Washington Government Liability Attorney
Before you can sue a city, a county, a school district, or the State of Washington over an injury, a formal claim has to be filed first, and the clock keeps running while you wait. Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury firm that represents people hurt by negligence across King County, the Eastside, Seattle, and the greater Puget Sound region, and that includes injuries caused by public agencies, public employees, and publicly owned property. A Washington government liability attorney has to get the pre-suit paperwork right before anything else, because a mistake at that stage can end a case before it starts.
Government cases look different from ordinary injury claims. The defendant is often a transit agency, a city street department, a school district, a public hospital, or a state agency, and each has its own claims agent, its own risk management staff, and its own lawyers. The negligence can be a pothole left unrepaired for months, a traffic signal that failed, a bus driver who struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk, a dangerous stairwell at a public building, or a state employee who caused a collision. The underlying question is still whether someone failed to use reasonable care, but the route to a courtroom runs through a mandatory claim process.
Why Injury Law Group NW Handles Claims Against Public Entities
Injury Law Group NW represents people hurt by someone else’s negligence, including car, truck, motorcycle, and bus crashes, construction accidents, medical malpractice, traumatic brain injuries, slip and fall and premises injuries, retail liability, and wrongful death. The firm serves clients throughout King County, including Issaquah, Bellevue, Seattle, Sammamish, Redmond, Kirkland, Kent, and Renton, and across Washington. Its attorneys spent decades defending insurance companies before they began representing injured people, so they know how claims are valued, delayed, and denied. That background matters in government cases, where claims are frequently handled by risk managers and defense counsel who follow the same internal playbook.
Founding partner Troy Hunter spent 16 years in insurance defense litigation, mostly as a partner at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, defending insurers and their corporate clients against personal injury, wrongful death, fire loss, and construction defect claims. Troy also serves as a dispute mediator. Attorney David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases before judges and juries across Washington. Both Troy and David are rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. David has been selected to the Super Lawyers list and teaches trial and deposition skills as faculty at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Associate attorneys Warren Barreiro and Hannah Shergold complete the legal team, and the firm is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice. The attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court.
The firm’s results include claims where a public body was the defendant. It secured a mid-six-figure settlement for an elderly woman struck by a transit bus in a downtown Seattle crosswalk, and it recovered more than $1 million for parents whose newborn died after a hospital failed to adequately test for Group B Strep, a case that also led the hospital to change its procedures. Every claim is prepared as though it will go to trial, which tends to produce fairer settlement offers. Clients describe the team as responsive and communicative, and case managers return calls and texts promptly. Consultations are free and confidential, fees are contingent so you pay no attorney fee unless there is a recovery, and the attorneys will meet you at home or at the hospital if travel is hard. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome.
Kinds of Government Liability Claims We Pursue
- Public Transit and Government Vehicle Crashes: Buses, agency fleet vehicles, and employee drivers on the job can all lead to claims against the entity that employs the driver. These crashes often involve pedestrians in crosswalks and downtown corridors in Seattle, and the agency’s own investigation file is a key piece of evidence.
- Dangerous Roads and Failed Traffic Controls: When a city or county knows about a defect such as a broken signal, an obscured stop sign, a deep pothole, or missing guardrail and fails to fix or warn about it, injured travelers may have a claim. Proving that the agency had notice, and enough time to act, is usually the center of these cases.
- Public Property and Building Injuries: Stairwells, sidewalks, parking structures, parks, libraries, and government offices can all be unsafe. Premises principles apply, but the claim must go through the public entity’s claim process before suit.
- School District Negligence: Injuries on school grounds or during school activities, including inadequate supervision and unsafe facilities, are claims against the district and require the same presuit claim.
- Medical Negligence at Public Hospitals and Clinics: When a publicly operated hospital or clinic falls below the accepted standard of care, a malpractice claim can double as a government claim, so both the medical deadlines and the public claim requirements must be met.
- Injuries Caused by State Agencies and Employees: Claims against the State of Washington, its officers, employees, or volunteers must be presented to the state’s Office of Risk Management within the Department of Enterprise Services before a lawsuit can be filed.
