§ 147.044.Notice

A pre-suit notice requirement with three timing rules and four content requirements.

The general rule (subsection (a)): a claimant may not commence an action unless notice was given before the 60th day preceding the date the action commences.

Subsection (b) handles the deadline problem. Where the 60 days would prevent filing before limitations or repose expires, the claimant must instead give notice before the 31st day after the action commences.

That is sensible drafting: a notice requirement that could extinguish a claim by running out the clock would be a trap rather than a procedure.

Subsection (c) covers defensive claims. For a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party action, notice is due before the 31st day after service on the defendant — since a party responding to a suit cannot give 60 days’ notice before pleading.

Subsection (d) sets the content, and it is more demanding than most notice provisions. The notice must be in writing, identify the claimant, describe in reasonable detail the computer date failure and the harm it caused, and include a specific statement of the amount of damages claimed or the remedy sought.

The last item is the one with teeth. Naming a figure at the outset is what makes the settlement offer mechanism work, and it commits the claimant to a number before discovery.

The two sections that follow supply the consequences: proceedings are stayed for 60 days, and a claimant who gave no notice faces abatement and then dismissal.