West Palm Beach Car Accident Lawyer

The adjuster who keeps calling is not on your side, and the sooner you accept that, the better your claim will go. Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa is a West Palm Beach car accident law firm that takes over that conversation for you, dealing with the insurer, proving who caused the crash, and pushing for the full value of your injuries while you get back on your feet.

We have represented injured drivers across Palm Beach County since 1985, in English and in Spanish, and you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.

Most people who call us are not looking to sue anyone. They just got a lowball offer, or a denial, or silence, and they want to know if that's really all their case is worth. Usually it isn't. Florida's rules changed in 2023 in ways that quietly favor insurance companies, and adjusters count on you not knowing that.

Talk to a West Palm Beach car accident attorney before the insurer's deadline starts working against you. Call (561) 478-2500 for a free case review — no fee unless we win.

Which West Palm Beach car accident cases we handle

If you were injured in a collision on a Palm Beach County road, our team is ready to advocate for you. We provide aggressive representation for a wide range of motor vehicle accidents, including:

• Common Passenger Vehicle Crashes: Rear-end collisions, T-bone (side-impact) accidents, and high-speed crashes on I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike.
• Complex Liability Claims: Hit-and-runs, rideshare (Uber/Lyft) accidents, and cases involving uninsured or underinsured drivers—a critical issue given that Florida does not require bodily injury liability coverage.
• Commercial & Specialized Vehicles: Collisions involving box trucks, delivery vans, and tractor-trailers, which require navigating federal safety regulations and complex commercial insurance policies.
• Vulnerable Road Users: Bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents occurring on crowded local corridors like Okeechobee Boulevard, which involve distinct legal protections compared to standard car accidents.

Do You Actually Need a Lawyer?

It is a fair question to ask before calling us.

• You may not need us if: You were involved in a minor fender-bender with no injuries and only minimal property damage.
• You should speak with an attorney if: You have sought medical treatment, missed time from work, or if an insurance company is already disputing your version of events.

In these cases, the insurance adjusters are already building their defense. Our goal is to level the playing field. If you aren't sure where you stand, we offer a free, no-obligation consultation to review the specific facts of your crash.

What Florida's 2023 tort reform changed for your claim

You now have two years to file a lawsuit, and being partly at fault can cost you everything. Those are the two changes from Florida's 2023 tort-reform law (HB 837) that matter most to a car accident case, and both work against people who wait or try to handle it alone.

The deadline is shorter than it used to be. For crashes on or after March 24, 2023, Florida gives you two years from the date of the accident to file suit, down from the old four years. That clock does not stop because you're still treating, still negotiating, or still waiting on an insurance check. Miss it and the courthouse doors close, no matter how clearly the other driver was at fault.

Fault is now a cliff, not a slope. Florida used to let you recover even if you were mostly to blame. Under the current rule, if you're found more than 50% at fault for the crash, you recover nothing. At 40% fault your award shrinks by 40%; at 51% it disappears. This is exactly why adjusters work so hard to pin part of the blame on you—every percentage point they shift is money out of your pocket, and past 50% it wipes out the claim. Using a car accident settlement calculator can provide a general estimate of your claim's value, but it cannot account for how disputed fault may reduce or eliminate your recovery. Fighting that fault split is a big part of what we do.

The rest of HB 837 tightened the screws in less visible ways too, on how medical bills get presented to a jury and on suing your own insurer for acting in bad faith. The takeaway is simple: the law is more technical and less forgiving than it was a few years ago, and a page you read on a competitor's site written before 2023 may tell you the wrong deadline.

Before you can sue: how PIP and the injury threshold work

Florida is a no-fault state, so your own insurance pays your first medical bills, but if you suffer serious injuries from a car accident, you may be able to step outside that system and pursue a claim against the driver who hit you. Here's the order it happens in.

Every Florida driver carries $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP). After a crash, PIP pays your initial medical costs and part of your lost wages regardless of who caused it, but only if you get treatment within 14 days. Skip that window and you can lose the coverage entirely, which is the single most common mistake we see West Palm Beach drivers make. Even when PIP applies, understanding the damages after a car accident can help you pursue compensation beyond your no-fault benefits.

PIP runs out fast, and a real injury costs far more than $10,000. To recover the rest, full medical care, future treatment, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering, you have to meet Florida's "serious injury" threshold: a permanent injury, significant scarring or disfigurement, or a permanent loss of an important bodily function. 

Whether your injury clears that bar is a legal and medical judgment, not something an adjuster gets to decide for you over the phone. We build that showing with your treating doctors so the value of the case reflects what actually happened to your body.

Not sure whether your injuries clear Florida's threshold? Let us read the crash report and your records before you accept anything from the adjuster. Reach our West Palm Beach office at (561) 478-2500.

Proving the other driver caused the crash

Winning a Palm Beach County car accident claim relies on one thing: preservation of evidence. The most critical evidence disappears within days, skid marks fade, vehicle damage is repaired, surveillance footage is overwritten, and witness memories blur.

How We Secure Your Case

To prove liability, we deploy an aggressive investigation strategy before the evidence is lost:

• Official Crash Documentation: We immediately secure the formal crash report. You can review Florida's official crash data and reporting resources at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).
• Digital Forensics: In high-stakes cases, we download data from the vehicle's Event Data Recorder (EDR), which provides objective metrics on speed, braking, and steering at the moment of impact.
• Surveillance & Reconstruction: We canvass local businesses for security camera footage and, in serious collisions at complex interchanges like I-95/Okeechobee or Southern Blvd, we deploy accident reconstruction experts to analyze the physics of the crash.
• Distraction Analysis: If you suspect the other driver was texting or using a phone, we utilize specific legal protocols to obtain phone records and infotainment data. This moves your case past "he-said, she-said" arguments into verifiable liability.

Framing the Case for a Palm Beach Jury

Local adjusters and juries understand that driving in South Florida is unique. We frame your case by accounting for regional factors that insurance companies often ignore:

• Weather Dynamics: We demonstrate how local afternoon squalls turn corridors like Military Trail or Southern Boulevard into hydroplaning hazards in minutes.
• Seasonal Traffic: We account for the impact of "Season," when drivers unfamiliar with our local infrastructure increase the density and unpredictability of our roads.

If you believe the other driver was distracted or negligent, don't wait for the insurance company to close their investigation. By the time they contact you, they are often already working to minimize their liability.

West Palm Beach car accident FAQ

Start your West Palm Beach car accident claim

The strongest version of your case exists right now, while the evidence is fresh and the deadline is far off, and it gets weaker every week you wait. Let us take the insurer off your hands and tell you, honestly, what your claim is worth.

Call (561) 478-2500 or visit our West Palm Beach office at 1401 Forum Way, Suite 730. We also serve Port St. Lucie, and our attorneys and staff work with clients in English and Spanish. No fee unless we win.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.