quick-tern-7045/12/2026

Does my lawyer actually have an investigator working my case or are they just stalling?

Got into a pretty bad intersection crash about six weeks ago. The other driver is completely lying about what happened — they blew through a stop sign and T-boned me on the driver's side, but they're telling their insurance company I pulled out in front of them without looking. Total fabrication.

I didn't have a dashcam (lesson learned the hard way), so I hired an attorney pretty quickly because I knew this was going to turn into a he-said-she-said situation. When I signed on, my lawyer mentioned they'd be sending out a third-party accident reconstructionist or investigator to gather evidence — surveillance footage from nearby businesses, talk to potential witnesses, that kind of thing.

That was almost six weeks ago. Every time I call the office I get some version of "we're still waiting to hear back from the investigator." The police report literally lists a witness by name with a phone number. Shouldn't someone have called that person by now??

I guess my questions are: 1. Do PI lawyers actually use outside investigators regularly, or is this something they say to make you feel like things are moving? 2. Is six weeks a normal timeline for this kind of evidence gathering? 3. Should I be worried that surveillance footage from nearby shops might already be overwritten if nobody grabbed it quickly?

I'm not trying to be a pain but I feel completely in the dark and a little anxious that my case is just sitting in a pile somewhere. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of waiting game?

9 replies

Most helpful first

steady-tern-0775/12/2026
Went through almost the exact same thing last year — disputed fault, no dashcam, hired a lawyer. The investigator stuff is real, they do actually use them, but the communication gap is SO frustrating. I started asking my attorney's office for written status updates via email instead of just calling. Having things in writing seemed to light a small fire under them honestly.
- patient-newt-3495/12/2026
  Six weeks and nobody has called a witness whose number is literally on the police report? That would make me nervous too. The other driver's insurer is NOT sitting around — they're already building their version of the story. The longer your side waits to lock in witness statements, the more those memories fade or witnesses become hard to reach. Push harder.
- brave-stoat-5385/12/2026
  To answer your surveillance footage question — yes, this is a real concern. A lot of small businesses and gas stations only keep footage for 15 to 30 days before it loops and overwrites. If your attorney sent a preservation letter or subpoena early on you might be okay, but if nobody contacted those businesses in the first couple weeks, some of that footage could genuinely be gone. Ask your attorney directly: did they send written preservation requests to any businesses near the intersection? That's a specific question that deserves a specific answer.
- kind-vole-5895/12/2026
  Third-party investigators are completely real and pretty standard in disputed-fault cases, especially when there's no dashcam footage. The timeline can vary a lot depending on how responsive witnesses and businesses are. That said, six weeks with no update on a witness who has a listed phone number is a little slow. It's totally reasonable to send a written email to your attorney asking for a status summary — what's been requested, what's been received, what's still pending. Most firms are fine with that and it keeps you in the loop.
- gentle-raven-4885/12/2026
  Not legal advice, but yes — investigators are commonly used in exactly these scenarios. Fault disputes without objective evidence (like dashcam or traffic cameras) really benefit from accident reconstruction, witness interviews, and physical evidence from the scene. The concern about video footage overwriting is legitimate and something good attorneys try to address very early with preservation demands. If you're not getting substantive answers when you call, try putting your questions in a short email so there's a paper trail and the office has to respond in writing.
- tidy-mole-7985/12/2026
  Call and specifically ask: 'Has anyone made contact with the witness listed in the police report, and if not, why not?' Don't let them give you a vague answer. That's a binary question — yes or no. If no one has called a witness in six weeks whose number is right there on the report, you deserve to know that.
quick-mole-9005/12/2026
How are you doing physically through all this? The anxiety of a disputed claim on top of recovering from an actual crash is genuinely exhausting. Make sure you're not letting stress about the legal side push you to skip or rush your medical appointments — your treatment records are also part of your case and gaps in care can be used against you. Take care of yourself while you push for answers.
- careful-elk-3565/12/2026
  The fact that there IS a named witness in the police report is actually a big deal — a lot of people in your situation have nothing at all. Even if the investigator is moving slowly, that witness isn't going anywhere. Once someone does reach out to them, a solid eyewitness account can be really powerful for establishing what actually happened.
swift-tern-7295/12/2026
Did your attorney actually confirm in writing that an investigator was being hired, or was it more of a verbal 'we'll look into things'? I'm not trying to be harsh, just wondering if there might be a miscommunication about what services you're actually getting. Some attorneys handle lighter cases more informally and might not actually retain a separate investigator. Worth clarifying exactly what was promised.