They're lying to you right if you've been in a rack they're like we'll take c...
that is a load of crap i've settled cases for five hundred bucks and i've worked on
cases that have been resolved in excess of twenty million dollars right most of my folks you know
they they just got a car wreck they had a trip and fall uh medical malpractice a lot of times they can't work they don't have a car the last thing they need to be doing is kind of come up with money to hire an attorney we've got a specific line in our contract it says if we don't win your case you don't know it's a dime yeah so when somebody hires my firm there is zero financial risk Robert Schmittkins is a trial-tested dedicated client-focused personal injury attorney
and the founder of Schmittkins injury law firm he is known for advocating for injured clients and taking on powerful insurance companies with skill and compassion for my perspective it's
“pretty dumb for me to say hey you should you should accept an offer where you jay the client”
gets five grand and i'm making eight that just seems unfair it's your life as my client
who was negatively impact so here's what i'm going to do i'm going to reduce my fee to make sure
that you are getting more of this recovery than i am even if it's by a dollar right i'm still going to do that the living your legacy podcast for those who live to live a legacy Chicago with the way you said all is about just not on the planet you can live your dream hey welcome back everyone to another episode of living your legacy podcast we're down here in sunny beautiful Miami Beach and once again on your most jay slang and and we got a special guest
from doing the show america's top lawyers with us introduce yourself what's the name
“where you from and what kind of law you'd like thank yeah my name thanks for having me jay my name is”
rubbish midkins i am a personal injury lawyer practice in St. Louis Missouri all right i'm the owner founder of my firm which is called the schmittkins injury law firm we're located in downtown St. Louis and we're working on cases all across Missouri and Illinois from Chicago to Kansas City obviously a lot in St. Louis but you know anything in those two jurisdictions we we we we can handle yeah well not any case but any personal injury case i'll say it we know
hey yeah don't call me if you get if you get arrested i don't know anything about that okay so like
how big's the firm we're growing so i started my firm in in august of 24 august first 2024
just as me it was just me figuring it out added my first staff member full-time staff member
“in March of last year i have a law clerk who is finishing up his third year at St. Louis”
University hired a litigation paralegal in December and then we actually had my second cousin who's was working on the insurance side of things just joined the team about two weeks ago okay so we got two lawyers two full-time staff members and a couple of part-time guys and then we've got a lot of my wife is an attorney as well so she she's been able to help me out off the books uh she already has two jobs so i didn't want to give her a third a third payroll
she has to deal with but uh what kind of law is she practicing so she's actually um in the Missouri air national guard so she's a military attorney uh in uh so the i'm probably gonna butcher this but my understanding is is that you have active duty right and then you've got the reserve components and then national guard whether that's army or air force is under the control of the governor of whatever state until they get activated um in by the president so so technically
she is a uh she might keep hoses the governor of Missouri as her boss the commanding officer but so she's in the uh she's the deputy jag for the entire state of Missouri um which is basically like a general practice lawyer uh so if her unit gets activated um she's doing a lot of wills the states you know powers of attorney things for soldiers you're gonna get deployed or she's me airman who are gonna get deployed they don't like it when you call them soldiers um um
if one of her airman gets into legal trouble uh she may be appointed to represent them on the defense side of things or she could be the one that's trying to discharge them for violation if she is activated and deployed uh she's advising commanding officers generals you know kernels whatever about legality of war strikes so she's she's got way more high stakes um uh
Legal questions to answer than I do um and then you know in her free time she...
