Geoff Meyerkord

Hiring a lawyer for you or your family after a loss is a very personal and special decision. We believe it is important for you to know some personal things about our firm and who we are so you can hopefully be more comfortable in your choice.

Geoff’s biggest supporter is his wife Laura. Since 1995 when Geoff was in law school and Laura was in school studying to be a sign-language interpreter she has told him “you can do it”. Since there is no guarantee in going to court, having a person there to encourage you is very important. Laura has been encouraging Geoff since he graduated law school. When Geoff needed a place to study for the bar exam Laura found him a place to stay. When Laura got accepted to the Speech Language Pathology program at the University of Illinois- Carbondale she worked hard to get her classroom work done so they could move back to Missouri and

Geoff would no longer have to drive one hour to work in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. When Geoff was having second thoughts about taking the Illinois bar exam, she convinced him to get in his car and drive four hours to Chicago to take the test.

Laura was with Geoff in the small town of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in 1997 when Geoff had his first jury trial (which they won!). Laura spent the next 20 years running the large family and now manages the law firm business. She finds the time to come to every trial and is there for the wins and the losses. “You can do it” she said when Geoff tried his first brain injury case and first punitive damages case (another win!).

Why are we the right law firm for you and your family? Because when a law firm represents real people and not corporations, the law firm is only as good as each person in the firm. You need good people to help good people. Everyone at our law firm is personally invested in our work. Our philosophy of making you a priority means we take on fewer clients than some firms but the return is that our clients know they are special and important.

Education

Professional Associations:

• The Missouri Bar
• The Illinois Bar
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys Board of Governors
• The American Association of Justice
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys – Board of Governors
• Federal Court Eastern District State of Missouri
• Illinois Trial Lawyer's Association

Accolades:

• Avvo 9.5 Superb Rating
• Avvo Top Attorney Personal Injury
• Avvo Client’s Choice Award 2016
• Millions in settlements and jury verdicts
• Recovered approximately $30,000,000.00 in jury verdicts and settlements

Teaching Experience

• Legal Studies for the Paralegal, St. Louis Community College, 1997-2000 Instructor in the classes of Evidence, Civil Procedure, and Torts.

Work Experience

• Meyerkord Law Group, LC, Missouri, April 2019-Present
• Meyerkord, Meyerkord & Kurth, 2010-Present (Of Counsel Attorney)
• Meyerkord Law Firm, LLC, 2000-2010
• Casey & Meyerkord, PC, 1997-2000
• Richmond A. Payne & Associates, Cape Girardeau Missouri, Associate Attorney 1996-1997

Memorable Results

Wrongful Death Settlement - $4,900,000

A dedicated family man from Calico Rock, Arkansas, worked diligently for a company providing internet to rural communities. He commuted to Thayer, Missouri, in a work van assigned to him, which he could use during evenings and weekends. Early one morning, a tragic accident occurred when a speeding, distracted police officer rear-ended his van while he was stopped and signaling to turn into his employer's parking lot. This collision pushed his van into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer, resulting in a fatal explosion captured on the truck's dashcam.

Our firm represented the deceased's beneficiaries under the Missouri Wrongful Death Statute. Of the $4,500,000 in coverage from the City of Thayer, Geoff Meyerkord secured $3,755,133.27 for the Class 1 beneficiaries after negotiating all property damage and personal injury claims. Additionally, we secured $1,000,000 in Underinsured Motorist benefits through the employer’s coverage on the work van, $100,000 in life insurance payments directly to the spouse, and a lump sum payment with the workers’ compensation provider. The total recovery amounted to $4,900,000.00.

These funds were structured to support the spouse and their children, including a child born posthumously, ensuring financial security through the creation of three separate trusts funded by annuities.

Dog Bite Jury Verdict - $250,000.00

The big moment for Geoff in this dog bite trial happened when he realized that dog bites are not the fault of the dog. Because Geoff practiced for trial many times he learned early that most jurors are not interested in blaming or shaming dogs. The practice trials we did taught us that dog bites are almost always the fault of a careless dog owner. After a dog bite some people at first want to point the finger at the dog. A lot of lawyers want to point the finger at the dog after a bite happens. Geoff carefully prepared the case by presenting it to focus groups, which are similar to practice juries. In the focus groups, Geoff learned that the community generally agrees that pet-owners are responsible for the actions of their dogs, including bites and not the dog or breed of dog.

Rear-End Collision Jury Verdict - $200,000.00

This trial will be remembered by Geoff for what happened when it was the defense lawyer’s turn to put on the defense evidence. In trial the plaintiff goes first and the defense goes second and gets the last word. A lot of this particular trial was presented using videos of witness depositions, and Geoff works hard to prepare his videos so they are ready to go when the Judge says to play them. At this trial the defense lawyer did not prepare his own videos and had no way of playing the testimony he needed for the insurance company. When the judge told him to play his first witness he realized he was not ready and stood in front of the judge and jury and looked at Geoff and asked if he could play the defense's videos. Though surprised, within minutes, Geoff’s team had the videos ready for playing. Some would say you should never help out the other in trial, but we decided to make a point of helping and the jury got the point. We won. We believe cases should be won on the honest facts and not because the defense lawyer ran into a glitch during trial.

Illegal Left Turn Causes Car Crash - $22,500.00

While certainly not the biggest trial win, it was our first jury trial and had a moment of surprise. Less than a year out of law school, Geoff took this car wreck case to trial in St. Genevieve, Missouri because the insurance company only offered $4,000.00. What happened during the trial is most memorable. Back in 1997 most judges still had chalkboards the lawyers could use. When Geoff had the defendant driver on the stand he used the chalkboard to draw a diagram of the road which he used to ask the defendant about how the crash happened. It was then that the seemingly nice elderly woman got very frustrated when Geoff drew the chalk roadway wrong, so without warning or asking she stood up from the witness stand and walked over to Geoff and took the chalk out of his hand. She then began to erase and redraw the road and she deemed fit with Geoff standing next to her silent. When she got back to the witness stand Geoff looked over at the jury and the jury looked at Geoff, and he knew just to move on. He did not need to do much more. The jury returned a verdict shortly thereafter for $22,500.00.

Illegal Left Turn Causes Car Crash - $22,500.00

While certainly not the biggest trial win, this case holds a special place in our history as our first jury trial and a moment of surprise. Less than a year out of law school, Geoff took this car wreck case to trial in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, because the insurance company only offered $4,000.00. What happened during the trial is most memorable.

Back in 1997, most judges still had chalkboards for lawyers to use. When Geoff had the defendant driver on the stand, he used the chalkboard to draw a diagram of the road and question the defendant about how the crash happened. During this process, the seemingly nice elderly woman became very frustrated when Geoff drew the roadway incorrectly. Without warning or asking, she stood up from the witness stand, walked over to Geoff, and took the chalk from his hand. She then began to erase and redraw the road as she deemed fit, with Geoff standing next to her silently.

When she returned to the witness stand, Geoff looked over at the jury, and the jury looked back at him. He knew then that he didn't need to do much more. The jury returned a verdict shortly thereafter for $22,500.00.