What is Statute of Limitations?

July 30th, 2009. By AbiK

Recently one of Lucy’s blog posts mentioned the statute of limitations for Avandia. “Statute of limitations” is a phrase that’s thrown around a lot—and it can be confusing. So that’s what we’re talking about in Pleading Ignorance today.

What does Statute of Limitations mean?

To put it in the simplest terms, it’s an expiration date that you have on the time allowed for filing a lawsuit. After that date, you generally can’t file the lawsuit anymore.

But here’s what the handy-dandy Barron’s Law Dictionary says: it’s any law which fixes the time within which parties must take judicial action to enforce rights or else be thereafter barred from enforcing them.

Ok—so basically get filing before the timer bell goes off.

Being mindful of the statute of limitations is important because it varies by state and by type of legal claim. For example, many states have a one year statute of limitations for personal injury cases—but some have a two year limit. NJ is a perfect example: the statute of limitations for a personal injury case is 2 years; the statute of limitations for damage to personal property is 6 years. That’s why attorneys will typically tell you to see a lawyer sooner than later if you think you might have a case—or even question whether you might. Also, keep in mind, it takes time to collect all the relevant evidence and supporting documents in a personal injury case—and time is of the essence.

The one legal claim that is generally not subject to statute of limitations is murder. Interestingly enough, going back to Barron’s, the reason why statutes of limitations are in place was seemingly to ensure that “there is a point beyond which a prospective defendant should no longer need to worry about the possible commencement in the future against him or her, that the law disfavors “stale evidence” and that no one should be able to “sit on his rights” for an unreasonable amount of time without forfeiting his or her claims.”

This may seem a bit unfair, but consider someone who trips and falls on your property and twists his ankle badly. Should you be liable 35 years later when that individual might require arthroscopic surgery on that ankle? Ok, maybe not. But having that protection in place for potential defendants also means that, on the flip side, if you suffer personal injury due to taking a particular drug, the manufacturer of that drug also has that protection should enough time pass by.

Because there is such variation by state and by type of legal claim, it’s always best to check with a qualified attorney.

Tags: Pleading Ignorance, Statute of Limitations

This was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 9:17 am and is filed under Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.