Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
Hi,
In mid-December 2007 I tripped on a sunken piece of Sidewalk in LA, fell, and broke my foot. I spent two months in a cast, and I have emergency room bills, orthopedic doctor bills, etc. I missed some work due to the injury, and I'm still in a lot of pain. My lifestyle has been affected a lot by this injury.
All my expenses and medical treatment relating to this injury are documented, I have photos of the broken sidewalk, and I have a witness who was with me when I tripped. My orthopedic doctor and a law student friend who directed me to this site say I have a case.
My question is: do I have a case against the city, and if I do, how do I go about filing a claim against the city? I know that there's a six month limit for filing a claim, and that's coming up in June.
Thank you for your time.
6 Answers from Attorneys
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
You need to act very quickly... like right now. It sounds like your claim may be time barred but a true accident date would be required to determine whether you still have time to file the tort claim against the city. Contact an attorney ASAP.
Feel Free to Contact my office.
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
You need to act very quickly... like right now. It sounds like your claim may be time barred but a true accident date would be required to determine whether you still have time to file the tort claim against the city. Contact an attorney ASAP.
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
You would have to prove that the sidewalk defect was not obvious, and that a reasonable person would not have seen the sunken sidewalk.
You should be able to find a government claim form on the city's website.
You might also consider the liability of the adjacent property owners, if any. Often, it is their tree roots that cause a sidewalk to buckle and crack and perhaps water pipe leakage that could cause the sidewalk and supporting soil to subside. Sorry to hear about your injury!
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
Assuming you can still file a claim, the city will almost certainly argue that the defective sidewalk was a
"trivial defect" for which they can have no liability.
We have, for the past year, been prosecuting a claim on nearly exact facts. In order to determine whether or not the city will likely have a valid "trivial defect" claim, it would be necessary to get more information about the defect and the circumstances surrounding the accident.
For example, how was the sidewalk defective? Size and location of the defect? Other circumstances surrounding the accident, i.e., time of day? was the defect hidden? were there any prior accidents on this defect? were there any past repairs to this defect?
Feel free to contact us if you wish to provide more information from which a better assessment can be made.
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
You have nothing to lose by filing a notice of claim against the City. Whether you have a good case will depend upon proving notice of the dangerous condition to the City well in advance of your accident. Tough, but, possible. A personal injury lawyer may be willing to file the notice of claim and investigate to see if there is a viable case.
Re: I Broke My Foot On a Los Angeles Sidewalk
You have a number of good answers from learned attorneys.
Follow every piece of advice. Good luck!
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