- Wrongful Death Involving a Public Entity: When a government body’s negligence takes a life, the personal representative can bring the claim for the benefit of the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children, or if there are none, the parents or siblings, after completing the claim process.
What to Do After an Injury Involving a Government Agency
Start with medical care and with evidence. Photograph the hazard, the vehicle, or the location before it gets repaired or cleaned up, write down the names of witnesses, and keep every medical record and bill. Public agencies often repair a defect quickly after an incident, so early photographs can be the only proof of what the condition looked like. If a police agency responded to a crash, get the report number. Avoid giving a recorded statement to an agency’s risk manager or an insurer for the public entity until you have talked to a lawyer, because those statements are routinely used to minimize injuries or assign blame to you.
The claim process is where deadlines become unforgiving. For a claim against the State of Washington, the state’s standard tort claim form must be presented to the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Enterprise Services. It can be delivered in person, mailed, emailed as an attachment, or faxed, and no lawsuit may be started until sixty calendar days have passed after presentation. For a local government such as a city, county, or school district, the claim goes to that entity’s designated claims agent, and the same sixty-day waiting period applies. The identity and address of a local entity’s claims agent is a public record kept with the auditor of the county where the entity is located, so you do not have to guess where to send it. During the sixty days the limitations period is paused, and a suit filed within five court days after the sixty days run is treated as filed on the first day after they end. The underlying filing deadline for most injury claims is three years under RCW 4.16.080, and it is not extended by the claim requirement beyond that pause, so waiting to see how you recover is a gamble.
Where the suit ends up depends on the defendant and the size of the case. King County Superior Court is a general jurisdiction trial court and hears the large majority of serious injury cases, sitting at the King County Courthouse in Seattle and at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Someone living in Seattle or north of I-90 will generally find the matter assigned to Seattle, while a resident south of I-90 will probably be heard in Kent. King County District Court can hear injury claims within its civil jurisdictional limit, which is set by statute and adjusted periodically, and its East Division covers Bellevue, Issaquah, and Redmond. Claims that involve federal agencies or federal law may belong in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, whose Seattle division covers King County. Federal claims have their own separate administrative requirements, so ask a lawyer before assuming the state process applies.
The most common mistake is sending a claim form that is incomplete, directed to the wrong person, or filed late, and then learning the problem after the limitations period has run. The second is assuming that a friendly conversation with an agency representative has started the clock or preserved your rights; it has not. A Washington government liability attorney can identify the right entity, which sometimes is not obvious when a road is maintained by one jurisdiction and a signal by another, and can present a claim that holds up.
How Government Liability Cases Are Proven and Valued
Washington follows pure comparative fault under RCW 4.22.005, which means any fault assigned to you reduces your award in proportion but never bars recovery. Public entities and their lawyers lean on this rule, arguing that the injured person was distracted, ignored a warning, or should have noticed the hazard. If you are found 30 percent at fault, you can still recover the remaining 70 percent of your damages, so an overstated share of blame costs real money and is worth contesting.
Proof in these cases usually turns on notice and control. For a road or property defect, the question is whether the agency knew or should have known about the hazard, how long it existed, and whether it had a reasonable opportunity to fix it or warn people. Maintenance logs, prior complaints, work orders, and public records requests can answer those questions. For a crash involving an agency vehicle, we look at driver training and employment records, vehicle maintenance, and any camera or telemetry data. Our attorneys’ years on the defense side mean they know which records an agency’s lawyers will request, which they tend to withhold, and how internal claim reviews are conducted.
Damages in a successful claim can include past and future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. For a death, the personal representative can pursue economic and noneconomic damages for the statutory beneficiaries under RCW 4.20.010 and RCW 4.20.020, and under RCW 4.20.046 the estate’s claims survive, including recovery of the decedent’s own pain and suffering when qualifying beneficiaries exist. Wrongful death claims also follow the three-year rule, counted from the date of death. Traumatic brain injuries get particular attention because they may not appear on a scan, so the medical and vocational evidence has to be built carefully.
