03/14/2023
The easiest mistake. In my personal life I often put off things that I could (or should) be taking care of. Some of the important things include doggy dental appointments, my own annual (required by SSN) health check, and getting rid of the pile of big cardboard boxes near my fence which are now buried in leaves.
As an attorney, in order to properly represent my clients I can’t just keep putting things off. My attorney self needs to do two basic things: (1) meet court deadlines; and (2) know the law setting the rules for each case I take on. This blog was inspired by a recent opinion of the Nebraska Court of Appeals and, quite honestly, began as a rant.
The case deals with someone trying to sue a city after they were injured in a collision with an ambulance. If the driver had been just a private citizen driving the ambulance the injured person would have four years from the date of the accident to sue. But, the driver was a city employee doing his/her job. That means the injured driver had to sue the city.
Suing a city or county in Nebraska is different from suing a person. The rules for suing a city or county are set out in what’s called the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, known among attorneys as the PSTCA. (Suing the State has a separate controlling statute.) The PSTCA contains rules that must be followed in order to successfully sue a city or county.
The injured driver took the right first step and hired an attorney. Unfortunately she hired an attorney who apparently didn’t know suing the City has different rules and didn’t bother to learn suing the City is different. To sue a city you have to make a “claim” against the City and then wait for the City to deny the claim or make an offer. If the City does nothing for six months, the “claim” can be withdrawn and suit filed. However, the suit has to be filed within two years of the accident. (There are exceptions but not relevant here.)
The attorney, however, just didn’t get suit filed within two years. It’s impossible to know whether he just “didn’t get around to it” or never bothered to read the statute. If you need an attorney, make sure they have experience with the issue in your case. And, on that note, maybe I’ll go pick up that cardboard . . .
