What is the law around timely notice in a personal injury claim?

The timely notice requirement essentially means that the first claim must have been filed within the statutory period. Furthermore the filing of the first claim must alert the defendant in the second claim of the need to begin investigating the facts which form the basis for the second claim. Generally this means that the defendant in the first claim is the same one being sued in the second. As an example, a workers' compensation claim equitably tolls a personal injury action against that same employer for injuries sustained in the same incident. But under ordinary circumstances that workers' compensation claim would not equitably toll a personal injury action against a third party who might [142 Cal.App.3d 925] also be liable for the injury. (Freeman v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (1975) 14 Cal.3d 473, 121 Cal.Rptr. 477, 535 P.2d 341; but see Tu-Vu Drive-In Corp. v. Davies, supra, 66 Cal.2d 435, 58 Cal.Rptr. 105, 426 P.2d 505 where a claim against a third party tolled the statute of limitations against an attorney defendant in a wrongful execution case.)