Real Car Accident Cases. Real Results.
$775,000
Lane Change Collision
Jefferson County, MO
Our client was hit when a driver merged into his lane without looking. He suffered multiple orthopedic injuries and missed months of work.
$680,000
Rear-End Crash
St. Louis City, MO
Our client was stopped at a light when he was rear-ended by a distracted driver. The case settled before trial.
$950,000
Highway Crash
St. Clair County, IL
A commercial vehicle clipped our client at high speed on I-64. He required spinal surgery and extensive rehab.
“I talked to three other firms before calling Sotiriou Wilmowski. They were the first to actually listen. They took my case seriously from day one.”
Why Choose Sotiriou Wilmowski for Your Car Accident Case?
The Sotiriou Wilmowski Insider Advantage™
Our attorneys defended car accident claims for years. We know every delay tactic and how to counter it.
Real Legal Experience
You won’t be handed off to a junior associate. You’ll work directly with trial-tested lawyers who’ve handled complex car accident cases from both sides of the aisle.
Personalized Support
We keep you informed, explain your options clearly, and stay in touch throughout the case. You’ll never feel like just another file number.
No Fee Unless We Win
You pay nothing out of pocket. We front all costs and only get paid if we recover compensation for you.
Client-First Approach
We fight to make sure your voice is heard, and your injuries taken seriously. Insurance companies move fast; we move faster.
What Our Clients Say
The Sotiriou Wilmowski Insider Advantage™
We know how insurance companies think, because we used to work for them.
Deme Sotiriou spent years on the other side of car accident claims, representing insurance companies and the drivers they covered. She understands how insurers evaluate these cases and what it takes to get them to pay up.
Tom Wilmowski is a skilled trial lawyer who’s taken on complex accident cases throughout Missouri and Illinois. He knows how to investigate car crashes, prove fault, and fight lowball offers.
Why Our Experience Gives You the Edge
Before representing injury victims, we spent years defending at-fault drivers and the insurance companies that paid their claims. We were the ones evaluating car accident claims, issuing denials, and limiting payouts. Now we use that insider knowledge to fight for injured drivers and passengers.
We’ve handled cases involving crashes on I-70, I-64/Highway 40, I-44, I-55, I-270, and other dangerous roads throughout Missouri and Illinois, including rural highways where serious wrecks often go under-investigated.
We understand how law enforcement agencies like the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police investigate car accidents, and we know how to challenge incomplete or biased reports.
We work regularly with clients treated at Barnes-Jewish, Mercy, SSM Health, and trauma centers across the region.
We’ve Been in Their War Room. Now We’re in Yours
Our background gives you an unmatched advantage at every stage of your car accident case.
Put Our Experience to Work for You
This isn’t guesswork. It’s strategic legal advocacy built on insider knowledge.
If you were hurt in a crash, don’t face the insurance company alone. Get a team that knows exactly how they operate, and how to beat them.
That’s the Sotiriou Wilmowski Insider Advantage™
Injured in a car accident?
Talk to former insurance lawyers who now fight for victims.
What Car Accident Victims Ask Us Most
Clear answers from attorneys who’ve handled these cases inside and out.
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle
We don’t just handle car accident cases. We understand them from the inside.
Before representing injury victims, Tom and Deme defended at-fault drivers and the insurance companies that paid their claims. We know how insurers evaluate car accident claims, where they push back, and how to build a case that breaks through their defenses.
Left-turn and failure-to-yield crashes
Left-turn crashes are among the most common and most serious collisions in the St. Louis area. A driver turning across traffic misjudges an oncoming vehicle’s speed or never looks at all, and the impact lands on the front or side of your car where there is the least structure to absorb it. These wrecks produce broken bones, spinal injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. Fault usually turns on who had the green arrow, how the signal was timed, and where the vehicles came to rest. We pull signal timing records, intersection camera footage, and vehicle damage patterns to establish exactly how the collision happened, then counter the insurance company’s attempt to split fault between both drivers.
Rear-end collisions
Being struck from behind is the most common type of car accident, and it is also the type insurance companies work hardest to minimize. Adjusters point to modest bumper damage and argue that nobody could have been badly hurt, even when the occupant suffered a herniated disc, a concussion, or a permanent neck injury. A low-speed impact transfers far more force to the spine than the outside of a car suggests. We work with treating physicians and, where the fight warrants it, biomechanical experts to connect your injuries to the crash, document the full course of your treatment, and refuse to let a photograph of a bumper decide what your case is worth.