Questions About Claims Against Washington Government Entities
How long do I have to file a claim against a city, county, or school district?
Most injury claims carry a three-year limitations period under RCW 4.16.080, but you must also present a claim to the local entity’s claims agent and wait sixty calendar days before suing. The limitations period is tolled during that waiting period. Presenting the claim early gives you room to spare.
Is the process different when the State of Washington is the defendant?
Yes. Claims against the state, its officers, employees, or volunteers go to the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Enterprise Services using the state’s standard tort claim form. No suit may be commenced until sixty calendar days after presentation, and the limitations period is paused during that time.
How do I find the right place to send a local government claim?
Each local entity designates a claims agent, and that agent’s name and address are public records kept with the auditor of the county where the entity is located. A lawyer can confirm the correct agent, which matters when several agencies share responsibility for one location.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?
Yes. Washington’s pure comparative fault rule reduces your compensation by your percentage of fault but does not bar recovery, and there is no 50 or 51 percent cutoff. Public entities often argue for a high share of fault against the injured person, so the facts are worth examining closely.
What does it cost to hire Injury Law Group NW?
The first consultation is free and confidential, and the firm takes injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You owe no attorney fee unless there is a recovery.
Should I talk to the agency’s claims representative or insurer?
You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the other side, and it is wise to speak with a lawyer first. Adjusters ask questions designed to limit your injuries or shift blame, and our attorneys know how those statements get used because they spent years on the defense side.
What if the government agency repaired the hazard after I was hurt?
The claim is still viable. The question is what the condition was on the day you were injured and whether the agency had notice. Your photographs, witness accounts, and the agency’s maintenance and complaint records are how that gets proven, which is why early evidence matters.
Does my claim change if a public hospital or clinic was involved in my care?
It can add steps. A medical malpractice claim generally must be started within three years of the negligent act or one year from when you discovered or should have discovered the injury, whichever is later, and a claim against a public entity also requires the presuit claim and sixty-day wait. Keep both clocks in mind and get advice early, since the rules about outer limits have been the subject of court rulings.
If a worker is injured on a public construction project, can they sue anyone besides the employer?
Often yes. Under RCW 51.24.030, a worker covered by industrial insurance may elect to pursue a third party who is not in the same employ and who is or may become liable. The Department of Labor & Industries or a self-insurer must be given notice when the action is filed and may assert an interest in the recovery. If the third party is a public entity, the claim process described above also applies.
My loved one died because of a government employee’s negligence. Who can bring the claim?
The personal representative of the estate brings the wrongful death action. Under RCW 4.20.020 it is for the benefit of the spouse or state registered domestic partner and children, including stepchildren, and if there are none, the parents or siblings. The three-year period runs from the date of death, and the sixty-day claim requirement applies when the defendant is a public entity.
How long will a case against a public entity take?
Expect at least the sixty-day waiting period before suit can be filed, and then the normal pace of a civil case. Many claims resolve through negotiation or mediation, but our attorneys prepare every case for trial, which is often what moves a reluctant defendant to a fair number.
Serving Government Liability Clients Across King County and the Puget Sound Region
Our team represents people hurt by public entities throughout King County, from Seattle and its neighborhoods to the Eastside communities of Issaquah, Bellevue, Sammamish, Redmond, and Kirkland. We also serve clients in Kent and Renton, and across the greater Seattle and Puget Sound region. Whether the hazard was on a city street in Seattle, a county road near Issaquah, a transit route through the Eastside, or a school or public building in South King County, we can identify the responsible agency, locate the correct claims agent, and file within the required window. If injuries make it hard for you to travel, we will come to you at home or at the hospital.
Talk With a Washington Government Liability Attorney Today
Government claims reward people who act early, because the claim form, the sixty-day wait, and the three-year deadline all start counting from your injury. If you or a family member was hurt by a public agency or public employee, call or text Injury Law Group NW to schedule a free, confidential consultation with a Washington government liability attorney. We will listen to what happened, explain which entity is responsible and which deadlines apply, and start building the case. We give hope. We get results.
