Montana Car Accident Lawyer
A car accident can turn a routine drive down Main Street or a stretch of I-90 into months of medical appointments, insurance calls, and uncertainty about work and money. Medearis & Tsomaya represents people injured in crashes throughout Bozeman, Belgrade, Gallatin County, and across Montana. Attorneys Jesse Medearis and Alex Tsomaya handle their own cases from the first conversation to resolution — you will not be handed off to a case manager.
How Montana Car Accident Claims Actually Work
Most people have never dealt with an injury claim before, and the process is rarely what they expect. Understanding the framework early makes the decisions ahead of you clearer.
Montana is an at-fault state. The driver responsible for a crash — and that driver's liability insurer — is responsible for the resulting harm. Practically, that means your claim is a claim against an insurance company, and the insurance company's obligation is to its own bottom line, not to you. That is not a scandal; it is simply how the system is structured. But it does mean that the way a claim is documented and presented matters a great deal to how it is valued.
Three features of Montana law shape nearly every car accident case in Montana:
Shared fault does not necessarily end your claim. Under Montana's modified comparative negligence rule (Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-702), you may still recover compensation if you were partly responsible for a crash, as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the combined fault of the parties you are seeking recovery from. Your recovery is then reduced in proportion to your own percentage. If your share exceeds 50%, recovery is barred entirely. This is why insurers routinely argue that an injured person contributed to the crash — every percentage point they assign to you reduces what they pay, and enough of them ends the claim.
There is a deadline, and it is firm. Montana generally allows three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204). Wrongful death claims generally run three years from the date of death. Other deadlines apply to other kinds of claims, and shorter notice requirements can apply when a government entity is involved. Missing a deadline typically ends a claim regardless of its merits.
Your own policy may be part of the answer. Montana requires only $25,000 in liability coverage per injured person, with $50,000 per crash and $20,000 for property damage (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-6-103). Serious injuries routinely exceed those limits. Montana insurers must include uninsured motorist coverage in auto policies unless the policyholder rejects it in writing (Mont. Code Ann. § 33-23-201), and underinsured motorist coverage is commonly available. When the at-fault driver carries little or no insurance, your own UM/UIM coverage is often where meaningful compensation comes from.
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle
Not every crash produces the same kind of case. The evidence that matters, the parties involved, and the insurance available all vary.
Rear-End and Intersection Collisions
The most common crashes in Bozeman and Belgrade. Fault often looks obvious, but insurers regularly contest the severity of injuries rather than liability — particularly in lower-speed collisions where vehicle damage appears modest. Medical documentation carries the case.
Highway and Interstate Crashes.
Higher speeds on I-90, US-191 through Gallatin Canyon, and the corridors connecting Bozeman to Belgrade and Four Corners produce more severe injuries and more complex reconstruction questions. Roadway conditions, visibility, and vehicle data can all become contested.
Winter Weather and Road Condition Crashes
Ice, blowing snow, and reduced visibility are ordinary facts of Montana driving, and insurers often use weather as a defense. Weather does not eliminate a driver's duty to drive reasonably for conditions. These cases turn on speed, following distance, and driver decisions.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims
When the at-fault driver has minimal or no coverage, the claim moves to your own insurer. These are contract claims against a company you pay premiums to, and they can be contested as vigorously as any claim against a stranger.
Crashes Involving Serious or Permanent Injury
Traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, fractures requiring surgery, and injuries with long-term functional consequences require careful work on future medical care and future earning capacity, not just past bills.
Fatal Crashes and Wrongful Death
When a crash takes a life, Montana law provides for both a wrongful death claim and a survival claim. These cases carry procedural requirements around who may bring them and how proceeds are handled. We handle them with the deliberateness they deserve.
What to Do After a Car Accident in Montana
Your health is the first priority. The steps below also protect your ability to make a claim if one becomes necessary.
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Get medical attention, and follow through on treatment. Adrenaline masks injury. Neck, back, and head injuries frequently present hours or days later. Beyond the health reasons, gaps in treatment are the single most common argument insurers use to suggest an injury was not serious.
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Report the crash, and exchange information at the scene. Montana law requires immediate notice to law enforcement — local police within a municipality, otherwise the sheriff or highway patrol — when a crash causes injury, death, or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-7-108). Drivers also have a duty to give their name, address, and registration information, to render reasonable assistance to anyone injured, and generally to remain at the scene (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-7-105). If no officer investigates, the driver must file a written report with the department within 10 days (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-7-109). An officer's investigation is frequently the most useful contemporaneous record of a crash — worth noting, a driver's own written report under § 61-7-109 is not admissible as evidence at trial.
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Document what you can, if you are able. Photographs of vehicle positions, damage, skid marks, road conditions, and visible injuries. Names and phone numbers of witnesses. The other driver's insurance information. Do this only if it is safe to do so.
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Be careful with recorded statements. The other driver's insurer may call within days and ask for a recorded statement. You are generally not obligated to give one to another party's insurer. It is reasonable to say you are still treating and do not yet know the extent of your injuries. Early speculation about fault or the severity of your injuries can be difficult to walk back later.
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Notify your own insurer. Your policy almost certainly requires prompt notice of a crash. This is separate from the other driver's claim and is a condition of your own coverage.
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Keep records as you go. Medical bills, prescription receipts, mileage to appointments, and documentation of missed work. Reconstructing this later is far harder than keeping it as it accumulates.
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Get advice before signing anything. Early settlement offers often arrive before the full scope of an injury is known. A signed release generally ends the claim permanently, even if you need surgery six months later.
