How Soon After a Car Accident Should I Call a Lawyer?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the aftermath of a wreck. From dealing with auto insurers to arranging for alternative transportation, there’s always so much to do following a collision.

Regardless of all the mundane tasks that might demand your attention, you shouldn’t neglect your health or financial security. If you don’t need emergency care, the first call you make after the crash should be to your doctor, to schedule an exam. 

And the second call you make? It should be to an attorney. Here are some of the biggest reasons why:

1. Valuable Evidence May Be Time Sensitive 

Calling a lawyer right away will give your legal team the opportunity to obtain time-sensitive evidence while it’s still available. Black box data is often overwritten within 30 days, for example, as is footage from dash cameras and surveillance systems. 

Eyewitness testimony also becomes increasingly less reliable as time goes on. The sooner your attorney reaches out to the motorists, passengers, and pedestrians who saw what happened, the more details they’ll be able to provide in their statements. 

It’s also worth noting that motor carriers are only required to retain their drivers’ logs for six months. That means if a big rig was involved in the wreck, you may have just 180 days to gather evidence that implicates the trucker. 

2. It’s Easy to Jeopardize Even a Strong Claim Inadvertently 

Enlisting legal help early on will allow you to focus on your recovery while a seasoned professional handles virtually every aspect of your claim. This, in turn, will reduce the likelihood that you make a critical mistake. 

Once you hire a lawyer, for example, you won’t have to correspond with the insurance adjuster at all. Consequently, they won’t be able to manipulate you into admitting fault or accepting an unfair payout. 

Your attorney will also keep you from hurting your claim by making common missteps, like postponing medical care, ignoring your doctor’s advice, posting about the accident on social media, or giving a recorded statement before reaching maximum medical improvement. 

3. Losses Will Start Adding up from Day One   

In Florida, depending on the circumstances, personal injury claimants can seek compensation for virtually all the damages they wouldn’t have incurred had they not been hurt. Examples include medical expenses, lost wages, the cost of reasonably necessary replacement services, and diminished quality of life. 

If you try tracking all such losses on your own, you may overlook a few. Thankfully, from the moment you hire an attorney, your legal team will be on top of it. They’ll log all your recoverable damages and preserve the documentation needed to prove them. 

Speak with a Miami Car Accident Attorney 

If you were seriously hurt in a wreck through no fault of your own, turn to Viñas & DeLuca, PLLC. Backed by more than 35 years of collective experience, our legal team has secured millions of dollars in settlements and judgements for victims of personal injury and wrongful death. To set up your free initial consultation with one of our car accident lawyers in Miami, you can submit the Contact Form on our website, chat with us online, or call (305) 372-3650.