A. Overview
Many states, municipalities, and public and quasipublic
authorities require a Notice of Claim be served as a
condition to bringing a tort lawsuit. Forms for drafting a
Notice of Claim are in provided in Chapter 15 of this book.
The time limit for filing the Notice of Claim is usually
quite short and consequently a source of difficulty for the
practicing attorney who is not familiar with this area of the
law or whose client retained him late.
New York City’s General Municipal Law § 50(e) is
typical of the statutes requiring such a Notice of Claim:
“In any case founded upon tort where Notice of
Claim is required by law as a condition precedent to
the commencement of an action or special
proceeding against a public corporation as defined
in the general construction law or any officer,
appointee or employee thereof the Notice of Claim
shall comply with and be served in accordance with
the provision of this section for the 90 days after the
claim arises except in a wrongful death action ... the
90 days shall run to the appointment of a
representative to the decedent’s estate.”
