Most personal injury cases involve private parties.1 Generally, what happens is that an individual who has been injured in a preventable accident will assert a legal claim against another person or a business entity that the injured party alleges was at fault for the accident. In some cases, however, the party who was allegedly negligent was the government or a government agency or subdivision. When this occurs, a special set of legal rules apply, making these cases much more complicated than your “average” personal injury case. As a result, anyone who has been injured in an accident in which they believe that the government was at fault should discuss their options with an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
What is sovereign immunity?
The legal doctrine of sovereign immunity holds that the government is immune from lawsuits or other legal actions except to the extent to which it has consented to such actions.2 In other words, a private individual cannot sue the government unless the government agrees to be sued. Fortunately for people injured in accidents, the federal government and state governments started to enact laws allowing their citizens to sue them in various capacities. These laws, generally referred to as a state’s “tort claims act,” set out the situations in which the government can be sued as well as certain limitations on the recovery a plaintiff can obtain and the amount of time in which a claim can be filed.
What kinds of accidents lead to claims against the government?
There are a variety of accidents that have the potential to lead to claims against the government. Generally speaking, if an accident occurs on government property or is caused by the negligence of a government employee it may be possible to assert a claim. Some common examples of accidents that could potentially lead to a lawsuit against the government include:
- Slip and fall accidents in government buildings
- Accidents with government vehicles
- Accidents that occur on the property of a public college or university
- Public transportation accidents
- Accidents caused by poor road maintenance or design
There are other situations in which the government or a municipality could be held liable for the losses caused by a preventable accident. Because of the complicated legal rules involved with bringing a claim against the government, anyone who has been injured in an accident in which they believe was caused by government negligence should discuss their options with an attorney as soon as possible.
The Levin Firm
1500 John F. Kennedy Blvd, Suite 620
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215.825.5183
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_injury
2 http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/state-sovereign-immunity-and-tort-liability.aspx
