Ukiah, CA Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

First, your mother has to establish that she fell due to some hazardous condition of the stairs that was not corrected by someone who who knew or should have known about the hazard, had the responsibility to correct it, and failed to do so, even though there was time in which to address the hazard. Is there evidence for all of that? Were these stairs within the area that was being rented, or was it a common area? This will get into questions of leases and policy provisions. Do not get the idea that she can handle this without a lawyer.

You expect insurance co to call you over the weekend. You do not live in the real world. Sounds like you might have a small claim but you will get nowhere without medical testimony. If you are not hurt bad enough to see a doctor, then you are at the mercy of the insurance company. What do you expect to happen here?

It is hard to provide you any specific guidance without more information. I will try to provide some general information that may be useful. There is generally, especially in personal injury cases, no duty to notify someone that they are going to be sued. When a lawsuit is filed, a copy of the complaint and a summons must be served upon the defendant (the person being sued). Usually this is done by the sheriff, constable or by certified mail. If the defendant cannot be found, the person suing (the plaintiff) can ask the court for permission to file a notice in a newspaper about the lawsuit. The "summons" indicates the date by which a defendant has to file an answer or other legal document. The "complaint" would list the basic facts for why you are being sued and what the person suing you wants. In certain types of cases, such as evictions, the summons does indicate the date the defendant must appear in court. The papers you received should have been a summons and the complaint. I cannot comment what the "7/23/12" date means without knowing what document it was on. It could be the date the lawsuit was filed against you, it could be the date you have to file an answer or many other things. You should consider talking to an attorney to get more information about what the papers you received mean and what you need to do to defend yourself.