Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Not only do you have a a poor case as to liability, you have little as to damages so the only venue you can sue in is Small Claims Court, as no attorney will take the case as their fees will definitely exceed your recovery.

The telephone company which owns the pole will deny any knowledge of the nail and argue that some one probably used the nail that they found in the street [so rusty] to post illegally a sign, so they have no responsibility. The public entity where it happened will say the owner has control an a duty of maintain and the City can not inspect every pole every few weeks to see if there is a possible danger. If you could not see the nail from a distance thly could not either. For all public entities, you must file a claim using their form or something similar wilthin 6 months of the incident.

Your damges are about $20 for a shirt, $100-200 for a scrape, $a few hundred for fear you might contract rabies. Total damages $500-700, wilth theilr arguing you saw the pole and should not have come within 2 inches of it. Plus, if you were still crossing the street then you were outside the crosswalk lines and in violation of the law

Sorry.

I agree with George above except for the fact if the nail was rusty, that means it had been there for a long time. This is called constructive notice. The question is how often does the owner of the pole have to inspect. With the hundreds of poles in existence, it would be hard to prove negligence. If you injuries are superficial, then you can go to small claims court for up to $7,500. Keep in mind that if a government entity is involved, you have to file a government claim within 6 months of the date of the accident. Otherwise, the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims in California is 2 years.