If you have been injured — either in a car accident, by medical malpractice, or in a slip and fall at a place of business — you might be considering filing a lawsuit, and may wonder how much time you have to make that happen. In most instances, the statute of limitations allows plaintiffs two years from the date of an injury to file a lawsuit, although those dates differ from state to state. Some states, for example, allow three or more years to file.
If your claim is against a federal entity, however, the time you have to file shrinks considerably. Be sure to contact a personal injury lawyer, as soon as possible if you are seeking to file against federally-owned public transportation, a school, or another type of federal entity. For all cases that don’t fall under federal legislation, let’s take a look at how rules vary from state to state.
Personal injury statutes of limitations by state are:
Alabama: 2 years from the date of injury
Alaska: 2 years
Arizona: 2 years
Arkansas: 3 years
California: 2 years
Colorado: 2 years, unless the injuries are the result of a motor vehicle accident. In that case, suits can be filed 3 years after the date of injury
Connecticut: 2 years
Delaware: 2 years
District of Columbia: 3 years
Florida: 4 years
Georgia: 2 years
Hawaii: 2 years
Idaho: 2 years
Illinois: 2 years
Indiana: 2 years
Iowa: 2 years
Kansas: 2 years
Louisiana: 1 year
Maine: 6 years
Maryland: 3 years
Massachusetts: 3 years
Michigan: 3 years
Minnesota: 2 years
Mississippi: 2 years
Missouri: 5 years
Montana: 3 years
Nebraska: 4 years
Nevada: 2 years
New Hampshire: 3 years
New Jersey: 2 years
New Mexico: 3 years
New York: 3 years
North Carolina: 3 years
North Dakota: 6 years
Ohio: 2 years
Oklahoma: 2 years
Oregon: 2 years
Pennsylvania: 2 years
Rhode Island: 3 years
South Carolina: 3 years
South Dakota: 3 years
Tennessee: 1 year
Texas: 2 years
Utah: 4 years
Vermont: 3 years
Virginia: 2 years
Washington: 3 years
West Virginia: 2 years
Wisconsin: 3 years
Wyoming: 4 years
Oral and written contracts and property damage cases all have different statutes of limitations in which to file, so check with your attorney to find out how much time you have to gather together the necessary paperwork to file a suit.
When does my time limit begin?
In most cases, the statute of limitations kicks in at the time of the injury, such as the date of a car accident or a fall. In other cases, however — such as if a doctor fails to remove a surgical instrument or a sponge during surgery — you may not know at the time of the incident itself that negligence has occurred. In cases such as those, the statute of limitations begins when the medical malpractice is discovered. If you realize that there might be a problem, however, and wait to seek the opinion of a second doctor, the date of discovery – which kicks off the statute of limitations period – may be moved back because you failed to take action in a timely manner.
Looking for a way to get super legit legal tips? At Hot Legal Tips.com, our goal is to provide you with great information.