Municipal Liability

The cities and other municipalities across New York state use your taxes to pay for government employees, government buildings, roads, and more. When you are injured by a government employee or are harmed by a municipality’s negligence in maintaining property, you may have a claim.

However, local governments enjoy more protections against lawsuits than the average individual or organization. These cases can also be more complex, because there are usually layers of responsibility. For example, if you were in an accident on a public road, the liable parties may include the municipality, the contractor the municipality hired to maintain the road, and other parties. If you suspect that your accident may have involved any government body as a possible liable party, contact The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel as soon as possible. It costs nothing to consult with us, and there is no obligation. It’s important to reach out as soon as possible, because deadlines for these cases are much shorter than for most personal injury cases, and missing a deadline can mean you lose out on getting the compensation you deserve.

What Are Municipal Liability Cases?

Municipal liability encompasses a wide range of personal injury cases against villages, towns, and cities throughout New York State. Examples include automobile accidents with city employees such as police officers, sanitation workers, and transportation workers; or the accident could involve trip and falls over defective sidewalks or injury due to a failure to remove snow and ice from city owned property.

A municipal liability case could be a malpractice action against a city owned hospital for failure to diagnose cancer, operating on an incorrect area of the body, or misdiagnosis of a medical condition. Police officers must act in accordance with the law, and there are cases of excessive force, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery and deprivation of civil liberties under the New York State and United States Constitution. These situations could also give rise to municipal liability cases.

These claims could also involve assaults, falls, and other incidents or injuries sustained on government property, including in government buildings. In some cases, claims can be filed against specific agencies or government authorities. For example, if you have been injured in a subway or train accident where the transit was owned by a municipal authority, you may be able to seek compensation from the transit authority that was negligent in providing safe conditions. In cases where a housing authority oversees housing where you are injured due to unsafe conditions, you may have a claim against the housing authority.

How Lawsuits Against Municipalities Are Different

It is critical that you retain attorneys who have the requisite knowledge, skill, background and experience to be successful in a municipal liability case. There are many differences between a case against a town or village on the one hand, and a private defendant, which are traps for the unwary and those who do not regularly represent clients in municipal liability cases. For example, in all cases against municipalities, there is a notice of claim requirement, (which is not required in cases against private individuals) which mandates that a notice of claim be properly filed with the town, village, city or other municipal corporation within 90 days of the incident. Not only is there a notice of claim requirement in this very short period of time, but if the notice is not proper in form, is not filed with the correct entities, or does not name the specific departments or individuals that are potentially liable, your case could be jeopardized or dismissed.

The rules surrounding municipal liability claims are quite complex. For example, in New York City, if your claim is against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Port Authority of NY and NJ, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and specific other authorities, you are required to serve your claim on the authority. Otherwise, you must serve your claim on the office of the New York City Comptroller. An experienced attorney can make sure you do everything correctly, and within deadlines, so your claim isn’t denied for a minor error.

It’s also important to keep in mind that governments use your tax dollars to defend against claims. As a result, they have significant resources to use against your claim, and you will want an experienced and aggressive attorney who can fight back. In addition, your attorney can determine whether some liable parties are municipalities and some are individuals or groups which are not covered by the additional protections municipalities enjoy. Your lawyer will pursue all liable parties to seek compensation.

Whether you have a municipal liability claim or a personal injury claim against a company or private individual, one thing that remains the same is that you may have significant losses and injuries because of someone’s negligence. Whether you have sustained head trauma, a spinal cord injury, fractures, internal injuries, or any other injury, or whether you have lost a loved one due to someone’s negligence, you are probably facing income loss, high medical bills, and other costs at an especially difficult time. An experienced attorney can explain whether you have a claim against a municipality or other party and can seek compensation for your pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses, wage losses, and loss of future earnings capacity, property damage and any additional expenses you may face because of your injuries.

What Is the Prior Written Notice Statute?

In a large percentage of jurisdictions in New York, there is a law known as the “prior written notice” statute. This is a law which requires that in any case for personal injury against that particular village, town or city, in order for the claimant to have a legal basis for that case, there must be written proof to the municipality before the accident that there was a defect which needed to be repaired.

If there is no prior written notice in the way of a letter, e-mail, note or some other form of writing prior to the accident that, for example, the sidewalk on a particular street owned by the city or town needs to be repaired, there is no legal basis for the case and it will be dismissed. (One exception is if it can be proven that the municipality created the defect and therefore should have known about the problem before the accident). Obviously, this is a very unfair statute, in that generally speaking, when someone is in an accident, they do not know about the crack in the sidewalk or the icy stairs that they are about to confront. Nonetheless, the prior written notice law is obviously a statute which protects municipalities from a substantial volume of cases, despite how bad the danger is and how seriously the claimant has been injured.

Contact Our Law Firm Today

The amount of time within which you have to sue a municipality after an accident is significantly shorter than the amount of time to sue a private person, and even within the field of municipal liability cases, there are variations and reduced statute of limitations which significantly restrict the time in which you can bring a claim. For these reasons, you need lawyers who are fully familiar and experienced in the complexities and details of municipal liability.

The municipal liability attorneys at The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel have that required experience and knowledge to represent you to achieve the maximum possible compensation for your injuries, lost earnings, medical and hospital expenses, and loss of enjoyment of life. We have worked with many individuals who have needed representation in claims against large corporations, government agencies, and municipalities. In every case, we carefully investigate the cause of your injuries, find all liable parties and pursue your claim. We proudly serve clients across Westchester County, New York City, the lower Hudson Valley, and surrounding areas.

We also treat you with care, replying to your emails and phone calls within 24 business hours. Our founder, Mark A. Siesel, will work directly on your case from start to finish. To find out more about how we can help, please contact us online or call at (914) 428-7386 for your free initial consultation.