Road hazards and poor road maintenance
Potholes, missing or obscured signage, standing water, unmarked construction zones, and poorly designed intersections cause crashes that get written off as simple driver error. When a government entity or a road contractor failed to maintain a safe roadway or failed to warn drivers about a known hazard, that party can share responsibility for the wreck. These claims carry short notice deadlines and sovereign immunity defenses that do not apply to an ordinary car accident case, so they have to be spotted early. We investigate maintenance records, prior complaint histories, and construction plans, and we file the required notices in time to protect your claim.
Unsafe lane changes and merges
Lane-change crashes happen when a driver never checks a blind spot, never signals, or drifts across a lane line while distracted. On I-270, I-64, and I-70 these collisions frequently set off a chain reaction involving several vehicles, which gives every insurance company involved a reason to point at someone else. Sorting out who moved first comes down to physical evidence. We use vehicle damage mapping, dashcam and traffic camera footage, event data recorder downloads, and witness statements to place responsibility on the driver who actually caused the crash.
Distracted driving crashes
Distracted driving is a leading cause of serious car accidents in Missouri and Illinois. A driver who is texting, scrolling, adjusting a screen, or reaching for something in the passenger seat gives up several seconds of attention, which at highway speed means hundreds of feet traveled effectively blind. Drivers rarely admit to it, and phone records are never handed over voluntarily. We move quickly to preserve cell phone data, infotainment system records, and app activity, and we use crash reconstruction to show the absence of any braking or evasive steering before impact.
Intersection and red-light crashes
Intersection collisions cause some of the worst injuries in car accident cases because the side of a vehicle offers far less protection than the front or the rear. When a driver runs a red light or rolls through a stop sign, the striking vehicle hits the occupant compartment directly. Liability is almost always contested, with each driver insisting the light was in their favor. We canvass nearby businesses and municipal cameras before that footage is overwritten, obtain signal timing records, and rely on independent witnesses to establish who actually had the right of way.
Head-on and wrong-way collisions
Head-on crashes combine the speed of both vehicles, which makes them the deadliest type of car accident. They happen when a driver crosses a center line while impaired, fatigued, or distracted, or enters a highway ramp in the wrong direction. Survivors face multiple surgeries, long rehabilitation, and permanent impairment, and families are often facing a wrongful death claim at the same time. We investigate the at-fault driver’s history, any bar or employer that may share responsibility, and every available layer of insurance coverage, because one driver’s policy limits rarely cover a loss this severe.
Rollover and single-vehicle crashes
A crash with no other car involved is not automatically your fault. Rollovers and run-off-road wrecks are frequently caused by another driver who forced you off the roadway and kept going, by a tire or suspension failure, by a defective roof or restraint system, or by a hazardous road condition. Insurance companies treat these as driver error and close the file. We reconstruct the sequence of events, preserve the vehicle before it goes to salvage, and identify every party whose conduct or product contributed to the crash.
Defective vehicle parts and tire failures
Some car accidents are caused by the vehicle rather than the driver. Tread separations, airbags that fail to deploy or deploy with too much force, faulty brakes, failed steering components, and seat backs or seat belts that collapse on impact can turn a survivable crash into a catastrophic one. A product claim runs against the manufacturer and requires the vehicle itself to be preserved as evidence, which means acting before the insurance company sends it to salvage. We secure the vehicle, retain engineering experts, and pursue both the at-fault driver and the manufacturer where the evidence supports it.
DUI and impaired driving crashes
Crashes caused by drunk or drug-impaired drivers tend to involve high speeds and no braking at all, which is why the injuries are so severe. These cases run alongside a criminal prosecution, and how the civil claim is handled during that period matters a great deal. A DUI crash can also support punitive damages and may create liability for a bar or a social host who kept serving an obviously intoxicated driver, which opens up additional insurance coverage. We coordinate with the criminal case, obtain the toxicology and enforcement records, and pursue every responsible party.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Every car accident is different, but here’s what you may be able to recover:
Where We Handle Car Accident Cases
We’re based in St. Louis but take serious car accident cases throughout Missouri and Illinois, including urban, suburban, and rural communities.