Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Filing a lawsuit against any governmental agency is a complex and time consumming endeavor, which begins with filing a claim against that entity. You would be well advised to seek the services of an attorney well versed in government tort law to assist you with any claim you may have against the State of California. Failure to comply with any of the laws relating to such claims can result in the loss of any rights you may otherwise have had.

The same as filing any other lawsuit, once you have timely complied with the Government Code Notice of Claim requirements and any other specific administrative requirements that may apply to your claim. Prepare and timely file a properly drafted and validly based Complaint and related pleadings. Pay your filing fees. Serve the defendants. Then you'll have to deal with their Motions, defenses, objections, discovery, etc. Try to get it to trial.

If you don't know how to do these things effectively, then hire an attorney that does. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.

A claim must be filed within 180 days of the date of the injury. If you fail to file, within a year of the injury you can file for relief; I used to defend a city against such petitions but most public entities do not do a good job in defending themselves.

If you have a good case, you should be able to find an attorney who is familiar with the special time limits and claim presentment requirements. If you try to do it yourself you will be spinning your wheels for nothing.