Clay County Personal Injury Lawyer

Dougherty & Holloway is a personal injury law firm in Liberty, the county seat of Clay County. Our office at 9 Westowne Dr, Ste B is a few minutes from the Clay County courthouse.

Partners Ed Dougherty and Philip Holloway are trial attorneys. Between them they have more than 80 years of combined experience and more than 300 jury trials. They've represented more than 4,000 clients in Missouri and Kansas.

When you hire us, you work directly with Ed or Phil, not a case manager.

We help people hurt anywhere in Clay County, including:

• Liberty
• Gladstone
• Kearney
• Smithville
• North Kansas City
• Excelsior Springs
• The Kansas City neighborhoods north of the river

• [Car accidents](/personal-injury/car-accidents): rear-end, intersection, head-on, hit-and-run, distracted and drunk driving crashes, plus uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.
• [Semi-truck accidents](/personal-injury/semi-truck-accidents): crashes with tractor-trailers and commercial vehicles on I-35, I-435 and the state highways.
• [Motorcycle accidents](/personal-injury/motorcycle-accidents): claims for riders, where insurers often start out biased against the motorcyclist.
• [Wrongful death](/personal-injury/wrongful-death): claims for families who lost someone because of another person's negligence.
• [Brain injury](/personal-injury/brain-injury): traumatic brain injuries from crashes, falls and other accidents.
• [Medical malpractice](/personal-injury/medical-malpractice): misdiagnosis, surgical errors and medication mistakes.
• [Slip and fall](/personal-injury/slip-fall): injuries caused by unsafe conditions on someone else's property.
• [Nursing home neglect and abuse](/personal-injury/nursing-home-neglect-abuse): harm to residents from neglect, abuse or poor care.
• [Product defects](/personal-injury/product-defect-claims): injuries from defective vehicles, parts, machinery and products.
• [Construction and work site accidents](/personal-injury/construction-work-site-accidents): claims against third parties, like subcontractors, property owners or equipment makers.
• [Highway and guardrail accidents](/personal-injury/highway-guardrail-accidents): crashes caused by road defects or guardrails that fail.
• [Other injuries](/personal-injury/other-personal-injuries): dog bites, burns and explosions, and other catastrophic injuries.

In most Missouri injury cases, you need to show two things:

1. Someone else was negligent. Another person or company failed to act with reasonable care, like a driver who ran a red light or a store that ignored a spill.
2. That negligence caused you real harm. This could be medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, or other losses.

Missouri follows pure comparative fault. If you were partly to blame, you can still recover, but your recovery is reduced by your share of the fault.

• Most personal injury claims: five years from the injury.
• Wrongful death claims: three years from the death.
• Medical malpractice: generally two years, with a ten-year outer limit.
• Claims against a city, the county or the state: these can carry special notice requirements and shorter deadlines.

Evidence and witnesses fade much faster than any deadline. Talk with a lawyer early.

1. Free consultation. We meet with you, review what happened and explain your options.
2. Investigation. We gather records, reports, photos, video and witness statements.
3. Your injuries. We work with your doctors to document your injuries, your future care and how the injury affects your work and life.
4. Claim and negotiation. We present the claim to the insurance company and negotiate.
5. Lawsuit and trial, if needed. If the insurer won't be fair, we file suit. Many Clay County cases are filed in the Clay County Circuit Court, part of Missouri's 7th Judicial Circuit. It sits in the James S. Rooney Justice Center at 11 S. Water St in Liberty.

Ed and Phil are trial attorneys and are ready to take a case to a jury.

• Liberty Police Department Records Unit: crash and incident reports for Liberty. Request online or in person.
• Gladstone police records: Gladstone crash reports, available through the city's online report search.
• Clay County Sheriff's Office: crashes and incidents in unincorporated parts of the county.
• Missouri State Highway Patrol: crash reports for crashes the Patrol worked, through its online records center.
• Clay County Circuit Court: James S. Rooney Justice Center, 11 S. Water St, Liberty, MO 64068.
• Hospitals: Liberty Hospital in Liberty and North Kansas City Hospital in North Kansas City.

Every case is different, and we won't guess at a value before we know the facts. Depending on the case, compensation can include:

• Medical bills and future care
• Lost wages and lost earning ability
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Property damage
• In wrongful death cases, losses to the family
• Punitive damages, which may be possible when the conduct was reckless

• We're in the county seat. Our office is in Liberty, close to the courthouse.
• You work with trial attorneys. Ed and Phil handle your case personally.
• Courtroom experience. More than 300 jury trials between them.
• Missouri and Kansas. Phil is licensed in both states.

Consultations are free, and we work on a contingency fee. Ask us how fees and case costs work before you sign anything.

Call (816) 891-9990, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or request a free consultation.