Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Re: Amending loss of time claim

You can always serve amended answers, but the other side is free to point out that you gave two different answers, so you should be sure the difference is worthwhile and that you have a reasonable explanation why under penalty of perjury you gave the wrong figure [were you being conservative the first time, did not realize what time could be claimed, did not have complete records but then got them now, etc.

If you were covered by homeowners' insurance and your insurance carrier paid you for the damage, check you policy to see if they are entitled to subrogate under you to recover their money from your recovery against the defendant. If so, you can either cheat and hope they do not find out about your suit [which I do not recommend or think is proper behavior as it is selling your self respect for money, but realize some people try it] or contact them and see if they will retain an attorney to handle their subrogation claim, and then you can get free advice and help from that attorney, who will do most of the work to establish liability and the damages they seek to recover.

If they will not retain an attorney or he/she does almost nothing, you may be able to claim under the "common fund" doctrine [by your work alone you have created a sum of money that is to the benefit of the insurance company and you so you should be entitled to recover your costs in creating this common fund, which is basically the cost of your attorney working on common details in the case], you may be able to get an attorney willing to take the case [it will have to involve a recovery in excess of $15,000 for most attorneys to consider the matter, as that gives them no more than a $5,000 fee]for what he /she can get out of the insurance company [you are entitled to compensation for a reasonable attorney's fee, which may be less than what the attorney is actually charging you].

Normally in common fund cases [I think most attorneys are not familiar with the notion or have not tried it; the insurance company will complain that no one has ever tried to get money out of them that way so it may be difficult to pull off]the plaintiff tries to get 1/3rd of the amount the lien claimant recovers, as that is the normal attorney charge.

Good luck.