uh full time she also works for Boeing um there's a there's a big Boeing contingent um in St. Louis
and so she works in their ethics department which is uh uh kind of boat it it's adjacent uh to legal but she doesn't like work for in-house legal for Boeing uh so let's bring it back to you yeah yeah absolutely but bring it about my wife too much yeah yeah uh uh so back to you right injured law uh you help a lot of people right what kind of uh big cases have you had or important cases where you just like you know you were able to come in as a lawyer and do the good job
you're fighting a lot against insurance companies on the margin right yep yeah I mean that's doing battle with the insurance the insurance companies is is the name of the game for us and I cut
“you off but I know how you're kind of I think you know where you're going so that's the that's the”
arch nemesis yeah that's the arch nemesis man and and if there's one thing if you're listening to the pod the one thing I could say is uh they're lying to you right if you've been in a rack they're like we'll take care of you that is a load of crap yeah um you know i i tell all my clients you know we we've we've I've settled cases for 500 bucks and I've worked on cases that have been resolved
in excess of $20 million right and and I think um you know cases where there's $20 million you
know that that's a team right you need multiple sets of eyeballs on on a case like that and and a case that's worth you know 500 bucks a thousand bucks you know um obviously that that's a little bit the stakes are going to be a lot lower um so when when when you're sitting when you're saying uh they need you know a multiple uh member team right yeah uh are you working on contingency
“or do you charge fees uh yeah so we're fully contingency fee firm yeah uh which I think is a”
great advantage our clients because uh most of my folks you know they they just got a car wreck they had a trip and fall uh medical malpractice right they they a lot of times they can't work they don't have a car yeah the last thing they need to be doing is kind of come up with money to hire an attorney um so as a part of my fee structure uh there's no fee unless we win right and we want a lot um we also advance any costs of prosecuting a case right and I think a lot of people don't realize
that requesting medical records and hiring investigators and filing lawsuits that stuff costs money and it adds up quick and so what we do is is we advance those costs and it we've got a specific line in our contract that says if this case if we don't win your case you don't notice a dime yeah so when somebody hires my firm there is zero financial risk at least is it relates to us right uh for hiring my firm and and you know we we we we we try to do a good job them you know
for the first phone call all the way through resolution say we're gonna push this thing to either
to maximize your recovery or we're also not gonna waste your time you know I'm not gonna tell you your cases worth a bunch of money come to find out you know it's not worth anything yeah I don't want to waste my time I'm certainly not gonna waste my clients time pursuing a place the case
“that doesn't have you know an outcome and and and so I think a lot of our clients appreciate that”
trying transparency versus just you know being in the cycle for a year or two years whatever and then get a call and just be like what's going on then I go we're not working on a case anymore yeah full contingency is is absolutely fantastic but I guess when you're dealing with and I'm gonna ask as the person that you know doesn't know would be more on the client side yeah yeah the lawyer side with which is where my questions would stem from and maybe some of our
viewers also so just to get more of an understanding like what is there working with you know lawyers like yourself is there kind of a process of like you need so much information to take on a client and when you do take on a client is there a point where it's like oh man I have to drop this client because it's it's not worth as much as we thought or once you get a client then you kind of stick with them through but then you're also saying oh my god there's there's more fees right
than we expected or kind of how how's that process work yeah so so like in intake right we've got like a three page intake sheet you know all my staff has it I've got them Danny who's my cousin who's who's the other lawyer in my office he's got the sheets and it has you know the big stuff we need right like Nate you know contact information date of incident what your injuries are you know if you don't have insurance information do you have prior injuries to same part of the body all that
kind of stuff um police reports like any reports like if there's police report or a fire you know ambulance whatever that gives us the jumping off point right and once we get a chance to have
That conversation with the client we can usually say okay I think there's som...
