Government Liability Lawyers

A government liability case is one in which a government entity harms your person or property or infringes your rights through its employees’ negligent or intentional actions.

Let’s consider the example of the driver who runs a red light and hits your car. Under California law:

• You have two years to bring a personal injury claim against them.
• You do not have to fill out any special forms.
• You can pursue direct legal action against the negligent driver.

Now, suppose the driver is an on-duty police officer responding to an urgent call. The officer runs a red light and hits your car. The police department is a government agency. Therefore, under California law:

• You have six months to file a personal injury claim.
• You must file a specific form with the Kern County Board of Supervisors and wait for a response.
• You can take legal action against the county but not directly against the police officer.

If the police officer had been off-duty and driving as a private citizen, you would have standing to sue them. But because they were acting in their official government capacity, your claim is a government liability claim and is subject to specific legal requirements.

Because government liability claims are technical and often complicated, it’s advisable to seek out the services of knowledgeable government liability attorneys like those at Chain | Cohn | Clark.

The way government liability cases are handled in the United States can be traced back to medieval English common law practice.

Before it became routine to codify laws, judges decided cases according to common law, that is, according to the precedents and customs established in past cases. Over the course of centuries, common law formed the basis of a full-fledged legal system, and many elements of common law still influence legal practice today.

One such common law legal concept is the notion of sovereign immunity. Originally, “sovereign” referred to the king of England. The principle was that no one could sue the king without his permission—essentially, the king was above the law.

In the early United States—despite the fact that the American Revolution had overthrown the British monarch and the country was now ruled by the U.S. Constitution—the concept of sovereign immunity persisted. When the Supreme Court allowed a private citizen to sue the state of Georgia in 1793—not applying sovereign immunity—the states responded by passing the Eleventh Amendment in 1795, which codified sovereign immunity, preventing states from being sued.

For the next century and a half, anyone who was injured due to the negligence of a U.S. government entity could not sue for redress. Believe it or not, the only way they could seek justice for their injury was to petition Congress to pass a private bill awarding them compensation.

After you file a claim with the appropriate agency according to the provisions of the California Tort Claims Act, the government agency has 45 days to review and either approve or deny your claim. If the agency doesn’t reply within 45 days, the claim is considered denied.

If your claim is approved, you receive the claimed compensation and the process is complete.

If your claim is denied, you can choose to pursue a civil lawsuit with the help of a government liability lawyer. However, you cannot file a government liability lawsuit without first filing a claim with the agency or department in question according to the foregoing requirements.

A claim against a government entity in California allows you to claim the following types of damages:

• Economic damages, such as reimbursement for medical expenses due to an injury or the cost of repairing your damaged property.
• Noneconomic damages, such as compensation for the pain and suffering you incur due to your injuries or the loss of a loved one.

In general, you cannot collect punitive damages—damages intended to punish defendants who are exceptionally or intentionally negligent—in a claim against a government entity.