Claims for Damages

In many cases, you must present a claim for damages before you can sue a government entity.  If you do not present the claim, you might not be able to proceed with a lawsuit.  You should have an attorney represent you during the claims process, and this article explains why.

You must present a claim early

Many people know that you have a limited time to file a lawsuit when you have been injured, but you have less time to act when you intend to file a lawsuit against the government.

While you may have two years to file a lawsuit in the event of car accident, for example, you may have only six months to present a claim if a city or county employee is driving the other vehicle.  

Even after you present a claim, you have to keep track of when and how the government rejected your claim.  After the government rejects your claim, you have a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit thereafter.  

Your claim must go to the correct government agency

Before you present your claim, you must figure out which government entity is potentially responsible for your injury.  You must present a claim against the correct government entity—whether city, county, school district, transit authority, etc.  And, if you plan to sue an individual government employee, you often have to present a claim against the employee as well. 

This is not an easy task.  Public entities have overlapping responsibilities that make it difficult for ordinary citizens to know which entity ought to receive the claim.

Your claim must contain all of the required information

When you present a claim, the claim must include, among other information, your name and contact information, the date of the incident giving rise to the claim, a description of what happened, the names of public employees responsible for your injuries, and a general statement of the value of your loss.  

This can be tricky for several reasons.  Claims are public documents.  Some people wish to keep their names and addresses private.  If you would like to keep your information private, you need an attorney to use the law office’s address for your contact information.

Also, the law favors the government when it comes to interpreting claims.  If you do not fully-enough describe what happened, courts may prohibit you from maintaining a lawsuit.  On the other hand, if you write something that is inaccurate, the government can use that inaccuracy to limit the amount of your recovery.  Ordinary citizens have to walk a tightrope when describing their claims.

Nguyen Lawyers can help

The experienced attorneys at Nguyen Lawyers have presented countless claims against numerous public entities of different types—City of Long Beach, County of Los Angeles, Orange Unified School District, Caltrans, and more.  We can help to ensure that you name the correct entities, the correct employees, and fully describe your bases for recovery.

In some cases, government employees may tell you to use a claim form, but the claim form may not be best-suited for your type of injury.  If you follow the form, you may be prompted to misstate what actually happened or omit key details.  This can hurt your case.  An attorney can help write your claim without using the government forms.

Even if you are worried that you have already missed the claims deadline, contact Nguyen Lawyers. The law can still allow for limited exceptions to the deadlines, but only if you act quickly.  

***Disclaimer***

Blogs and articles are current when originally published.  As laws may change over time, older blogs and articles may no longer reflect current laws.  If you  have any questions about the law, contact Nguyen Lawyers for a consultation.  

Blogs and articles provide general information but do not provide legal advice specific to any person’s case.  Visitors to this site are informed that materials on this site do not create an attorney-client relationship with Nguyen Lawyers.  Visitors should not use this site in lieu of a consultation and specific legal advice from one of our attorneys.

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