GOVERNMENT CLAIMS

Government Claims are those in which a defendant is a governmental agency. For example, one might be where you are suing a city, a county, a jail, or the United States Post Office. These claims can occur in a variety of personal injury cases. If you are injured in a car accident where the person that hit you was driving a city vehicle, it becomes a government claim.

These claims are different and somewhat of a specialty for various reasons. First, you must file a specific claim against the government agency within 6 months from the date of the incident. If you fail to do so, you lose all rights to claim damages. You also must file this claim against the proper government agency. Quite often, property may be owned or controlled by various potential entities. If you make a claim against the city, but the property is controlled by a county, you have lost all your rights to make a claim for damages.

Venue (the location where the lawsuit is filed) becomes an issue. In cases that involve Civil Rights Violations, plaintiffs can file in either State or Federal Court. Many attorneys are not even admitted to practice law in Federal Court, let alone being familiar with the intricacies of the federal system. We at the Willford Law Corporation are admitted to practice law in all 4 of the federal districts of California and have been litigating federal cases for more than 30 years.