I Tripped on a Broken Sidewalk — Can I Sue the City?
Possibly — public entities are liable for dangerous conditions of public property they knew about and didn’t fix. But two hard rules apply: you must file a government claim within six months, and trivial defects (typically under about an inch and a half) usually aren’t actionable. In Los Angeles, sidewalk responsibility can also fall on the adjacent property owner.
Sidewalk fall? The six-month clock is running — 24/7.
Se habla español — Llama Me. No out-of-pocket fees — we work on contingency.
Is the city automatically responsible for its sidewalks?
No — liability requires a “dangerous condition of public property”: a defect creating substantial risk when the property is used with due care, plus the entity’s notice of it and time to fix (Gov. Code § 835). Notice is proven the same way as against a store: prior complaints (LA’s 311 records are gold), prior falls, repair requests, and how long the defect visibly existed — tree-root uplifts don’t grow overnight.
What is the “trivial defect” rule?
Courts routinely dismiss cases over small height differences — as a rough guide, displacements under about 1.5 inches are presumptively trivial unless aggravating factors exist: poor lighting, debris concealing the edge, a defect at a crosswalk ramp, jagged edges. Photograph the defect with a ruler or common object for scale, from multiple angles, at the lighting conditions of your fall. This single piece of evidence often decides whether the case exists.
Who do I actually claim against in Los Angeles?
It depends on the sidewalk. The City of LA has its own sidewalk-repair programs and liability rules; county, state (sidewalks along state routes), Metro property, and school districts are all different entities — and under California law, adjacent property owners also bear maintenance duties for sidewalks fronting their land (Sts. & Hy. Code § 5610), with private liability where an owner altered the sidewalk or local ordinance shifts it. Identifying every responsible party is step one, because each has different deadlines and different insurance.
What deadlines apply?
Against any public entity: a written government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2), then suit within six months of rejection. Against a private adjacent owner: the ordinary two-year statute. Mixed defendants mean parallel calendars — the government claim always controls the urgency. Full walkthrough: suing a city or county in California.
What should I do this week?
Photograph the defect before it’s repaired — cities fix reported hazards fast after a claim, and “repaired subsequent to incident” photos are worth little. Measure it. Pull its 311/service-request history (public records). Get medical care documented. Then get the claim drafted properly — government claim forms have content requirements that can sink a case if botched (Gov. Code § 910).
Photograph it today. It gets repaired the day after you claim.
Se habla español — Llama Me. No out-of-pocket fees — we work on contingency.
