Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

In every civil legal situation, a statute of limitations is in place to ensure that any claim is brought in a timely manner. There are many reasons for this legal requirement, and there are many intricacies involved with it, especially in cases involving personal injury. Below you'll find an explanation for the legislative intent behind the statute of limitations and the complications that arise in regards to tolling.

The Reason for a Statute of Limitations

The concept of the statute of limitations came about to promote fairness in court rooms. Basically, legislators and judges alike came to a collective agreement that plaintiffs in a case should not be able to wait for an unreasonable amount of time to file a claim. The reasons for this are many, but for the most part, a case needs to be fair to both the plaintiff and the defendant.

In general, the more time that passes between an injury and the filing of a claim, the less likely it is that proper evidence will still be available, that any eyewitness accounts will still be reliable and that those responsible for the injury will still be capable of defending themselves. Different lengths of time have been assigned to different types of cases and in different jurisdictions, which is why you need to contact an attorney for clarification on this question.

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Statute of Limitations Technicalities

On a conceptual level, statutes of limitations should be relatively simple. If you were injured on "x,Ú you need to file a claim on or before "x." However, it's much more technical than this. Generally, the statute of limitations begins to run, or "toll" as soon as you were injured. However, there are several circumstances where the tolling of the statute is delayed, such as when you could not have reasonably discovered an injury or when the injury doesn't appear until after the event.

As a result, these are often questions that are answered by a judge, which is why the worst thing you can do is assume that you have time to file a claim, as you may not have that amount of time available. The result of waiting too long is disastrous for anyone who's been injured. If you wait too long to file, your claim will be dismissed.

Therefore, you owe it to yourself to contact an attorney immediately. There is no cost for the initial consultation, and he or she will be able to handle your case and make sure that any action that's taken falls within the time limits set by law.