The first call is friendly, quick, and recorded. Here is what it is actually for, and what a reasonable person should say.

Adrenaline hides soft tissue and head injury for days. A week without a record is a week the other side will use.

It fixes your words before you know the extent of your injuries, and it is taken by someone who asks these questions for a living.

Nobody can price a case honestly in the first month. Here is what the number is built from, and what moves it.

California reduces your recovery by your share of the blame. It does not remove it, and the share is arguable.

Most cases still resolve without a trial. Filing is not an escalation for its own sake — it changes who has to answer.