What follows are our own general observations and opinions about claims against public entities in California. It is not legal advice, and it is not a definitive statement of California law. Deadlines in this area are unforgiving and every situation depends on its own facts.
If you are injured by a city, county, school district, transit agency or any other public entity in California, you generally cannot simply file a lawsuit within the usual two years. Our reading of the Government Claims Act is that you must first present a written claim to the entity itself, and for personal injury that presentation deadline is six months from the date the cause of action accrues. Miss it and the lawsuit is usually barred no matter how strong the underlying facts are.
This is, in our experience, the single most destructive trap in California injury practice. People who would have had a perfectly viable case come in at ten months because they were waiting to finish treatment, and by then the door has largely closed. It is the first thing we check when a public entity is anywhere near the facts.
Who counts as a public entity
Broader than most people assume. In Los Angeles the list that comes up repeatedly includes the City and County of Los Angeles, LA Metro, LAUSD, the various transit and housing authorities, community college districts, public hospitals, and the State itself. Sidewalk and roadway defects, buses and trains, school premises, public buildings, and vehicles driven by public employees all sit inside this regime.
The catch is that it is not always obvious. A bus with advertising livery may be operated by a public agency or by a private contractor. A hospital may be public or private. A maintenance crew may be city staff or an outside vendor. Working out who actually owns and operates the thing that injured you is part of the early work, and getting it wrong costs the claim.
What the claim has to contain
Our understanding is that the claim must be in writing and must include enough for the entity to investigate — the claimant’s name and address, the date, place and circumstances of the incident, a general description of the injury or loss, the names of the public employees involved if known, and the amount claimed. Many entities publish their own claim form, and using it is generally the safer course.
- Six months to present a personal injury or wrongful death claim.
- One year for claims relating to damage to real or personal property.
- The entity then has a period in which to act. If it rejects the claim in writing, a short window — commonly six months from the rejection notice — runs for filing suit, and that window is far shorter than the ordinary limitations period.
- If the entity never responds, a different and longer period applies. Do not assume silence is helpful; it changes the arithmetic rather than removing it.
There is a late-claim application procedure for those who miss the six months, and relief is sometimes granted — for example where the claimant was a minor, incapacitated, or genuinely could not have discovered the claim. We would not want anyone treating that as a safety net. In our experience late-claim applications are refused more often than they are granted, and the process itself has its own deadline.
Why it catches people out
Almost always for the same reasons. Injured people wait until treatment finishes before thinking about a claim, which is a reasonable instinct and a costly one here. Nobody realises the defendant is public — the pothole was in a city street, the branch fell from a city tree, the bus was Metro rather than a private coach. Or the claim is presented to the wrong entity, which does not stop the clock against the right one.
Sidewalks, potholes and the Los Angeles complication
Public-entity liability is not the same as ordinary negligence, and this is where a lot of claims fail on the merits rather than on timing. Our understanding is that a claim for a dangerous condition of public property generally requires showing that the condition created a substantial risk, that it caused the injury, and critically that the entity had actual or constructive notice of it far enough in advance to have done something. A defect that appeared last week is a very different case from one residents had been complaining about for two years.
That makes the paper trail decisive. Prior complaints, 311 service requests, repair records and previous incidents at the same location are often worth more than photographs of the defect. In Los Angeles, sidewalk cases carry an extra wrinkle: responsibility for sidewalk repair is shared in ways that have shifted over the years, and the City has run repair programs that affect who is answerable for what. Establishing who was responsible for that specific stretch on that specific date is genuinely fact-intensive.
There are also immunities that have no equivalent in private litigation — design immunity for roadway configurations approved through a discretionary process being the one that most often ends an otherwise sympathetic case.
What we generally suggest
Work out immediately whether any public entity might be involved, and if there is any chance of it, treat the six-month clock as running from the date of injury. Photograph the condition promptly, because public agencies do repair things and the evidence disappears. Request records early — service requests and prior complaints for that location are the heart of the notice question. And present the claim well before the deadline rather than on the final day, since presentation defects can sometimes be cured if there is time left.
If you are unsure whether the entity is public, err toward presenting a claim. Presenting one unnecessarily costs you very little. Failing to present one costs you the case.
Being candid about the difficulties
We would rather be honest about this category than encouraging. Public-entity claims are harder than ordinary injury claims on almost every axis: the deadlines are shorter, the notice requirement adds an element that private defendants do not have, the immunities are real, and public entities tend to litigate rather than settle early. A case that would be straightforward against a private landowner can be genuinely difficult against a city.
That is a reason to move quickly and to investigate carefully, not a reason to give up. But anyone telling you a claim against a public agency is simple is not describing the same system we work in. No outcome is ever guaranteed, and past results do not predict future results.
Talking it through
If you have been injured and think a city, county, transit agency or school district might be involved, the timing matters more than almost anything else, and it is worth a conversation early rather than late. Our office is at (310) 556-9692. For injury matters of this kind we generally work on a basis where fees come out of any recovery rather than being paid up front, with costs addressed separately, and the arrangement is always set out in a written fee agreement before anything begins.
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As above, this reflects our general opinions and observations only. It is not legal advice, it is not a definitive statement of California law, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. The deadlines described here are strict and apply differently depending on the entity and the facts, and we would strongly encourage you to have your specific situation reviewed immediately rather than relying on this article.
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