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FAQ – Legal Fees and Services

There is no cost to call our office to find out if we can help you. When you call our office, one of our staff members will ask for basic information about your legal issue to make sure that there is no conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest and if it looks like we can help, our staff will schedule an appointment for you to talk with one of our attorneys. This can be done in person at our office, at your home or the hospital if you are unable to travel due to injuries, or by phone, whichever is most convenient for you.

For cases involving personal injury or the loss of a loved one, we offer a free consultation in person or by phone with one of our attorneys.

For cases involving business issues, we offer consultations with one of our attorneys at a discounted flat rate.

If you hire Morefield Speicher Bachman, LC on a contingency fee basis, you do not pay us anything up front until we make a recovery for you. If you don’t receive a settlement or verdict, we don’t receive any payment for attorneys fees.

For clients that hire us on an hourly or flat fee basis, our policy is to request an advanced fee payment. The amount of the advanced fee payment varies based on the type and scope of your claim. We put this advanced fee payment into a client trust account. At the end of the case, if you have money remaining in the trust account after payment of any fees you owe, we will refund that money to you.

Our offices are generally open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5pm. However we often meet with clients either before or after office hours, to accommodate their schedules.

To hire our law firm to represent you, we require you to sign either a Contingency Fee Agreement, or an Engagement of Counsel Agreement depending on the type of legal matter and the facts and circumstances of your particular case. We can discuss what type of contract best fits your needs. We will provide you with a sample copy of the contract to take home and review before making a final decision whether to hire our firm.

We represent individuals and businesses in a wide variety of areas including business law and litigation; construction law; personal injury and wrongful death; auto, motorcycle and trucking litigation; and product defect litigation. Our personal injury cases involve issues ranging from broken bones to brain injuries.

There are certain types of cases we do not handle such as family law, criminal law, tax, immigration, and estate planning. However, our lawyers have been active in local, state and national bar associations and we know highly skilled lawyers in most practice areas throughout the country. We have a wide network of excellent attorneys that we can co-counsel with or recommend to you, when appropriate, if you need help involving family law, criminal law, tax, landlord-tenant disputes, or immigration law.

Yes. All our attorneys are licensed in the state and federal courts of both Kansas and Missouri. We enjoy meeting people from all across the country, and regularly travel throughout Kansas and Missouri to represent a wide variety of clients.

We have represented Kansas clients in Independence, Hutchinson, Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Emporia, Salina, McPherson, Atchinson, Hays, Liberal, Dodge City, Garden City, Olathe, Overland Park, Lenexa, Pittsburg, Shawnee, Leawood, Spring Hill, Gardner, Paola, Tonganoxie, Edwardsville, DeSoto, and Kansas City.

We have handled cases throughout Missouri, including Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Independence, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Joplin, Parkville, Platte City, Liberty, Belton, Harrisonville, Butler, Nevada, Lebanon, Jefferson City, Springfield, Bloomfield, St. Charles, and St. Louis.

With our firm’s commitment to staying up on the latest developments in technology, and many courts offering e-filing and other electronic services, we are able to cost-effectively represent clients wherever they live. If you have a matter in a state in which we are not licensed, we have a network of attorneys with whom we can co-counsel or to whom we can refer your case.

Don’t see your question?

Call MSB at (913) 839 2808

One of our attorneys or paralegals will be happy to answer any other questions you have.

FAQ Wrongful Death Claims

Wrongful death is defined as a death resulting from the willful or negligent act of another person or persons. If an individual is killed because of the wrongful conduct of another party, the deceased person’s heirs or other beneficiaries have a right to file a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims are separate from criminal charges, and neither proceeding influences the other claim.

A claim for wrongful death can be brought by a beneficiary or heir for an intentional or unintentional act that led to a death. The people who are authorized under the law to file a wrongful death claim are determined by their relationship to the deceased, starting with a spouse, then children or parents, then other immediate family members, financial dependents or common law spouse.

If you wish to file a wrongful death case, you will likely be claiming both economic and noneconomic losses. Examples of economic harm or loss include medical bills, funeral expenses, and/or lost income as these are tangible and quantifiable. There is no limit or cap on the recovery of these types of damages.

Non-economic harm includes “pain and suffering” or “loss of care, comfort or companionship.” Although these harms are often felt more intensely than even the financial harms, they are hard to quantify. It is difficult to put a value on the care and companionship you received from your loved one, or to measure the amount of your pain and suffering. Kansas laws set limits on the amounts that can be recovered for non-economic losses. Missouri limits the recovery of non-economic losses in wrongful death cases that arise out of medical malpractice.

The short answer is the Judge. Once the family and their wrongful death lawyer reach a settlement agreement on financial compensation with the other party, it is up to the Kansas or Missouri court to approve the wrongful death settlement and divide the proceeds among the eligible heirs. In most cases, the heirs agree upon how any money received should be divided, and the Judge simply approves the agreement. But if the heirs cannot agree upon a distribution that is fair to all the eligible heirs, the Judge will schedule an evidentiary hearing to hear testimony, and then decide the amount each eligible heir will receive.