when we make you know we offer to say hey let me send you a contract and some authorizations and we're gonna start looking at your case um once the case is in the door um we obviously want the client to continue to get their medical treatment you know we can help them find a doctor that's in their area that can you know if they don't have health insurance I don't have a primary care doctor um and then once we're formally hired that's where we alert the insurance company
of the claim get the police report uh if there's witnesses we need to talk to um whatever you know send an investigator out to them um and usually within I would say 30 to 60 days um we can figure out what's what we're gonna do with the case right um there are times where our clients recollection of the incident isn't really backed up by the facts and that may be where I have to pick up the phone and make it uncomfortable conversation um they're having uncomfortable conversation uh with a client
and say hey you know I I don't think there's anything here but I always tell folks um and in our
“letter you know you have to send them a letter by law informing them of certain things I say I think”
the practice of law is a little bit more art than it is science and so I encourage them to go talk to other lawyers yeah right um here you know there's there's resources that Missouri and Illinois offer that you can consult with lawyers and I say hey don't think my word for it like have someone else take a look at it here's your file let me know um there's other times where the insurance company may be denying the claim but I disagree with the insurance company assessment or uh the
clients injuries are so catastrophic that and I believe in the client's case then I'm gonna say hey I know they're telling us this they don't think they owe you a dime but I believe in your case I'm gonna take a swing at this if you're with me right and and I think a lot of clients really really value that um because there's a lot of people that do what I do that that are just looking for quick money you know they're they're I the rear end cases the cases where the insurance company
is gonna say here's what law for you and they say they push the client to take it and I don't do that
“right I want to know what's going on in this case and do I believe in the case because if I can”
believe in the case I think I can convince 12 people on a jury to believe in the case but if I don't believe in it it's gonna be hard for me to sell it to a jury yeah and that's really my decision to end up in the courtroom and not just kind of settle yeah I say probably I want to say probably 60 to 70% a case I probably file more than than this average law firm and some of the clients that have been our firm are referrals from um either medical providers or doctor or other lawyers
so we probably file a little bit more on average than some of the bigger firms just because so you're known as a more of a trial lawyer than a settlement lawyer yeah yeah definitely you know I'm not scared to file a lawsuit like the battle I like the battle you know and and so I would say
probably 60 to 70% get filed and I would say 90% of them ultimately get resolved at some point during
“litigation before you actually go to trial yeah and I think that's one of the misnomers is that”
people are like well I want to go to trial it's like if filing a lawsuit is the first step in getting to trial yeah but in every jurisdiction that I'm aware of you don't file a lawsuit and then a week later you get a trial you got you got to serve the defendant or defendants you got to do discovery you know which or the who what when where why of the case you got to take depositions of everyone involved whether it's a witness whether it's a party whether it's an expert witness
at some point the judge may order you to mediation you know which is like a brokered negotiation and then um any point there a defense lawyer may come to their senses or maybe my client comes to their senses right because I filed lawsuits because the client the I think their expectations are a little ambitious I'll say yeah but it may come a point where either the insurance company or the client says all right let's what's going to take to get this resolved right and then what's the
most common point where it comes it gets resolved because it's almost like this okay it gets filed right there's the pre-filing and then there's the filing and then it's like okay then you know which ones are gonna go to trial right yeah and then there's mediation and then there's discovery right so at what point do most of the cases get settled I think I there's certain insurance companies progressive that won't make you a real offer
Until you the file the lawsuit right and so I would say in probably
95% of the last probably 15 cases I've had were progressive is the insurance company
“I filed the lawsuit because they just will I've told my client like they're not gonna make you a fair”
offer yeah and what will happen is progressive has a roster of defense firms that they'll refer the case out to right because when you file the lawsuit and the insured of the you know the person who caused the accident is is served someone has to represent them and if you read you're ensuring agreement whatever auto insurance you have they promise to hire you a lawyer so there's three or four different firms that I know very well because I filed by super aggressive all the time
what it generally happens is after service I'll get a phone call from them from that lawyer and they'll say hey what's going on here and I'll tell them they made me a non-sense offer as not gonna cut it they say all right let me take a look at the file I'll get back with you and more often than not I at least get a real offer a settlement not 25% of the medical bills 30% of their medical bills it's medical bills plus right which is my starting point like if you're
not gonna pay all the medical bills we don't have anything to talk about right we can disagree
“about how much over the medical bills you need to pay but if you're offering half the medical bills”
yeah it's wasted my time and then it becomes the request of the client like what is what is a client's expectation right and so my practice is already medical bills get complicated because you don't know what future medical bills absolutely yeah because like if you're older right and it's not visually you know but you have these back pains yeah yeah I mean it happens and that's that's where that's where the conversation with the client becomes really really important right so in
