How to Tell If You Need a Car Accident Attorney

Attorney Gregory Herrman | 888-981-1283 | Free Consult

“They’re trying to get you to sign a piece of paper saying you release all your claims, so when it turns out you’re hurt worse than you thought you were, too bad. You already signed a release.”

You don’t always need to get a lawyer involved with a car accident. How can you tell if you need to call an attorney?

Gregory Herrman is a personal injury attorney and managing partner with the law firm Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., which has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley.

In this interview, he explains how to tell if you need a car accident attorney. He also explains everything you should do after a car accident, which could include contacting an attorney at the scene of the crash. They could send someone out immediately to begin documenting evidence.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-981-1283 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Key Takeaways From Gregory Herrman:

Not all car accidents need the help of an attorney. For example, if you and your passengers were not injured in the accident, and the insurance company is cooperative in paying your claims for property damage, hiring an attorney is probably unnecessary. However, just because an accident seems minor at first does not necessarily mean it is. For example, even in a minor accident, whiplash may occur. Whiplash is a tearing of the muscles and can affect a car accident victim for the rest of their life.

If there is any question of whether or not you or your passengers sustained an injury, seek medical care.

It’s important to seek medical care whenever an injury might have occurred. An injury that seems minor at first or may even be undetectable to the layperson immediately after an accident may only begin to show symptoms days or even weeks after an accident. Waiting to seek medical care could actually have a negative affect on your claim if you should choose to file down the road, so it’s important to be prompt when seeking medical care after an accident. Once the presence of an injury has been established, it’s important to contact a car accident lawyer.

If you are going to hire a lawyer, do so as soon as possible after the accident.

It’s important to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible after the accident if you decide you need legal representation. Evidence exists immediately after an accident which could help prove your case but may dissipate with time. Debris may scatter or be thrown away, witnesses may become unreachable, and the at-fault party or their insurance company might be busy building their defense or neutralizing what might otherwise have been useful evidence. The sooner you contact a lawyer after an accident the more evidence will be accessible in an investigation.

Car accident attorneys have their own investigators they can send to the scene.

It’s important to call law enforcement to the scene of the accident when it occurs; law enforcement will then conduct their own brief investigation and write up a report, but it may not contain all the pertinent evidence. Accident attorneys know what evidence to look for and can send their own team of investigators to the scene to document and take pictures of potential evidence such as debris, damaged property, traffic control devices, signs, the location of the sun in the sky, inclement weather, etc.

Insurance adjusters are aware that most policyholders are not aware of accident law.

Insurance companies make their money by reducing and denying as many claims from their policyholders as possible, valid or not. This is why it can be helpful to have an attorney on your side when dealing with an uncooperative insurance company. Most policyholders do not know enough about insurance and accident law to identify what kind of compensation they are entitled to, so without a lawyer backing them up with knowledge of the industry, it’s easy to be taken advantage of. It is particularly important to refrain from signing or agreeing to anything from an insurance company without first having an attorney take a look.

To learn more, contact Gregory Herrman directly by calling 888-981-1283 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Disclaimer: This video is for informational purposes only. In some states, this video may be deemed Attorney Advertising. The choice of lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.