I slipped and injured myself tripping over a pothole on a crosswalk. I missed work and had injury expenses. Is the city liable?

First, do not take what the city or its attorneys tells you at fax value. They don’t want to pay, any more than you would want to pay if someone came to you demanding compensation. And just like your initial response would be to deny responsibility, so is that their initial response, too.

It is the case that they may not be responsible—but it’s also the case that could be liable. It depends on the circumstances. Generally, a city is not automatically responsible for any uneven pavement injury that occurs on its sidewalks or roads. Instead, the city will be typically be held liable if there is some reason the city knew or should have known of the pothole, crack, buckled sidewalk, or other condition. Most commonly, this would be because someone called in a complaint about the condition—once a complaint is filed, the city is often considered to have knowledge and therefore be responsible. Knowledge could also arise or be implied because city maintenance or road workers were working right around the condition and could be assumed to have spotted it.

Even if the city did know of the condition, they may be able to escape liability if they can show that you were being careless, such as not watching where you were going or running pell-mell across the road to beat a traffic light. Your own carelessness could partially or possibly even wholly absolve the city of economic liability.

An experienced personal injury attorney could help you evaluate the strength of your case, whether (despite what it’s said) the city may be liable, and also what you case might be worth. Good luck.