Missouri and Illinois you can certainly present evidence of reasonably expected future medical care right hey I'm gonna need a back surgery in the future I'm gonna need pain management injections whatever it may be and sometimes insurance companies are concerned about those other times they they're like we're gonna even care right we're we're not considering this but after you get that offer a settlement that's where I talk to the client let's say hey what do you want
to do with this sometimes I you know sometimes they clients have no intention of ever getting a recommended future treatment which is totally fine and so I say hey we better move this quick because every day that we don't get the actual recommended treatment is a day that it becomes a little bit less valuable right because by the time you get it to trial if you're like oh four years ago it's said you're supposed to get a surgery have you done any thing to get prepared for
that surgery no okay well they're gonna argue to the jury that it's just a piece of paper that has words on it doesn't mean anything yeah but it goes back to the client to say hey what do you
want to do with this right here's what they're offering here's what it means for you whether that's
$500 if $50,000 if $500,000 here's what here's what's in it for you and I and tell clients all the time I may recommend I make recommendations they make decisions right it's my responsibility to advise them about their legal options and what the consequences of their decisions are but ultimately it's their case I'm not gonna be able to make them do anything they don't want to do yeah I've had situations in the past where a client and I disagree about what we should be doing
“on their case and that's the time where I say it sounds like maybe you should find a different lawyer”
right and I can respectfully you know with draw as their attorney I say look your expectations I don't think fit the mold of your case so I think it's best if you try to find a different lawyer that has more belief in your case than I do or something along those lines right is that kind of like I think like Friday when the guy slips and falls and he's like oh my
Nick am I back I want a hundred million yeah exactly exactly I had a lady one time
who wanted me to send a demand for like thirty four million dollars yeah yeah yeah and I I just told or no I was like I don't think there is any I don't think there's any world where your case ever gets even remotely close to that the insurance company's gonna get that demand and they're gonna put it directly in the trash because that's that's not a real number um yes some people are looking yeah some people some people when they get an insight into kind of injury uh an injury
law right personal injury yeah they're like oh there's someone mopping there's no sign and then you just you know yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I think it's kind of a self-defeating
Problem quite honestly because you have a lot of these law firms and and it's...
right are we talk about our successes yeah right and I mean that's that's part of marketing right
“like look at look at our reviews look at the money we've won all this stuff and that arbitrarily”
sets because this lawyers right you know there are certain things we can't divulge because it's confidential information so what the website says is I just you know I just
got a million dollar judgment it's like they don't talk about all the facts that led up to that
million dollar judgment they just see the million dollars and so somebody comes in not knowing anything and just be like you see you got a bunch of you know big numbers on there why is my case only worth twenty five thousand dollars well there's only twenty five thousand dollars of insurance or you didn't have you were hurt that bad right your cases were something but I can I can tell you with near certainty right if you see a number that's got a that's got seven digits in it
on a billboard something really awful happened yeah right I mean we're talking paralysis death also there was a lot of documentation right right right video right yeah and it's it's it's
surgeries it's extended hospital stays it's massive medical bills yeah you know doesn't mean they
pocketed in the right clean cash right right it's like someone got hurt they go in a hospital you know like they needed that for whatever right so exactly not like yeah you getting that cold cash right and and and frankly you know the insurance company then turns around and lobbies the legislature to say we got these runaway juries and these trial lawyers are getting fat you know when it's costing business or whatever and so you got the attorneys bragging about it try to get more business
and then you have the insurance companies complaining about it and and then when somebody comes in the door seeing the marketing they're they have that's setting their expectations unrealistically
and then on the back end when we can't get more because we have these tort reform measures
it's me explaining my client it's like well unfortunately the legislature took that off the table right that's no longer an option for your case or whatever it may be whether it's medical malpractice reform caps on damages um i don't practice in florida but i know there was a really huge bill that went you know went through a couple years ago and i don't have an opinion on that because i don't practice here but you know that that it's a self defeating cycle um but i also
push back when people say you know lawsuit lottery because i was like i have objective documentation that my clients actually injured whether that's an MRI whether that's medical bills you know from the hospital or or pain management or surgery right that we're not just making up numbers here right yeah that they're tied to objective medical evidence not my hopes and dreams you know so what of what what is what is the art right let's go into that like what what is the art what is the part
that you love about the job what is your favorite kind of case i think because it's like you know hey you're you're like when you find a lawyer they're they're like you're you're kind of brother and arms yeah right like you're seeing very much team yeah very much right and when you find a good lawyer you guys become friends and and it's it's it's it's a great relationship right but the art form is that art of the argument right that that that that that that battle right yeah uh and how
“you're able to put out that argument right and then it's just like also you must be able to”
