Claims against governmental entities are subject to statutory notice
requirements that operate as conditions precedent.
Notice of claim. Required within a short period — sixty, ninety or one
hundred twenty days in many statutes — with prescribed content: the claimant,
the nature of the claim, the time, place and circumstances, the injury and the
amount, and the names of witnesses where known.
Service. On the specific official the statute designates, in the manner
prescribed. Service on the wrong officer is a recurring and fatal defect.
Strict compliance. Many jurisdictions require exact compliance and dismiss
claims for defects even where the entity had actual notice, on the reasoning that
the requirement is a condition of the waiver of immunity.
Shorter limitation periods than for private defendants, and no tolling in
many statutes.
Substantive prerequisites. Pleading facts within a statutory exception to
immunity, which is not an affirmative defense but an element of the claim in
several states.
Damages caps and prohibitions on punitive damages and, in some statutes, on
non-economic damages above a threshold.
Practical guidance. Identify the statute and calendar the deadline on the
day the claim is opened. More claims against public bodies are lost to notice
requirements than to any substantive defense.
