Can I get a lawyer for an accident where I didnt get injured?

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Can I get a lawyer for an accident where I didnt get injured?

I was involved in a 4 vehicle accident on
august 22nd. I got a ticket worth 4 points as
well as the guy behind me even though I was not
at fault and 3 of the 4 insurance companies
including mine all claimed not liable except
for the guy thats obvious that started the
accident. He still has not given his statement
to the insurance company and days keep going by
where i have to pay money out of pocket to get
around. I tried looking for lawyers but they
only seem to cover accidents if i got in an
injury. What can i do to not get this ticket
and points and expedite the process for the guy
to pay for the car?

Asked on August 28, 2017 under Accident Law, Florida

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

The only way to reduce or avoid points is to go to court and either convince the prosecutor to dismiss the case or let you plead to a lesser offense, or go to trial on the ticket and prove at trial that you are not, under the terms of the law, liable. A lawyer will help you greatly in doing this, and lawyers will handle traffic cases for, in my experience, $750 - $1,500 typically. (I do this up in NJ and that's my fee range, for example.)
Note two things in regards to the ticket, however: 1) it doesn't matter if you think you were at fault or not--what matters is whether whatever you did fell under the terms of the statute under which they issued the ticket; look at the offense(s) for which you were cited and compare to your actions that day, to see if you should or should not be liable for those 4 points. And 2) in my experience, the court *always* believes the officer, so you (or better yet, your attorney) are likely to get a better result from negotiating with the prosecutor and trying to get a favorable plea deal than by actually going to trial.
As to getting money for your car damage/repairs: unless you have your own relevant insurance to claim under (e.g. collision coverage), the only way to "expedite" matters if no one is offering to pay you is to sue the at-fault driver (you sue the driver, not the insurer) and prove his/her fault in court, such as by your testimony, police reports, police offer testimony, other witness testimony, etc. If you can prove the other driver's fault, you can get a court order or judgment requiring him to pay (at which point his insurer may pay for him, if they don't choose to settle ahead of time). If the amount in question does not exceed the limit for small claims court, suing in small claims, as your own attorney or "pro se" to minimize legal costs, if often a good idea.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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