Articles Tagged with Notice Requirements

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stop-this-watch-487816-mAccording to Black’s Law Dictionary, a Statute of Limitations is defined as a time frame set by legislation where affected parties need to take action to enforce rights or seek redress after injury of damage. Put another way, a claimant does not have until the end of time to pursue a cause of action for injury or damages sustained by that person. The result would be catastrophic as evidence erodes over time, memories fade, and the ability to effectively pursue a claim diminishes with each passing day. As a result, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has set standards by which a claimant can pursue certain causes of action. These standards limit the time in which a person may file his or her claim in the proper court.

While various areas of the law have different statutes of limitations attached to them, under Massachusetts General Laws C. 260, § 2A:

“Except as otherwise provided, actions of tort, actions of contract to recover for personal injuries, and actions of replevin, shall be commenced only within three years next after the cause of action accrues.” Continue reading →

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under-construction-1268302-mOn May 31 2005, Tom Filepp was riding his bicycle on Harvard Street in Brookline, Massachusetts when he had an unfortunate accident due to the condition of the pavement. Specifically, he was pedaling his bicycle and encountered a “rut” in the pavement that caused his bicycle, and him, to turn over. Mr. Filepp suffered serious and severe personal injuries as a result. He promptly provided notice to the City of Brookline of the injuries he sustained. Subsequently, it was discovered that the Boston Gas Company was the responsible party as the corporation created the defect in pavement that caused Mr. Filepp’s accident.

Mr. Filepp was forced to file suit against the Boston Gas Company for claims predicated on negligence. The Defendant corporation asked the court to dismiss the case arguing that there were no material facts in dispute that rise to a triable level, and as a result, the Defendant should be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The Defendant argued that Mr. Filepp, the Plaintiff, failed to give notice to the Defendant within 30 days of his accident. Under Massachusetts General Laws c. 84, § 18, a person injured due to a defect on a public way must send notice within thirty days after the injury to the, “county, city, town or person by law obliged to keep said way in repair.” As a result, because the Plaintiff failed to notify the Boston Gas Company, the organization obliged by law to maintain the parcel of land, the court dismissed Plaintiff’s case. Plaintiff appealed.  Continue reading →