Municipal Liability Attorney

Municipal liability refers to the responsibility of a government entity, agency, or subdivision such as a state, county, city or village, for their negligent acts. It may also refer to such things as housing authorities; school districts and boards of education; police, fire, sanitation and parks departments; transit, power and water authorities; and municipal hospitals and health departments.

As the result of statutes and court decisions, most municipalities can be sued for the very same types of negligence and intentional acts as any other defendant. The one significant difference, however, is that a municipality must receive notice of the claim being brought against it in the form of a Notice of Claim within a relatively short period of time after an accident and a law suit must be commenced within a shorter “statute of limitations” than those that apply to cases brought against non-municipal defendants. Generally in New York, the Notice of Claim is governed by a 90-day filing requirement and the statute of limitations is one year and ninety days. In ordinary New York negligence cases the statute of limitations is as much as three years and no Notice of Claim is required as a prerequisite. It is because of these special filing requirements that anyone involved in an accident in which a municipality may have played a part must seek immediate legal assistance in order to avoid losing their right to seek compensation.

If you have have been the victim of a municipal liability, contact us for a free consultation. We’re available at our New York and New Jersey offices to answer your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.