HIRE AN ATTORNEY WITH EXPERIENCE
The Court of Appeals threw out a wrongful death case today because of a mistake made by the attorney. This case illustrates the importance of hiring a personal injury that is experienced.
In the case, a teenager was killed in an automobile accident. Her parents hired an attorney to make a claim. Because the claim was against the State of Utah, certain procedures needed to be followed. The attorney followed the correct procedures but followed them too slowly, allowing the statute of limitations to run.
First, on December 11, 2007 the attorney filed a notice of claim with the appropriate governmental entity. Because the governmental entity ignored the notice, it was automatically denied on February 9, 2008.
Second, on June 10, 2008, the attorney filed a lawsuit against the governmental entity. That case was dismissed in September 2008. Because the case was dismissed without prejudice, the parents were allowed to refile.
Third, the attorney refiled the lawsuit on February 12, 2009.
The State argued that the lawsuit was too late. It had to be filed within one year of February 9, 2008. Because the lawsuit was filed 3 days late, the case should be thrown out.
The trial court agreed and dismissed the case.
The attorney for the parents did not argue that the time to file the complaint should be extended by three days. I don’t know all of the details so maybe that argument wouldn’t work. The argument would go something like this. Because the original notice of claim was mailed on December 11, 2007, it should not be considered to be delivered until three days later. Therefore, it would not be automotically denied until three days later, ie. February 12, 2008. If that were the case, the lawsuit would have been filed within the one year time limit.
In any event, the case is now thrown out and the parents will receive no compensation from the State of Utah for their daughter’s death.