help a lot of a lot of people in a lot of unfortunate situations so talk about that that that kind of art form what's what's what's your art form part of it that you love the most i just like like frankly i just like to argue right i mean it doesn't matter what the subject is and so i'm just so accustomed to just like being in an adverse conversation that it feels like it nature to me and you know there's there's kind of some tired that's why you're your wife has to be a lawyer yeah
yeah yeah yeah it's like you man i'm on the argument too yeah yeah yeah we we've we've had some we've had some disagreements and and it's uh we should have had a record for it because man we were we were getting into it um i like it all right there's not like a particular kind of case or particular issue i like to like to argue more than others um i think one of my favorite ones is
“i remember this one time um it's progressive my my favorite insurance company uh they the”
adjuster called me and you know my client had like $10,000 worth of damage like medical bills that were outstanding including an MRI and and if you don't know what an MRI is um it's it's really kind of the gold standard of being able to figure out what's actually wrong with your spine right x-rays can tell breaks but they'd can't see your um the car is a desk it's more the CAT scan okay
You got the CT scan which can do some of what an MRI can but um you know they...
now where they can tell you to to the millimeter like if you've got a herniated disc all right like
“my back's killing me it's like yeah because you got a disc herniation in your lower back that's why”
you're back certain you um so my client had an MRI the MRI revealed that he had a disc herniation and so he's got like $10,000 in meds he's telling me he's more or less fine I send the demand it was only a $25,000 policy which in Missouri is the state minimum that's the the the least amount you have to carry um the adjuster calls me back and offers like $4,000 he's like we're not considering the MRI it was like pre-tell it's like well he didn't get x-ray first and that was just
like I lost it on this adjuster I was like show me a law literally anywhere in this country that says for an MRI to be relevant in a personal injury case you first must get an x-ray it I don't think it exists yeah and he sure certainly didn't show me um and so that was one where like I just kind of vented my frustrations at the adjuster filed the lawsuit and then of course
the new adjuster calls me and was like oh yeah this is worth 25 here's what will your clients
“still take it and I call my client and I was like hey I I think the case might be worth more now”
because you know they they potentially have what's called bad faith but they're offering 25 and I have an obligation to tell you he's like yeah I just want to get it done on a you know mess around and litigation for two years I was like get it you know so we ended up resolving the case but I I think the fun part is is is just hearing just some absurdities and then getting able being able to respond and a calculated uh strategic manner you know and then feeling like oh yeah
I I won yeah right I think I may have um does it become a point where it's like when you talk to these insurance people that okay this is your gonna be your argument this is gonna
be my argument and then you're gonna say this but then I got that because these battles are done
so many times right yeah I try to stop arguing with them yeah um more often than not they they they don't really deal in reality they're like well we think it's worth this it's like
“that's what your computer told you to say like think like a human being for five seconds yeah”
and so you know they'll call and they'll want to try to talk to me about it they're like well these charges and that charges and this no in order for like what are you offering I'll literally come off I'm like I'm a stop here right there I don't care what you have to say yeah what what are you offering yeah I will take the offer to my client I don't really care about your your methodology yeah because at the end of the day for 99% of my clients it's is this a is this a fair offer
to resolve their case right that's that's the operative fact and so do you tell your clients if you think it's fair enough absolutely yeah yeah I mean I I've had that situation in the past right um where you get an offer a settlement and I tell my clients it was like I see it both ways right that this is what your your walk away money is and that's a lot of money for me to tell you to walk away from but you got hurt really bad and I can understand if if you feel like that's not good enough
right um because I don't ever want my clients to feel like I pressured them into yeah I don't want them to feel like something was left on the table but I also don't want them to feel pressured like I made them make a decision yeah yeah of course right because there's nothing worse than me pressuring a client to file a lawsuit and then all of a sudden they're like why isn't this resolved it's like I thought we were on the same page like I told you that was going to be a lengthy you know
years long process potentially or vice versa where I recommend somebody's except a settlement and then three months later you know they they're they're they're getting a surgery for that injury it's like oh did I did I mess up there right so I try to really make sure I have a full understanding of the medical treatment clients damages whether that's lost wages you know um can't they can't play with their kids the grandkids you know they they they have a hobby they no longer do or you know they can't
do pain free um and then I really try to say ah tell them what I think but then also empower them to make an informed decision and then reassure them that we're still going to do what they want yeah right that's being a good lawyer right exactly it's absolutely you know and if and I feel like they're don't they don't understand the advice then I'll repeat the advice yeah right and I'll I'll say hey is this making sense to you because it's not making sense to you then maybe I'm not explaining it
correctly so let's make sure you've got the understanding before I you make a decision because clients can be anyone you know like it's almost like like it's like uh Harry Potter like muggles and wizards you know yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's it's like sometimes you got to explain to muggles about the magic yeah and the wizardry rise yeah and and sometime I mean the the one I hate the most
Is that I was like well my cousin was in a rack and and this is what they got...
