A Tempe car accident lawyer takes over the parts of an injury claim you should not have to manage while you are still healing. After a serious crash, the other driver’s insurer opens a file within days, assigns an adjuster, and starts gathering statements. Medical bills arrive at the same time, work hours disappear, and no one explains which deadline applies to your situation.
Hartley Law Car Accident & Injury Lawyers handles crash claims from the first phone call through the final accounting, and our team handles the investigating, documenting, and negotiating while you focus on treatment. You are welcome to call and ask questions before you decide anything at all.
The first conversation is a fact-gathering session rather than a sales pitch. We ask how the collision happened, who was involved, what the responding officer recorded, and what treatment you have already received. Those answers tell us whether a claim is straightforward or whether it needs investigation right away.
Our team also raises the practical questions people rarely think to ask.
Which policies might respond to this crash? Has anyone from the other side already contacted you? Are you missing work, and is anyone tracking that loss in writing?
By the end of that call, you should understand what your claim involves and what comes next. Our Tempe car accident lawyer team also says so when a claim does not need legal representation, which is an answer worth getting early.
Evidence decides claims. Photographs get deleted, businesses record over camera footage, and memories blur within weeks, so the record has to be built while it still exists.
We request the police report and compare it against the physical evidence. Vehicle damage patterns, debris fields, and roadway markings often tell a fuller story than a diagram sketched at the scene.
Witnesses matter just as much. Our investigators contact the people listed in the report while their memory is fresh, and we send preservation letters to nearby businesses whose cameras may have captured the collision. When liability is disputed, a reconstruction expert can analyze speed, impact angles, and sight lines.
Insurers scrutinize the link between a crash and an injury, so that link has to be documented rather than asserted. We collect records from every provider involved, including the emergency department, imaging centers, and physical therapy.
Gaps in treatment become arguments against you later. Our team flags them early so your providers can address them in writing. When an injury will require future care, we ask treating physicians to document what that care entails and how much it will cost.
The at-fault driver’s policy is rarely the only source of recovery, and it is often not the largest one. Part of our job is locating coverage that is not obvious from the crash report.
Several policies can come into play after a single collision:
Each policy carries its own notice requirements and its own adjuster, and overlooking one can shrink a recovery.
Arizona requires policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, to carry at least $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to two or more people, and $15,000 for property damage. Those limits disappear quickly against a hospital stay and surgery.
Arizona insurers must offer uninsured motorist coverage, and must include underinsured motorist coverage at the named insured’s request up to the bodily injury limits of the policy. Many drivers carry that protection without realizing it. We review your declarations page and any household policy that might reach your losses.
Once we are involved, adjuster calls come to us. That single change removes the pressure to give a recorded statement before anyone knows how serious your injuries are.
Insurers also argue about fault, and Arizona law gives them a reason to try. Contributory negligence is a question for the jury. If the jury applies it, the action is not barred, but full damages are reduced in proportion to the injured person’s share of fault that caused the harm.
Being partially at fault for the crash does not end a claim; instead, adjusters work to increase that percentage.
We answer with evidence rather than argument, using the report, the physical damage, witness accounts, and expert analysis where the facts call for it.
If an adjuster has already asked you for a recorded statement, call Hartley Law at (602) 529-2222 before you agree to anything. One conversation now can protect the value of a claim later.
Deadlines end claims quietly, and they run whether or not you are still in treatment. Calendaring everyone who applies is part of the work from day one.
A few deadlines shape almost every Arizona crash claim:
Identifying every potential defendant early is what keeps those clocks from running out unnoticed.
When treatment stabilizes, we assemble a demand package based on medical records, billing records, wage documentation, and a written analysis of liability. Negotiation follows, and many claims resolve at that stage.
If the offer does not reflect the losses, we file suit in the Maricopa County Superior Court and proceed to discovery, depositions, and expert disclosure. Filing changes the pace of a case, and it frequently changes the conversation about value.
Resolution is not quite the last step. Our team negotiates medical liens and confirms what each provider is owed. Before anything is distributed, you get a written breakdown of the settlement, so the amount you receive is a number you can trace.
Claims involving a public entity carry a 180-day notice requirement instead of the usual two-year window. Contact us quickly so we can identify the correct entity and file the notice on time.
Not before you speak with a lawyer. Recorded statements are taken early, when injuries are not yet fully diagnosed, and the answers get used later to limit the claim.
Sometimes, depending on what you signed. Bring us the paperwork, because a property damage release is different from a release of your injury claim.
We look to your own underinsured motorist coverage and any other policy that may reach your losses. That review happens early, because it shapes how the claim gets built.
Within days when possible. Camera footage gets overwritten, damaged vehicles are repaired or salvaged, and witnesses become harder to reach as weeks pass.
Health insurance and medical payments coverage usually cover treatment costs while a claim is pending, and repayment gets addressed during lien negotiation. We can help you sort out which coverage applies to your treatment.
If an adjuster called you about the crash while you were still in treatment, you have already seen how early the other side starts working.
Matt Hartley built his career at one of the world’s largest law firms, representing Fortune 500 corporations and professional sports teams in matters involving more than $1 billion. He brings that same preparation to injury claims across Arizona, from an office on West Broadway Road in Tempe.
Our team keeps a selective caseload so the attorneys handling your file know its details. We investigate, document, negotiate, and explain what drives a claim's value before you are asked to sign anything. A free case evaluation costs nothing and carries no obligation.
Call Hartley Law at (602) 529-2222 or reach our team via the contact page to discuss what your claim involves.
Serious injury cases deserve careful evaluation and experienced judgment. Hartley Law PLLC represents clients across Arizona with a focus on strategy, preparation, and personal attention. We review each matter carefully and help you understand the best strategy to maximize your recovery.
Get Free Ebook
