Los Angeles has paid more than $86 million in sidewalk injury cases

As a Los Angeles accident and injury lawyer, I’m always looking out for articles discussing the pathetic state of Los Angeles sidewalks. You may recall this is an issues I talk about a lot.

Last week I came across this gem: The City of Los Angeles has paid more than $86 million in sidewalk injury lawsuits since 2020.

Interesting for a City that always claims to be out of money.

The City claims that they have more than 4,000 complaints of dangerous sidewalks that are in the queue to be repaired. In fact, 85-year-old Los Angeles resident Judy Burr complained about a sidewalk on her own block in 2017. That complaint is still in the queue.

Los Angeles sidewalk cases are complex. The Municipal Code places sidewalk repair on the adjacent property owners. In all of my Los Angeles sidewalk cases, I sue both the City and the property owners. What usually happens is the City also sues the property owner; the property owner counter-sues the City, and we have ourselves some knock-down drag-out litigation.

In all of my cases, the City argues that it has too many sidewalks and can’t keep track of them. The issue is, even when people submit sidewalk complaints to the City, the City does nothing.

Even in sidewalk cases that I have settled with the City, the City has not actually repaired the uplifted, cracked, or broken sidewalks.

Los Angeles must do better. Pedestrians should not have to suffer hip replacements, shoulder replacements, fractured wrists, elbows, arms, or surgical implantation of metal hardware. These are all real injuries from real clients I have represented who suffered serious injuries on a Los Angeles sidewalk.

If you have questions about a Los Angeles sidewalk case, my office is ready to assist, 24/6.