Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I am the owner of a small business on a street which was renovated using Measure B funds. The road work was extensive and took many months to complete because of delays, poor planning and execution by the City and their contractors. The work caused my business to suffer substantial loss of business because of the delay and by causing traffic (foot and vehicle) to be impeded/blocked from my location. Several other businesses suffered the same injuries and we all submitted claims to the city only to have them deny the claims without reasonable explaination. We are now placed into a situation where we must sue the city to get any satisfaction or to recover any lost revenue. We are all cash strapped and business is slowly coming back, but it could take months to fully recover. What should we do?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You really have no choice but to sue or take the loss. They are not required to give an explaination. You only have six months from the date of mailing the denial of your claim in which to file suit. So what you should do is either hire an attorney or file pro per. I should warn you, though, in over twenty years of suing and representing public agencies, I have never seen a pro per win, ever. I should also warn you that it is not very likely that you have a winning case. Public entities are immune from most liability for public works, other than for injuries to people or property damage caused by the work. If you could sue a city for poor planning, no city in the state would have any money. You may have better luck against the contractors, but I'd have to know a whole lot more about the facts and circumstances of the situation before I could even venture a guess as to whether you would have a case there.
You have to act fast from when your claim is denied. You may also have a claim against the contractors, but should have an attorney examine it. I have sued the City and Ghilotti Bros. before, successfully.
Best,
Daniel Bakondi, Esq.
415-450-0424
The Law Office of Daniel Bakondi, APLC
870 Market Street, Suite 1161
San Francisco CA 94102
http://www.danielbakondi.com
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