gonna stop you right there yeah I it doesn't matter right like different state different injury different jurisdiction like like different year you know different yeah it's it's no two cases are the same and and it's kind of the point now where I'll just start saying it's like well maybe you should have hired your your answer or your cousin's like or whatever like oh it was Florida oh it was
“California I was like right so I it does not matter right but I think when”
the genuine clients are the easiest ones to represent right you know they hey I was hurt I'm being real about my injuries I got the medical treatment I needed I'm feeling better or I'm not getting better and they do what I they do what I recommend they do what I I I those are the ones that are a pleasure to to represent yeah yeah and then you know if we get it resolved in a whether that's and pre pre litigation or post litigation with you know a trial at mediation at you know
this someone to go she's whatever you know when they're when they're happy I'm happy you know and and one of the things that I do to really put my money where my mouth is is we guarantee it
our firm will never make more money than our clients right because I think the number one thing that I
hear people say is oh I wish I would have known you six months ago or wish I would have known you two years ago because I had a lawyer when I feel like I got screwed and with near 100 percent certainty it is almost always the lawyer got his money and I got left holding the bag right they either the lawyer was getting paid more in the client and so I think the easiest thing in the world and this is a I as that to do with lawyers having some kind of thing with the insurance companies where
they just like hey if the insurance company plays a lawyer a little bit more then we can get away with so I don't necessarily think that's the case because the way my contract reads is I get a percentage of whatever the gross recovery is yeah right so if I get fifty thousand dollars I get my percentage of that but what I really think it is is I think that lawyers who are you know
“yes the contract does say that right like by the letter of the contract that's what the contract says”
right you're entitled to forty percent of the gross recovery but I also think the spirit of the contract is an important consideration even though that doesn't have a legally enforceable you can't enforce the spirit of a contract you know it's voice the letter of the contract but for my perspective it's pretty dumb for me to say hey you should you should accept an offer where you J the client gets five grand and I'm making eight that just seems unfair right because
yes I'm providing a professional service yes I took a risk in taking on your case yes I have I also have bills to pay but ultimately it's your life as my client who was negatively impacted and the easiest thing in the world for me to do is to say hey you know what this is the best I could do on the medical bills you know you had a big health insurance lean or you know there wasn't
enough insurance to go around so here's what I'm going to do I'm going to reduce my fee to make sure
that you are getting more of this recovery than I am even if it's by a dollar right I'm still
“going to do that right and and I think that's also free marketing right because if I'm telling”
somebody to like if well I think it I think it increases my my like clients are going to be more susceptible to believe what I'm telling them right like I think this is a fair offer and they're like no no I can get more I was like like I think this is a fair offer and to prove it to you I will actually take less than I'm entitled to take just so you accept right but then also it's a great it's a great marketing tool because every single one of my clients is going to hopefully in theory
say oh go hire Rob if you've been in a car wreck he'll treat you fair what do you mean he's like Rob literally reduced his fee to make sure I got more money than than he did right versus having a bit of memory of of a different law firm that said well we took our 40% or a 45% or whatever it is I don't know what the going rate is in Florida and then I got whatever was left over yeah right so that that's one thing that I really believe in and then that I mean that's a rule I've
in two years of doing this as a solo practitioner now a firm owner we've never made more money
to client and as long as I'm in charge we're not going to it's going to be a mandatory you know I'm not signing the check where the numbers on our check is bigger than the numbers on their check so real quickly yeah what do you most excited about man well I'm I leave Saturday on a cruise so I'm most excited for this this vacation that I'm going to take my family on but I'm just excited about
