Missouri's burn-injury treatment infrastructure centers on the Mercy Hospital St. Louis Burn Center and the University Hospital Burn Center at MU Health Care in Columbia, with pediatric burn care at Children's Mercy in Kansas City and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon in St. Louis. Survivors typically face multi-stage skin grafting, infection-control admissions, rehabilitation, and reconstructive procedures that can extend for years.
Severe burns in Missouri arise from residential fires across St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield metros, motor-vehicle collisions involving fuel ignition along the I-70 and I-44 corridors, industrial incidents in the state's substantial automotive-manufacturing and food-processing sectors, electrical arc-flash exposures on construction and utility sites, and farming-related burns in the state's agricultural counties. Missouri's civil statutes, not editorial commentary, govern filing deadlines.
Missouri's five-year statute of limitations
Missouri Revised Statutes § 516.120 states that the following actions "shall be commenced within five years": "(4) An action for taking, detaining or injuring any goods or chattels, including actions for the recovery of specific personal property, or for any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not herein otherwise enumerated …" Source: Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo § 516.120.
We compile this for reference. Missouri is unusual in giving most personal-injury claimants five years, substantially longer than the two- or three-year limits common in most states. Medical-malpractice claims, wrongful-death claims, and claims against governmental entities are governed by different statutes (notably RSMo §§ 516.105 and 537.100) with shorter timelines. For advice on your specific case, consult a licensed Missouri attorney.
Comparative fault in Missouri
Missouri follows a pure comparative-fault rule under Missouri Supreme Court precedent (Gustafson v. Benda, 661 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. 1983)), allowing a partially-at-fault claimant to recover damages reduced by that party's percentage of fault, regardless of how high that percentage is. Because the rule originates in case law rather than in a single codified comparative-fault statute, we do not quote a statutory provision here. Allocation of fault in any specific matter is a question for the trier of fact. For advice on your specific case, consult a licensed Missouri attorney.
Where Missouri burn cases are typically filed
Civil personal-injury actions in Missouri are generally filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the injury occurred or where the defendant resides. The Circuit Court has general jurisdiction over tort claims; associate-circuit divisions handle some lower-value matters. St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jackson County (Kansas City), and Greene County (Springfield) handle the majority of the state's higher-value personal-injury caseload by volume.
This page lists Missouri attorneys whose public bar profiles or website disclosures indicate burn-injury or catastrophic-injury practice. Listings are compiled from public bar records and publicly available review data; nothing on this page should be read as legal advice or as an endorsement of any individual attorney. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed Missouri attorney directly.
