You slip and fall on an uneven sidewalk in an area that is clearly the responsibility of the city, can you sue the city of Los Angeles? You can always sue, but whether you will be successful is another thing. Also, filing a suit against a city, state, or any government body comes with an extra set of rules and procedures. You need to know what the rules and the timelines are.
You are always permitted to sue if you fall and injure yourself and your fall happened due to another’s carelessness or negligence. You must show that the owner of the property created the dangerous condition that led to your fall, that they were aware of the dangerous condition and chose not to fix it. Or you must show that the dangerous condition was around for such a long period of time the owner should have been aware and should have fixed it.
This next issue is the extra set of conditions and rules that exist when the property owner is a government entity. These rules are in place to protect state and local governments.
A deadline for filing is referred to as the statute of limitations. A person who suffered a personal injury typically has anywhere from one to 10 years to file against the party at fault. If the party at fault is a government entity the time frame is usually reduced to 1 to 3 months. Many injured parties don’t realize this and miss the deadline to file a claim against a municipality.
A government entity may have a specific office to which one has to send the notice. If you send it to the wrong office it may get bumped around from office to office or sent back. It is not unusual that by the time you get the notice returned your filing deadline has expired.
Some municipalities may cap recovery for damages as low as $10,000. This is a negative for the injured party and an attorney working on contingency (meaning they get paid a percentage of your award). It could mean that you may not be compensated sufficiently for your injuries. It may also discourage attorneys from taking on your case. This also means you may not be able to find an attorney who will take the case on.
In California, government entities can be immune from certain types of liability. This is sometimes referred to as “Sovereign Immunity.” There are exclusions to this type of immunity, for instance, when the government had notice of the dangerous condition but failed to make repairs. This is something you would want to discuss with an attorney.
The best thing you can do after suffering an injury is to get in touch with a personal injury attorney. An experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer will know where, how, and when to file a legal action. Although there are additional hurdles when suing a municipality, if you have an injury you have the right to pursue an action regardless of who the responsible party is.
“Mr. Glotzer represented me after I was involved in a car accident. I was badly injured,but the insurance company refused to offer me a reasonable settlement. I decided to find an attorney and decided to hire Josh.
His law firm did a great job on my case. They were very responsive to all my questions and obtained a great resolution for me. I received way more money than was originally offered. I would recommend their firm to friends and family.”
“Mr. Josh Glotzer is a great attorney. Over the last 15 years he has helped me on a number of cases with professionalism, and more importantly a positive outcome in my favor. I have referred him to a number of friends and colleagues, all of which have been equally as happy with his legal representation. I trust him and confident in legal ability. I highly recommend his law firm.”
“Don’t try to deal with insurance companies on your own. They strung me along for almost two years before I gave the case to Glotzer & Leib. Josh and his team quickly obtained a settlement that netted me many times what the insurance company was offering. Thank You!”
“My wife was in a car accident last year and Josh did an amazing job representing her. It’s very refreshing to see someone in his profession that actually cares and puts his clients first. He’s the best in the business and I feel so fortunate that I was referred to him. Keep up the great work and thanks for everything you did for my family!”
“I was in a rear end car accident last year and hired Mr. Glotzer’s office. It wasn’t a big case but their office helped me with my property damage claim and did a good job resolving the injury portion of the case as well.”
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