Most car accident claims in West Palm Beach settle for whatever the adjuster is willing to write a check for, because the insurer knows the lawyer across the table has not tried a case in years. Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa negotiate from a different position. Our West Palm Beach car accident lawyers have handled collision claims across Palm Beach County since 1985, and we prepare every file as though a jury in the 15th Judicial Circuit will decide it.
That is not a slogan. Managing Shareholder Jonathan T. Levy represented a client who was rear-ended on I-95 by a driver who tried to leave the scene and turned out to carry no liability coverage. The client's own uninsured motorist carrier refused to pay its $100,000 limit. After a three-day trial in Palm Beach County, the jury returned a verdict of slightly over $400,000, and Mr. Levy then pursued a bad faith claim that recovered the full verdict plus fees and costs.
Free consultation, 24 hours a day. No fee unless we recover. Call +1 (866) 640-7117 or request a case review online.
Results in past cases do not guarantee a similar outcome in future cases.
Table of contents
- Why hire our West Palm Beach car accident lawyers?
- What types of car accident claims do we handle in West Palm Beach?
- How does Florida's no-fault system affect your West Palm Beach car accident claim?
- How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Florida?
- What can you recover after a car accident in Palm Beach County?
- What do insurance companies do to reduce car accident claims in West Palm Beach?
- What happens after you call our West Palm Beach car accident lawyers?
- FAQ for West Palm Beach Car Accident Lawyer
- Forty Years in This County Is the Whole Point
Why hire our West Palm Beach car accident lawyers?
Because the firm has forty years of Palm Beach County collision work behind it and a trial record that changes how adjusters value a file. We opened in 1985 under founder Gerald A. Rosenthal and have been fighting for the injured ever since.
What that looks like in practice:
- Attorneys who stay on your file. You work with your lawyer directly, not a rotating case manager who calls you the week before settlement.
- Recognition earned individually, not bought. Managing Shareholder Steven C. Simon has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America. Shareholder Luis A. Sosa was named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 for civil plaintiff work.
- A genuinely bilingual practice. Our attorneys and staff handle full cases in Spanish, from the first call through the courtroom. Hablamos español.
- Contingency representation. No money up front, and no fee unless we recover for you.
Forty years in one county also means we know which defense firms actually try cases and which ones fold at mediation. That intelligence shapes how hard we push and when.
What types of car accident claims do we handle in West Palm Beach?
We handle the full range of Palm Beach County collision claims, and we build a separate strategy for each because the liability question changes with the crash type. A West Palm Beach rear-end accident claim turns on a legal presumption. A T-bone at a signalized intersection turns on witness accounts and signal timing. They are not the same case.
Our car accident practice in West Palm Beach covers:
- Rear-end collisions, including chain-reaction crashes in stop-and-go I-95 traffic
- Intersection and left-turn crashes along Okeechobee Boulevard, Southern Boulevard, and Military Trail
- Distracted driving collisions
- Hit-and-run crashes where the at-fault driver is never identified
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims against your own carrier
- Crashes involving rideshare vehicles, commercial trucks, and motorcycles
If you want a rough sense of scale before you call, our car accident settlement calculator gives a starting range. It is a starting point, not a valuation.
How does Florida's no-fault system affect your West Palm Beach car accident claim?
Florida requires you to turn to your own Personal Injury Protection coverage first, no matter who caused the crash. PIP pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost wages, capped at $10,000 total under Florida Statute § 627.736. You have 14 days from the crash to begin treatment or PIP pays nothing at all.
Ten thousand dollars does not go far against a Palm Beach County hospital bill. The real recovery in a serious case comes from a claim against the at-fault driver, and Florida only opens that door under certain conditions.
What is the serious injury threshold?
It is the legal standard you must meet before you can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering. Under Florida law, your injury generally has to involve permanent impairment, significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant scarring or disfigurement, or death.
Whether an injury clears that bar is a medical and legal argument, and insurers fight it aggressively. Getting the right treating physicians on record early is often what decides it.
What happens if the at-fault driver has no insurance?
You may still have a full claim, but it runs against your own uninsured motorist carrier instead. Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage, so this comes up constantly in Palm Beach County.
UM claims are adversarial even though the insurer is nominally on your side, and carriers routinely refuse to pay policy limits on legitimate claims. That is exactly the scenario in Mr. Levy's I-95 verdict described above. If you want the mechanics in more depth, see our guide to Palm Beach County's no-fault insurance rules.
Not sure which policy your claim runs against? We will map the available coverage for you at no cost. Call +1 (866) 640-7117.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Florida?
Two years from the date of the crash, for most negligence claims. Florida shortened this window from four years in 2023, and the change caught a lot of people out. The deadline lives in Florida Statute § 95.11.
Claims against a government body, such as a crash involving a Palm Tran bus or a county vehicle, carry a separate written notice requirement and a shorter practical timeline. Miss either deadline and the claim is gone regardless of how strong the liability facts are.
