Located 16 miles southeast of Fresno, Selma is a city of just 5.136 square miles in Fresno County. Selma has a population of just over 23,000, and most of the households are families with children. It is one of many small towns that were established during the railroad boom in California’s Central Valley.
Selma was originally an agricultural community with a special focus on raisins, peaches, and plums. Even today, the town calls itself “A Peach of a City” or “Home of the Peach” to reflect their agricultural roots. Over the years, major retailers have moved into the city and changed how people live, work, and shop in Selma, but there’s no denying that man of its small-town roots remain to this day.
Preserving a sense of peace and order in Selma is the city government’s primary function. But those working in various departments can fail in their duty of care to the public due to careless or reckless conduct. If you were harmed by the City of Selma’s negligence, you have the right to seek monetary damages, like medical expenses, income lost from your job, and pain and suffering.
To learn more about the process of suing the city of Selma for bodily harm or loss of property, please give us a call. Here are just some of the incidents that can serve as grounds for a City of Selma Claim for Damages:
- Fall-related injuries from a slip and fall or trip and fall accident
- Hurt by a falling object
- Dangerous conditions at a city park
- Reckless or careless driving by a city worker
- Police brutality and other acts of violence by city employees
- Collapsing buildings, roofs, ceilings, etc.
- Assault and battery
- Sexual assault
Our Recent Verdicts and Settlements
$2.5 Million
$1.1 Million
$1.5 Million
$600,000
$525,000
$734,851
How to File an Accident Claim against the City of Selma, CA
Like most government entities, the City of Selma has forms that are specific to compensation claims if they are liable for causing harm to another party. You can visit the city’s Risk Management office at 1710 Tucker Street, Selma, CA 93662 for a copy of these forms or download a copy by clicking here.
The forms have instructions that you should read ahead of time, but this is procedural information, like where to file the forms once you have answered all the questions. Most people need help with how to answer the questions, but the city won’t be of any help in this regard. This is why you should seek help from a lawyer with experience in lawsuits against city governments.
Once you have filed your forms with the City of Selma Risk Management Division, you must give them 45 days to accept or deny your demands for compensation. They will do so in writing, so make sure to keep an eye on your mail. Of course, everyone hopes for an acceptance letter, but rejection notices are quite common. If your claim is denied by Risk Management, you have 6 months to sue the city by filing a personal injury lawsuit. If you haven’t done so already, please contact an accident injury lawyer who can guide you through the process of filing a lawsuit against the City of Selma.
What if I don’t Get Anything from the City in 45 Days?
As a general rule, city governments follow the proper protocol and issue a status on incident claims within the deadline of 45 days. But there are instances where a claimant does not receive an acceptance or denial notice from the City of Selma. Legally, this is known as a rejection by default, which will allow you to move forward with a personal injury lawsuit. With this type of rejection, you have 2 years from whenever the accident occurred to file a lawsuit through the court system.
How Long You have to File a City of Selma Compensation Claim
Under California law, claims for liability by a government entity have a 6 month deadline from the date of injury or damage. Thus, you will need to file the appropriate paperwork within a matter of months or lose the right to sue the city of Selma for monetary damages. We understand that this is a short amount of time, but unfortunately, it is a legal requirement according to a legislation known as the California Tort Claims Act.
This is why you should contact our office immediately and talk to a lawyer who can file a City of Selma Claim Form on your behalf. With decades of experience in negligence-based injury claims, you can count on us to build a solid case and fight for the full value of your losses.
What are These Lawsuits Worth on Average?
Payouts for injury claims against the City of Selma can be anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 on the lower end of the spectrum. If we are talking about severe, life-altering injuries, like brain damage or paralysis, settlements are likely to exceed $2,000,000. As you can see, there is no such thing as an “average” value in cases of negligence by the city of Selma. Each claim is unique with its own factors that determine the amount of compensation that should be awarded to the victim. As a result, you should contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss the details of your accident and figure out a settlement value that reflects the level of harm you’ve suffered.
How Long Do City Government Claims Take to Settle?
The amount of time to negotiate payment for a City of Selma incident claim is around 1 to 2 years on average. This is fairly standard with lawsuits involving negligence by a public entity, like a government agency or public school district. Of course, we do have cases that are settled within 6 months of submitting the claim forms, and others that go to trial and require more than 3 years of work from start to finish.
Considering the factors that can impact the settlement timeline, it’s best to speak with a government claims lawyer if you’re interested in learning how long it will take to get paid from a lawsuit against the City of Selma.
No Cost Legal Services
Charging the victim for the cost of legal fees has never made sense to us here at Normandie Law Firm. This should be something that’s covered by the party that injured you, which is the principle behind the Zero Fee Guarantee.
Under this policy, you pay absolutely nothing to hire us for a City of Selma accident claim. All of our expenses are charged to the city government and included in the settlement check you receive at the end of your case. In the event you don’t receive compensation from a successful claim, you won’t be responsible for any legal fees.
Taking advantage of this offer is easy; just give us a call and schedule a free case review with one of our attorneys.
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How to File an Accident Claim against Delano, California
