When should I hire a personal injury lawyer?
When should you hire a personal injury lawyer? That’s a great question, but it doesn’t always have a clear-cut answer. It depends on what’s happening.
One thing is for sure: Don’t call us before you call 911! Call for emergency assistance if you have injuries or anyone else was injured in the accident. Accept medical treatment and make your health a priority.
Next, speak with the police, gather contact information for the other people who are involved, and talk to any nearby witnesses. Look around for any video cameras and take photos of the scene while everything is still fresh.
Have you already taken care of these steps? Are the police investigating the situation? Are you on the path to healing from your injuries? Great! Now you’re ready to talk to a personal injury lawyer. Assuming you are still receiving treatment for your injuries, a logical next step is calling an injury lawyer to learn your rights and find out if you have a personal injury claim. If you are done with all of your medical treatment, gather up your medical bills and other documentation and give us a call.
Take Action Before Vital Evidence is Lost Forever
Of course, you don’t want to wait too long to contact a personal injury lawyer because you could lose precious evidence that fades away with every moment that passes. Witnesses forget details, videos are erased, and the scene of your injury could change significantly due to construction, weather, and a million other things.
Here’s something you might not realize about personal injury attorneys: We’re not just lawyers. We’re investigators too. We have experience with tracking down witnesses, talking to local business owners, securing traffic camera footage, requesting police bodycam videos, and much more.
At Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, we’re great at brainstorming ideas for recovering evidence you may have thought was lost forever. Give us a challenge, and we’ll start digging. The fresher your case is, the easier it is to gather the evidence you need and put together a compelling argument for compensation.
You May Need a Personal Injury Lawyer If …
Here are some circumstances where people typically need a personal injury lawyer. Do any of these situations seem similar to yours?
- You were injured in a car accident where someone else was clearly at fault.
- You were left with severe injuries due to a truck driver’s negligence.
- An Uber driver was distracted and caused the accident.
- You were hit while bicycling, walking as a pedestrian, or using a scooter.
- You accepted medical help after the accident, but now you have a pile of medical bills.
- You’re pretty sure the other person has insurance.
- You had a pre-existing condition and/or your injuries are getting worse after the accident.
- You’d really like to negotiate a settlement that’s fair and valuable.
If the circumstances above sound familiar, or if you were severely injured in another way, it’s worth at least contacting a personal injury traffic accident attorney to discuss your options.
Show Them You’re Serious and Your Case is Strong
When you hire a lawyer, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Now you can stop dealing directly with the other person, their insurance company, and their lawyer. Your lawyer can handle all that.
Plus, you can stop worrying about accidentally doing or saying something that would harm your case. Your lawyer can advise you about requests from the other side, like when they ask for your social security number or toss out an insultingly low offer.
Ultimately, you win a personal injury case by building a mountain of convincing documentation and showing the other side that you’re in it to win it. As they see you’re not going to back down and go away, they’re forced to either negotiate – which is usually in both parties’ best interests – or take it as far as court, which is relatively rare.
And here’s one last thing: Any good personal injury attorney should give you a free consultation. That makes it pretty painless to start the process. In fact, to ensure your bank account isn’t a barrier, we offer all kinds of free resources and we don’t take a contingency fee until the conclusion of your case.
Wondering if now is the right time to call a personal injury lawyer? At Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, we dedicate ourselves to helping California people just like you. Let’s talk!
“A driver changed lanes into me while riding my motorcycle and ground me into the center median. Annie was a huge help and offered a lot of free advice which allowed me be sure I was making the right moves after the accident. Unfortunately the driver was under-insured and we were unable to find any secondary coverage that might pay damages. He also had no money or property. You can’t squeeze blood from a stone. Regardless, Annie put in a good amount of time and continued to offer advice even after it became apparent there would be no payday for either of us. Sally Morin Law was easy to work with and they obviously aren’t driven solely be money. I would strongly recommend this firm to anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident.” – Paul C.
Experience a serious personal injury accident in California?
Check out our Personal Injury FAQ Page to learn more about how the process works.
We Handle Your Accident Claim So You Can Focus on Your Life

After an accident, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many types of personal injury claims. We believe you should be able to focus on recovering from your accident while we handle the legal details.





