a letter of representation to his attention. That same day, exactly one week after the accident, Williams's attorney wrote a letter to the claims supervisor formally notifying him of the claim. The claim was acknowledged by the claims supervisor in a return letter dated August 24, 1994.
Over a two-year period following the accident, Williams and his attorneys corresponded several times with representatives of Consolidated Risk Management Services and its successor, Trigon Administrators, Inc., regarding Williams's claim. Pursuant to the request of the claims administrators for Montgomery County, Williams provided medical reports and bills, his description of the accident, and a signed medical authorization to enable them to investigate the claim. He also submitted a notice of a workers' compensation lien. During June 1996 and subsequent months, Trigon engagedin settlement negotiations with Williams, who rejected the final settlement offer proposed by Trigon in December 1996.
In March 1997 Williams filed suit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County against Maynard and Montgomery County, seeking $100,000 in damages allegedly caused by Maynard's negligence. Maynard, who had resided in Prince George's County at the time of the accident, had subsequently moved out of state and was never served. Montgomery County, arguing that Prince George's County was an inconvenient forum, successfully moved for transfer of the case to the Circuit Court for Montgomery County pursuant to Maryland Rule 2-327(c).
Although Williams had amended his initial complaint to allege compliance with the notice requirement of § 5-304 of the LGTCA, the County moved to dismiss the amended complaint on the ground