What a Car Accident Claim Can Include
Montana law allows an injured person to recover for the full range of harm a crash causes. Depending on the facts, that can include:
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Past and future medical expenses, including surgery, therapy, imaging, and medication
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Lost wages and, where an injury is lasting, reduced future earning capacity
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Physical pain and emotional suffering
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Permanent impairment, disfigurement, or scarring
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Loss of the ability to do things that mattered to you — work, recreation, time with family
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Out-of-pocket costs connected to treatment and recovery
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Vehicle repair or replacement and related property loss
The categories are straightforward. Proving them is not. Future medical needs and diminished earning capacity in particular require medical opinion and, in serious cases, vocational or economic analysis. Claims that are documented thinly tend to be valued thinly.
Why Clients Work With Us
We have spent years on the other side. Jesse began his career defending insurance companies, learning firsthand how insurers evaluate, reserve, and defend injury claims. Alex spent more than a decade representing insurers, energy companies, and professionals in serious civil litigation, appearing before juries and appellate courts. That background is not a talking point — it shapes how we build a file, what we anticipate, and where we expect a claim to be tested.
We take fewer cases. Volume practices are built to settle quickly. We are not. Taking fewer matters means each one gets attorney attention rather than delegation, and it means we can prepare a case as though it may be tried, because occasionally it must be.
You talk to your lawyer. Jesse and Alex handle their own cases. When you call, you reach an attorney who knows your file.
We measure success by how you end up. A large settlement that arrives after someone has stopped treating and never fully recovered is not a good outcome. We would rather manage a case in a way that supports a client's actual recovery. That sometimes means slowing down, and it sometimes means telling a client that a claim is not worth pursuing.
We will tell you if you don't need us. Not every crash requires a lawyer. If your injuries were minor, your treatment is complete, and the insurer is handling the claim reasonably, we will say so.
How a Case Moves Forward
1. Consultation
We talk through what happened, your injuries, your treatment, and the insurance available. You get a straight assessment of whether a claim makes sense and what it is likely to involve. There is no charge and no obligation.
2. Investigation
Crash reports, photographs, witness statements, scene evidence, vehicle data where relevant, and a full picture of the applicable coverage — including your own UM/UIM. Evidence degrades quickly, so this begins immediately.
3. Treatment and Documentation
While you focus on getting better, we assemble medical records, bills, wage loss documentation, and evidence of how the injury has affected daily life. In most cases, we do not present a claim until your medical picture is stable enough to value accurately.
4. Demand and Negotiation
We prepare a documented demand setting out liability, damages, and supporting evidence, then negotiate. Most car accident claims resolve at this stage.
5. Litigation, If Necessary
If the insurer will not resolve the claim on reasonable terms, we file suit. Filing is not a threat we make lightly, and it is not something we avoid when it is warranted.
6. Resolution
Whether by settlement or verdict, you will understand each decision as it is made. The decision to accept or reject an offer is always yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Montana?
Montana generally allows three years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204). Wrongful death claims generally run three years from the date of death. Different deadlines apply to some other claims, and when a city, county, or state entity is involved, additional notice requirements may apply on a shorter timeline. Because these rules have exceptions, it is worth confirming your specific deadline early rather than assuming.
What if the accident was partly my fault?
You may still recover. Montana follows modified comparative negligence (Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-702): you can recover as long as your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of the parties you are seeking recovery from, with your award reduced in proportion to your own percentage. If your share exceeds 50%, recovery is barred. Insurers understand this arithmetic, which is why assigning fault to the injured person is a routine part of claim handling. An accurate reconstruction of what happened matters.
What if the other driver had no insurance, or not enough?
Montana requires only $25,000 in bodily injury coverage per person (Mont. Code Ann. § 61-6-103), which serious injuries routinely exhaust. Montana insurers must include uninsured motorist coverage unless it was rejected in writing (Mont. Code Ann. § 33-23-201), and underinsured motorist coverage is commonly carried. Reviewing every policy that might apply — yours, a household member's, sometimes an employer's — is one of the first things we do.
Should I give the other driver's insurance company a recorded statement?
You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to another party's insurer. Insurers request them early, often before the injured person knows the extent of their injuries, and the statement becomes a permanent record. If you have not yet completed treatment, it is reasonable to say so and to get advice first. Your own insurer is a different situation — your policy likely requires your cooperation.
How much is my car accident case worth?
Any lawyer who gives you a number in the first conversation is guessing. Value depends on the severity and permanence of the injury, the medical treatment required, time missed from work, the effect on your daily life, the clarity of fault, and — often the binding constraint — the insurance coverage available. We can give you a realistic range once your treatment and the medical record are far enough along to support one.
How long will my case take?
Straightforward claims can resolve in a few months. Cases involving serious injuries, disputed fault, or future medical care commonly take a year or more. The main driver is medical: settling before your treatment picture is clear risks undervaluing the claim. We will give you a realistic timeline based on your situation rather than an optimistic one.
What does it cost to hire you?
Car accident cases are handled on a contingency fee. There is no charge for the consultation and no fee unless there is a recovery, at which point the fee is a percentage of the amount recovered. We explain the fee agreement, including how case costs are handled, before you sign anything.
Do you handle cases outside Bozeman?
Yes. We are based in Bozeman and appear throughout Montana, including Belgrade, Livingston, Big Sky, Butte, Helena, Billings, and Eastern Montana.
Talk With an Attorney About Your Crash
If you were injured in a car accident in Bozeman, Belgrade, or anywhere in Montana, we are glad to talk through your situation. The consultation is free, there is no obligation, and if we think you do not need a lawyer, we will tell you that.