After an accident, time is critical. In this video, Attorney Gabriel Levin, founder of The Levin Firm and a personal injury lawyer in Center City, Philadelphia, explains why collecting evidence immediately after an accident can make or break your case — because evidence expires.
Insurance companies and defendants often rely on missing or weakened evidence to deny responsibility. This video breaks down the types of evidence that disappear quickly and shows how fast action can dramatically change the outcome of an injury claim.
👉 What You’ll Learn:
Why evidence begins to disappear the moment an accident happens
The difference between mental impressions and physical evidence
How witness memories fade over time — and why early statements matter
Why accident scenes are quickly cleaned up, destroying key proof
How surveillance and doorbell camera footage can be lost forever
Why hiring a lawyer immediately can protect and preserve your case
⏳ Types of Evidence That Expire Quickly:
1️⃣ Mental Impressions
Witness memories fade. People forget details, timelines change, and recollections become unreliable. Contacting witnesses immediately allows investigators to document accurate statements while events are still fresh.
2️⃣ Physical Evidence
Debris, skid marks, vehicle positions, and road conditions are often cleaned up or altered shortly after an accident. An investigator must photograph and document the scene before it disappears.
3️⃣ Video Footage
Convenience stores, local businesses, and residential doorbell cameras often overwrite footage every 7 to 30 days. If a lawyer isn’t hired quickly, this critical evidence may be lost forever.
🚨 Real Case Example:
Attorney Gabriel Levin shares a recent case involving a tow truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into multiple vehicles in a residential neighborhood. The Levin Firm was hired immediately and sent investigators door-to-door to locate doorbell camera footage.
They collected 8–10 videos, spliced them together, and clearly showed the tow truck flying down the street. The defendant initially denied wrongdoing — but once the video evidence was presented, the case was over.
👉 Acting fast made the difference.
📍 Our Office Address:
1500 John F. Kennedy Blvd #620
Philadelphia, PA 19102
📞 Local Phone:
215-825-5183
🌐 Stay Connected:
Website: https://www.levininjuryfirm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winwithlevin/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/LevinInjuryFirm
💼 About The Levin Firm:
The Levin Firm is a Philadelphia-based personal injury law firm founded by Attorney Gabriel Levin. We act fast to preserve evidence, investigate accidents, and hold negligent parties accountable — before critical proof disappears.
We work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you don’t pay unless we win.
Learn more: https://www.levininjuryfirm.com/
✅ Next Steps:
Injured in an accident? Call 215-825-5183 for a free consultation.
Subscribe and tap the bell 🔔 for more real-world legal insights.
Like and share this video — it could help someone protect their case.
Leave your questions in the comments — our team is here to help.
⚠️ Disclaimer:
This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is different — consult an attorney for advice specific to your situation.
Transcript
Hi, this is Attorney Gabriel Levin. I'm a personal injury lawyer here in Center City, Philadelphia, and the owner and founder of the Levin Firm. Been asked to discuss why it's so important to collect evidence immediately after an accident has occurred.
The most important thing that you have to remember after an accident is that evidence expires, and that's not just physical evidence, it's also mental impressions. So witnesses, for instance, their memories will fade as time passes. So it's important to contact them immediately after an accident so that an investigator can write down their recollections and record them. It's also true with physical evidence. So at the scene of an accident, there's going to be debris, there's going to be evidence of the accident.
It's important that we get an investigator out there to take pictures and record all of the evidence left over at the scene prior to anyone cleaning it up or removing the debris. Another great example of evidence that you're gonna lose if you don't hire a personal injury lawyer immediately after an accident is video recordings. Oftentimes, convenience stores or local outlets will have cameras that are pointing at the street. Those cameras overwrite every 7 days, sometimes every 30 days. But if you wait months before you hire a lawyer, that evidence is gonna be gone.
A great example, we just had a case recently where a tow truck driver in the streets of South Philadelphia in a residential neighborhood, fell asleep at the wheel, and his foot went down on the accelerator, and he was going 80 miles an hour down a residential street that has a 25-mile-an-hour speed limit, and he crashed into everything, and it was a horrific pileup accident. We were hired immediately. We sent an investigator out, and we went door to door knocking to see if the homeowners had doorbell cameras. And we were able to collect 8 or 10 different doorbell camera videos and splice them together. So we were actually able to show this tow truck flying down the street until it finally made contact.
But initially, the defendant in that case claimed he had done nothing wrong, right? And then we got these videos together and the case was over. So that was a great example of why jumping on an investigation immediately and hiring a lawyer really made the difference in a case. If you've been injured and would like to hire me, I'd love to represent you. My phone number is 215-825-5183, or you can reach me on my website, LevinInjuryFirm.com.
