nuisance) and 205.300 (biting). Despite no proof of the dog exhibiting any vicious or dangerous propensities prior to the attack, which had been required at the time in order to recover under a strict liability claim, Mr. Cox was able to prove his client’s case through theories of negligence per se and premises liability. For more on these novel theories of recovery, please click here.

IN 2018, Mr. Cox secured an award of workers’ compensation benefits for a hardworking 58-year-old man who had suffered numerous work-related injuries over a lifetime of hard labor.  After sustaining another work-related injury, he was denied workers’ compensation benefits, including much-needed medical care related to his new injury, when he was not physically capable of returning to work due to his injuries. The award included ongoing permanent total disability payments from the state-administered Second Injury Fund pursuant to Missouri law.

Mr. Cox orchestrated one of the top settlements in the state in 2007 for a former MODOT worker who aggravated a series of back injuries when the maintenance vehicle she was operating was struck by a negligent driver. The case presented numerous challenges, due mainly to Mr. Cox’s client sustaining three prior work-related back injuries in the years prior to the collision, the latest of which had occurred just six months prior to the latest accident. Mr. Cox’s client was still undergoing physical therapy for her last work injury when her vehicle was hit by the negligent driver. In pursuing the case, Mr. Cox emphasized that his client had experienced severe “bone to bone grinding” pain in her lower back as soon as she exited her vehicle. Mr. Cox was quoted by Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly, stating, “on cases with prior injuries to the same body part, it is critical to emphasize the difference in the client’s pain and activity levels following further trauma to the same body part.” This case was featured by Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly.

In 2013, Mr. Cox secured the full liability policy limits from a teen driver who struck his client while driving on Lindberg at night. Unfortunately, at the time of the accident, Mr. Cox’s client was heavily intoxicated with a blood alcohol limit of more than three times the legal limit. After drinking at a bar, he was attempting to cross a roadway to walk back home. He did not use a crosswalk. Due to the intoxication levels, the driver’s insurance company vigorously denied liability. Furthermore, according to the police investigation, Mr. Cox’s client was 100% at fault for his injuries. The driver testified that she did not see Mr. Cox’s client crossing the roadway due to the cover of darkness.

After Mr. Cox got involved, he thoroughly investigated the incident and determined that ample lighting existed at the location of the collision in the form of overhead mercury vapor lights located along the eastern edge of the roadway. Lighting from the parking lots of both the police station and surrounding businesses provided additional illumination of the roadway. Based on this investigation, Mr. Cox determined that the roadway was well-illuminated during the evening hours. Since the average vehicle’s low beam headlamp system illuminates the roadway at a distance of 45 feet, additional illumination would have been provided by the driver’s vehicle as it traveled. In summary, Mr. Cox argued, the driver should have seen Mr. Cox’s client and could have braked or swerved to avoid hitting him.

While Mr. Cox’s client was intoxicated, he did the right thing in deciding to walk home instead of driving. Due to his investigation of the lighting at the scene, Mr. Cox was able to maximize his client’s recovery by proving that the teen was not paying attention to the roadway in front of her.

In 2011, Mr. Cox secured $275,000 for the father of a 19-year-old motorcyclist who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. His son had been riding as a passenger on a motorcycle with an uninsured driver at the time of the wreck. Both were heavily intoxicated at the time. One of the major issues in the case was whether the father’s son knew that the uninsured motorist was intoxicated at the time he got on the motorcycle. Numerous depositions of fact witnesses in the case revealed that the decedent and the motorcycle driver likely had been drinking together that day.

While there is no excuse for driving drunk, Mr. Cox’s tenacious representation led to a significant financial recovery for a loving father who lost his only son.

In this case, Mr. Cox’s client was forced off the road by an uninsured driver. As a result of the collision, his client suffered a broken nose and jaw as well as the loss of two permanent teeth. Since the at-fault driver was uninsured, Mr. Cox pursued a claim against the State Farm Insurance Company under his client’s uninsured coverage. Mr. Cox was able to prove that since his client resided with his parents at the time of the accident, additional insurance coverage was available and the respective policies for uninsured benefits were stacked for a total coverage of $200,000.