This has been been fun chat with you hanging out but I'm most excited about just
just you know the growth of the firm and and really trying to you know use this conversation and what I've learned hanging out you know the studio and stuff and and CLEs and you know the other folks I've met been down here and tried using that as as part of the vehicle to continue to build and and and trying to help more people and you know I did tell clients I was like look I'm I'm a business owner this is how I pay my mortgage this is how I you know pay paid pay for daycare
“but at the same time like I want to help people and and I think you know one of the thing it's”
so funny to me you have these insurance companies that are talking about how oh there's so many lawsuits and we can't we can't afford to ensure people and and you're state anymore if you don't do something about it that's crazy right because state farm doesn't need to make more money for a shareholders progressive guy co-hever you know you know who I'm giving money to ultimately people who literally live in St. Louis and this surrounding community and what do they do with
that money they put it directly back into the economy I've never once I mean I I every couple
years in Missouri we get some tort reform bill I've never once seen my insurance premiums go down yeah even when the stuff passes I've never once with the exception of COVID got in a rebate from my insurance company that I actually we didn't have them any claims this year so we have your money back but you know what I have done I've I've given money to people and I've watched them go out and buy you know pay for their kids summer camp at church or pay off their student
loan so that they can start legitimate buying a house or whatever and so it's so funny to me that the narrative about what I do is oh I'm harming business I'm like no I'm helping business yeah
you know holding you know carrying water for billion dollar insurance himglomerates does not help
insurance premiums go down but you know what helps making insurance premiums manageable giving people money to spend it local businesses yeah and so I don't know what inspired that thought that you said but I just that's one thing that's like like it irks me into my core like I get that hives when people are like we need tort reform and what you do I'm like listen here I've got something to say
“and I got time for it you know but I think that's one of the you know one of the take what”
you know if you're listening to the pot or watching I don't know where we broadcasts in this I don't know oh where the wood podcast live okay well on all on all apps download five star rating chase the best but uh it is like find a good lawyer in your community you know if you're in St. Louis or if you're Missouri Illinois call me you know and how about we'll find you uh we're on www.hertonstl.com that's our website phone numbers on there Instagram Facebook @hertonstl I'm 35
and I I'm scared of TikTok but I feel like I need to get on it so I'm at some point I'll try to get a TikTok with that same handle um but yeah you know give us a shout if you're ever in St. Louis you know come by you come by the office hang out um and and uh yeah and if you're if you've been if you're in a car rack like higher lawyer you know if they have a good lawyer but like have have someone take a look at it right like don't sit on your hands like you've got something there seems
like uh what if you if you need a brother and ours for that battle yeah it seems like you're a great guy yeah and uh yeah it seems like you're on the on the good side I certainly think so um you know I don't think progressive things I am but you know I don't care what they think about me um well
we all need uh you know it's it actually Mr. Incredible right in the Incredibles he was like
the insurance yeah that was telling people how to get the most out of their premiums but the real Mr. Incredible in this story that the lawyer is helping to fight uh for the people that injured that really need yeah the money exactly exactly yeah yeah thank you absolutely thanks for
“having me just relax and uh yeah if you want to check out his episode when it airs you know”
America's top lawyers we talk with a lot of great lawyers and a lot of people that are just helping to fight the good fight and so yeah thank you for tuning in guys and we'll see you at the next episode of Living Your Legacy Podcast perfect thanks man awesome appreciate him in
