Chasing Time: The California Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Actions

There is a saying that time is money and for people who are planning on filing any personal injury claims, they better take note of that adage especially since there are statutes of limitations for such actions.

Personal injury actions such as slip and fall, medical malpractice, dog bite attacks, car accidents, premises liability, and product liability actions should be filed within the plaintiff’s state’s statute of limitations.

Statute of limitations is the maximum period within which legal claims may be instituted after an event. This may also be called “periods of prescription” or “prescriptive period” and the expiration of such period would bar the complainant from pursuing litigation.

Thus, no matter how valid your claim is, if you took too long to file a suit and the statute of limitations has run, you can no longer file a case. The defendant may raise in his defense the fact that statute of limitations has lapsed and move for the dismissal of your case.

Bear in mind that time is of the essence in all legal matters, and since the previous period of 1 year for personal injury actions has been expanded.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Actions in California:

•    Personal Injury Actions (which may arise from car accidents and the like) should be filed within 2 years.
•    Legal malpractice suits should be filed within 1 year from the date of discovery of the injury to up to 4 years from the date of the wrongful act.
•    Medical malpractice actions may be filed up to 3 years from the date of the injury or one year from the date of the reasonable discovery of the injury, whichever comes first.
•    Personal Property Damage claims should be filed within 3 years.
•    Product liability lawsuits may be filed within 2 years.
•    Breach of contract, if written has a statute of limitations of 4 years, and 2 years if it is only oral.
•    Libel/Slander/Defamation cases should be filed within 1 year from its occurrence.

When speaking of Statute of Limitations, one should also be aware of the “Discovery Rule”. Under this principle, suits may be filed within a certain period after the injury has been discovered regardless of the statute of limitations. For example, in medical malpractice cases, in case a foreign object is left inside the patient’s body, the statute of limitations will not start to run until such injury has been discovered.

When dealing with personal injury actions, do not dilly-dally. Seek a competent lawyer as soon as possible before any chance of recovery or compensation is lost because of your inaction or tardiness.

From the author: Los Angeles Personal Injury Claim Lawyers

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