If you get this wrong, you can lose the claim before anyone argues about fault, because New Hampshire government cases do not run like ordinary injury claims.

Most people assume a city or state case is just "same lawsuit, different defendant." It is not. If your injury involves Dover, Strafford County, or the State of New Hampshire - like a city truck crash, a bad road condition on the Spaulding Turnpike, or negligence by a state-run agency - you run into government immunity rules, possible damage caps, and sometimes a completely different process. Claims against the state can fall under the New Hampshire Board of Claims and RSA 541-B. Claims against cities and towns are shaped by RSA 507-B.

The practical difference is money and leverage. In a regular injury case, the insurer worries about a jury verdict. In a government case, the defense often worries first about whether you sued the right public entity, used the right procedure, and got around immunity at all. That can make a modest case not worth years of fighting. A severe case - loss of hearing, limb injury, a ruptured appendix after a delay tied to a public provider, or a life-changing crash - can still be worth pursuing because the damages are big enough to justify the extra fight.

For a Dover-area case, the first question is not "how hurt are you?" It is who exactly employed the person or controlled the property. City? County? State? Private contractor? That answer changes everything.

If your lawyer seems stuck, one real issue is whether they recognized the government angle early enough. Switching lawyers mid-case is usually possible, and in New Hampshire it typically means the fee gets split between lawyers, not that you pay two full contingency fees. If deadlines were missed, though, switching may not fix the damage.