In 2010, Mr. Cox secured $175,000 for a housekeeper who injured her knee after she tripped over some shoes that had been placed inside the entryway to a residence she had been cleaning for over 15 years. The homeowners vigorously denied liability, arguing that anyone who entered the house was required to remove his or her shoes and place them on the carpet in front of the door. She also testified that the housekeeper made it a habit to pick up the shoes after entering the residence and line them up by the front door. Given her prior knowledge of the shoes, the homeowner argued, she could have avoided them. The housekeeper testified that while she did know that the shoes were “always there” inside the front door, she had complained to the homeowner and her daughter on numerous occasions to move the shoes because they presented a hazard.

Despite significant issues with comparative fault, Mr. Cox was able to secure $175,000 for his client.

In 2009, Mr. Cox’s client tripped over a pallet at work causing her to fall and land directly onto a concrete floor on her right knee. Immediately after the fall, she had shooting pain in the knee along with swelling and bruising. After reporting the injury to her lead supervisor, she continued to work with pain and completed her work shift. Despite continued pain in the knee, she continued to work full time and did not request medical treatment from her employer until the following month. After initially providing some treatment for her knee, the claimant’s employer denied her claim, arguing that additional treatment for her knee was due to degeneration of her knee cartilage, unrelated to her work injury. After years of treatment, the claimant eventually had to have a knee replacement. Mr. Cox tried the case and his client was later awarded full compensation for her work injury, along with medical expenses and other benefits. Continued aggressive pursuit of her claim led to a $200,000 settlement. If the employer had not denied her claim and had provided appropriate medical care, the employer likely would have only had to pay the claimant roughly $30,000.

$100,000 damage verdict for a 56-year-old woman with degenerative disc disease in her neck. In May of 2004, Mr. Cox’s client was traveling as a passenger in her car with her nephew driving. As they topped a hill, her nephew struck a fire truck, which had been parked in the road in response to an emergency request to set up a landing zone for a life flight helicopter that was to transport injured victims of another accident. One of the many challenges, in this case, was proving that his client’s subsequent neck pain and surgery were related to the car accident, despite pre-existing degenerative disc disease throughout her neck. The jury returned a $100,000 damage verdict.

In 2007, Mr. Cox achieved one of the top settlements in the state for a teenage girl who fell off the open tailgate of a truck as the driver was turning out of a gas station. As a result of the fall, the girl suffered head injuries and was referred to a neuropsychologist. She suffered a diminished capacity for smell and taste as well as behavioral issues, including frustration, irritability and anger. The truck driver’s carrier, American Family Mutual Insurance Company, initially argued that he did not have permission to operate the truck at the time of the collision, which would have rendered him judgment proof, since he was a minor with no assets. However, the main challenge in the case involved convincing the driver’s carrier that her behavioral changes were related to the impact to the frontal and temporal lobes of her brain. The carrier argued that such behavior was simply typical teenager behavior. This case was also featured in Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly.

In 2011, Mr. Cox achieved a $75,000 verdict for a school teacher who claimed she had injured her knee as a result of a collision with a truck that had pulled into her lane of traffic. The defendant’s insurance company argued that she had suffered from preexisting chondromalacia, or thinning of the kneecap due to a congenital defect or malalignment, that was unrelated to the collision. As permitted under Missouri law, the insurance company then sent her to a well-known local orthopedic specialist who argued there was no objective evidence of injury to the knee from the collision. During cross-examination of the defendant’s doctor, Mr. Cox was able to point out inconsistencies in the doctor’s opinions which ultimately led the St. Charles County jury to award $75,000 in damages, or over $50,000 more than the insurance company had offered to settle the claim.

Mr. Cox obtained a verdict in St. Louis County for a young woman who complained of chronic headaches following a low speed rear-end automobile accident. The insurance company defending the driver argued that Mr. Cox’s client could not have been injured due to the low speed of the impact and absence of any significant damage to the cars involved — a typical tactic used by insurance companies. Mr. Cox obtained a verdict more than 6 times the insurance company’s offer, which provided his client much-needed compensation for her legitimate injury