Why You Need an Arizona Public Injury Lawyer
If you are injured by a public entity, you must secure an attorney and file a Notice of Claim with that 180-day window. Otherwise, you will not be able claim any damages in a suit against that entity.
And it gets worse…
Under the law, a Notice of Claim can only be filed with an employee of that public entity who is authorized to be served notice. In addition, your Notice of Claim must state a specific dollar amount that you would be willing to settle for.
See the problem? Within that 180-day window, you may not even know the full extent of your injuries yet. Lost wages, medical expenses, physical therapy and other costs associated with an injury can accrue for many months or even years after an injury.
Here’s another reason why you need the assistance of an experienced personal injury lawyer: From the moment when your Notice of Claim is accepted by that public entity, you have just one year to sue.
While you have up to two years (24 months) to file suit against a private entity that injures you, Arizona’s Notice of Public Claim statute truncates the entire process to as little as 18 months to sue a public entity. And again — you may not even know the full extent of your injuries within that time frame, or how much you are entitled to in damages.