Suing the City for a Faulty Sidewalk Injury

Answer:

If you’ve fallen because of a faulty curb or sidewalk and have gotten serious injuries, you absolutely have a right against the municipality involved, whether it be the village, town, city, county. One of the things you have to determine immediately is which municipality it is. Is it the town? Is it the village? One of the things that has to be done is you have to check property records. You have to do a proper investigation to make sure that if you’re going to sue a municipality, you’re suing the right one. This is why it’s essential to hire the right attorney right away.

The other thing you have to look for when you’ve fallen on a sidewalk or curb is you have to see whether or not it’s actually owned by the municipality or if it’s the responsibility of the property owner, whether that is a homeowner or building owner. Very often, someone thinks that they fell on a sidewalk being maintained by the city, but it’s actually the property owner who maintains it.

The third reason it’s very important to hire a lawyer is you have to establish who is responsible for the upkeep. While one municipality may own that sidewalk, it may be somebody else’s responsibility to maintain the sidewalk.

If you think you’ve been injured in a fall because of a faulty curb or faulty sidewalk, and you think you have a claim against the municipality, it’s very important to come see us right away so we can determine if it is in fact a municipality or if someone else is the owner. If it is a municipality, we need to find out which municipality will be responsible.