Can I negotiate with the adjuster myself?

You're entitled to handle your own claim, and for vehicle damage or a genuinely minor injury with completed treatment, self-handling is reasonable.

Where it gets difficult. Valuing an injury claim requires knowing what comparable cases resolve for, which isn't public. Assembling records and bills correctly, presenting a permanency opinion, and calculating future costs are specialized work. And the comparative fault rules now make an unrepresented claimant's statements considerably more dangerous.

Two structural problems. You can't credibly threaten litigation you're not equipped to conduct, and adjusters know that. And you're negotiating one claim in your life against someone who does it daily.

What to weigh. Attorney fees are contingent, so the question is whether representation increases the net recovery by more than the fee. For minor claims it may not. For anything involving significant treatment, disputed fault, or a permanency question, it usually does.

A free consultation costs nothing and will tell you which category you're in.