Posted on Yelp![]()
Amy R.Verified
I can't recommend Rebecca at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers more highly. Rebecca is transparent, honest, and client-centered in a way that was completely different from the other firms I considered. Rebecca broke down what can feel like a very opaque process, and helped me understand my options in an approachable way. It was immediately clear that Rebecca's advice and guidance centered around my personal best interest, not what would make her firm the most money. Thanks Rebecca and team!Posted on Yelp![]()
Mike B.Verified
I unfortunately got injured in an auto accident and called a bunch of different attorneys with little to no help. I called Sally Morin Law and got help from Rebecca who was absolutely fantastic. She was there every step of the way to help and Isn't just trying to make a quick buck. She took her time with me and went out of her way to help out. Thanks for all the help Rebecca!!Posted on Yelp![]()
Shannon Y.Verified
Carmen and team at Sally Morin are the best. Having Carmen and her team for my personal injury case is one of the lucky thing for me in 2024 Carmen is a very capable law professional. she is expert in her domain, also she is very skillful in finding the key information. Carmen is also a compassionate and kind person, she listened and also put my interests in priority. At the same time she patiently explained to me the law information. Carmen is also very good with execution, the whole process she is proactively driving it towards the satisfactory result What more can you ask for a lawyer who is capable, professional, kind, effective and efficient.Posted on Yelp![]()
Dinora G.Verified
I was very fortunate, and by pure luck, I found Sally Morin's firm on YELP. The firm wasn't recommended to me by anyone, but I now want to recommend them to EVERYONE, especially my fantastic attorney, Annie Heller. Annie was compassionate, honest, attentive and very responsive to my calls and emails. Throughout the entire process of my claim, I felt completely supported and even after my case successfully settled, she followed up with me. Thank you Annie for your exceptional legal service.Posted on Yelp![]()
Phil M.Verified
Rebecca and the team at Sally Morin are awesome, plain and simple! Honestly, they were the only legal representation that didn't make me feel slimy after the first conversation. I was thrilled to work with them on my injury case after realizing it was more than I could handle dealing directly with the other party's insurance myself. They advocated for me and my family, going into incredible detail and crafting a great strategy for what to do next. The end result was a pleasant surprise, far exceeding my expectations. Rebecca and the team definitely earn their share by providing amazing value. They're also no-pressure, which was refreshing compared to other lawyers I contacted before choosing Sally Morin. Their priority was making sure I was always informed and knew exactly what was going on, every step of the way. If something happens again, Rebecca and Sally Morin will be my first call--and I'm sure there will be a multitude of emails to follow! :PPosted on Yelp![]()
Steve M.Verified
Attorneys Annie Levitt Heller and Carmen from Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers are the absolute best! They are dedicated, approachable and thorough in all their work. They provided the best possible outcome for my case (I was a pedestrian hit by a car in a crosswalk) and supportive every step of the way. I would absolutely recommend Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers to anyone Forever grateful to them!Posted on Yelp![]()
James Minh N.Verified
My sister got in a car accident, was hit badly by another driver, became unconscious, and was immediately taken to hospital emergency with an internal brain bleeding thus could not defend herself. As a result, the police report had false information from the other driver and concluded my sister at fault. While other legal firms purposed disappeared after seeing at the police report and other driver's cheap insurance policy (not easy win), Sally Morin team with great heart and "no win, no pay" written clause took on the case and successfully reversed both insurance + police reports and won the case. My family is grateful to find Sally Morin firm and great team with legal expertise, experience, and most important great heart. Thank you very much.Posted on Yelp![]()
Tim K.Verified
Unfortunately me and my mom were hit by another driver on the freeway. We ended up with hospital bills and a long road to recovery especially for my 85 yr old mother. This was such a tragedy and uncertain times for us not knowing where to turn and what to do about mounting bills while trying to get our lives in order. I contacted Sally and her wonderful team. Carmen one of her associates worked with me and my mom and handled everything. Carmen was awesome and such a caring lawyer as well. She keeps It real and we loved that about her. When you need a personal injury attorney that will work on handling your case in every aspect, insurance claims, potential health liens and negotiating on your behalf then Sally Morin Personal Injury law firm is the one to contact. You can count on them. Carmen explained everything so we knew what we were in for and was trustworthy and honest. There is no way to state how invaluable and priceless it is knowing the law firm you hired has your back and can be trusted. I hope no one ever needs a personal Injury attorney because being injured is one of the worst things that can happen to you; your life changes in an instant after a bad accident. But having a law firm like Sally Morin with lawyers like Carmen make that terrible experience much better knowing they are there to handle every aspect of your case and do it so well. Thanks Carmen and team. Much appreciated!Posted on Yelp![]()
Stephan B.Verified
I originally reached out to a different law firm to handle my personal injury case, but Sally Morin's team (Rebecca Taylor in particular) left such a good impression on me that I switched to them--and I'm glad I did! They were empathetic and professional, communicated early and often, and patiently walked me through every option. They did thorough research and handled so much on their end that I was able to focus on my recovery/work/life with minimal disruption. So I highly recommend this firm.Posted on Yelp![]()
Michele H.Verified
Word cannot express the honesty from Annie at Sally Morin law . She is honest kind and to the point . If you want to get ripped off by shady humans don't hire Annie . If you want honest kind and attentive go with Annie at Sally Morin law . You will feel good about your choice . She is a firm advocate with insurance and health care . Annie and her team will be available to explain things all the way through . Her integrity is not matched in this field . I would hire again and again Thanks Annie You made one of the most difficult times in my families life tolerable ! Your kindness and integrity are not matched in everyday life . Much less with personal injury lawyers thank you thank you Michele Hargrove
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Video Transcript
When should I hire a personal injury attorney? That’s a great question because it’s not always the same answer. Definitely you don’t want to hire a personal … That’s not the first person you want to call when you’re in an accident. You want to call 911, you want to get medical help, you want to make sure the police show up, get witnesses, things like that. So do not even think about an attorney until you’ve got the police investigating the accident and you’re taking care of your injuries with medical professionals. But the best time to hire a lawyer after doing that is pretty much as soon as possible once you know that you definitely have injuries that were caused by the accident. The reason you want to hire an attorney sooner rather than later is because attorneys are experts at tracking down witnesses, gathering evidence, getting surveillance footage that might be relevant to the accident, local businesses or traffic cameras, police bodycam footage, all that stuff. I mean, some of that stuff gets recorded over or witnesses sort of disappear or forget the facts of the accident, so you want to preserve the evidence so you can prove the case. The fresher it is, the stronger your case is. Also, having a lawyer get involved with the insurance companies or the defense attorneys more quickly helps you establish a strong case. Instead of letting them think maybe you’re not even going to bring a claim, or you make some calls and maybe not know exactly what to say or disclose some information that maybe you shouldn’t like social security numbers, things like that. Having a lawyer to advise you right away is probably the best course of action. The good thing about it is pretty much every personal injury attorney gives you a free consultation. It doesn’t hurt to even just reach out to a personal injury lawyer to see what they can do for you and if now is the right time for you to hire one.