What can you recover after a car accident in Palm Beach County?
Florida allows recovery for both measurable financial losses and the human cost of the injury. The categories break down like this:
| Type of damages | What it covers |
| Past and future medical care | Emergency treatment, surgery, imaging, therapy, and the cost of care you will still need years from now |
| Lost income | Wages already lost, plus reduced earning capacity if you cannot return to the same work |
| Pain and suffering | Physical pain and the loss of activities and independence the injury took from you |
| Property damage | Vehicle repair or replacement, plus diminished value |
| Punitive damages | Available only where conduct was intentional or grossly negligent, and rarely awarded |
Insurers push hardest against the future categories, because those are the ones built on projection rather than a receipt. Documenting them properly is where a claim gains or loses most of its value.
One more rule shapes every Florida recovery. Under the state's modified comparative negligence statute, your award is reduced by your share of fault, and if you are found more than 50% responsible you recover nothing. Which is why adjusters work so hard to pin part of the blame on you.
What do insurance companies do to reduce car accident claims in West Palm Beach?
They act early, politely, and in their own interest. Within days of a crash you can expect a call from the at-fault driver's adjuster asking for a recorded statement, framed as routine paperwork.
Common tactics we see on Palm Beach County files:
- Requesting a recorded statement before you know the extent of your car accident injuries
- Asking you to sign a broad medical authorization that opens your entire history to review
- Offering a fast settlement that covers the deductible and little else
- Arguing that a gap in treatment means you recovered
- Attributing your injuries to a prior condition or an old crash
None of these are illegal. They are simply what a claims department does when nobody is pushing back. Once we are on the file, that contact routes to us.
What happens after you call our West Palm Beach car accident lawyers?
You get a free case review, and if we take the case, you do not hear from the insurance company again. Here is the sequence:
- Free consultation. We listen to what happened, look at any letters or forms you have received, and tell you honestly whether you have a claim worth pursuing.
- Investigation. We secure the crash report, scene photographs, available video, witness statements, and the full picture of every applicable insurance policy.
- Medical documentation. We work with your treating providers so the record reflects the actual impact of the injury, including what it will cost going forward.
- Demand and negotiation. We present the claim with the evidence assembled and negotiate from there.
- Litigation if needed. If the offer does not reflect the case, we file in the 15th Judicial Circuit and prepare it for a jury.
Most cases resolve before trial. They resolve better when the other side knows trial is genuinely on the table.
FAQ for West Palm Beach Car Accident Lawyer
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the crash?
Yes, as long as you are not found more than 50% responsible. Florida reduces your award by your percentage of fault, so a $200,000 case with 20% fault assigned to you resolves at $160,000. Cross the 51% line and recovery is barred entirely. This is the single most contested issue in many Palm Beach County crash claims, which is why insurers begin building a comparative fault argument from the first phone call.
Does my case have to be filed in Palm Beach County?
Usually, if the crash happened in West Palm Beach or the at-fault driver lives here. Car accident lawsuits are filed in the county where the crash occurred or where the defendant resides, which for most local collisions means the 15th Judicial Circuit in downtown West Palm Beach.
Venue can matter, because juries in different Florida counties value the same injury differently, and we consider that when advising whether to accept an offer.
What if the crash happened in a company vehicle or during work hours?
You may have two claims running at once. A workers' compensation claim covers medical care and partial wage replacement without any fault question, while a separate third-party claim against the at-fault driver can pursue pain and suffering that workers' comp does not cover. Workers' compensation is one of this firm's strongest practice areas, and we handle both sides of that overlap rather than referring half the matter out.
Do I have to pay anything if we lose?
No. We work on contingency, which means our fee is a percentage of what we recover and there is nothing owed if we recover nothing. The initial consultation is free, and we advance the costs of investigating and litigating your claim. You will get the fee structure in writing before you sign anything.
How much is my car accident claim worth?
Nobody can answer that in the first week, and any lawyer who gives you a firm number before your treatment is understood is guessing. Value turns on the severity and permanence of the injury, the available insurance coverage, your share of fault, and how well the future losses are documented.
What we can do early is tell you the range of coverage in play and what the claim needs in order to reach the top of it.
Forty Years in This County Is the Whole Point
Insurance carriers keep records on law firms. They track which ones file suit, which ones take depositions, and which ones have stood in front of a Palm Beach County jury. That record is why the same injury settles for different numbers depending on whose name is on the letterhead.
We are available around the clock, in English and Spanish, and the first conversation costs nothing. Bring us the crash report, the letters you have received, or nothing at all. We also represent drivers and passengers hurt in nearby communities, including Greenacres, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, and Wellington.
Call Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa Injury Lawyers at +1 (866) 640-7117, or request your free case review online.
Fighting For The Injured Since 1985.