Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

I assume that no one was injured in the accident. Probably no attorney, accept for some one retired/working just part-time, will handle the case because they can not make any money on the case. You would have to pay a personal injury attorney on an hourly basis, so you need someone who does not charge much per hour.

If you have auto insurance coverage go to your own carrier to get the repairs and they will then go after the other driver. If, as I suspect, you have no insurance coverage, get a copy of the police report to see if it shows she intentionally hit your vehicle as that might be a felony. Send the adjuster a statement under penalty of perjury from the ex-husband passanger and the witness and yourself, the police report, repair estimates, and any other documents you have showing she is at fault; in the letter point out that you can not afford to repair the car on your own, you wil be entitled to collect the cost of rentling a vehicle from the party at fault, if she intentionally hit your vehicle you could sue her for punitive damages, they have an obligation to try to settle a case within the policy limits and not have their insured face excess damages [even if those damages are not covered by her insurance]. Also point out that if you sue and they have to hire an attorney, that attorney will not be able to tell them if the incident was accidential and perhaps not even if she was involved as that might result in their declining coverage on the basis that it was an intentional act, so basically they will lose control over the case and it will cost them much more then settling now for the cost of repair.