Statutes of Limitations for Premises Liability Lawsuits

Premises liability lawsuits cannot be brought at any time after the injury. Each state has enacted laws which provide a time limit after which a suit cannot be filed by an injured party. These laws are commonly referred to as “statute of limitations”.

Typical Statute of Limitations in Premises Liability

Statutes of limitations for premises liability lawsuits differ in each state. Typical lengths of time are one to five years. Your local legal aid office or state bar association should be able to point you in the direction of where to go to find your state’s applicable limitations statute.

Limitations statutes do not govern the time in which a case must be concluded, just the time in which it must be filed. Therefore, if your state has two year statute, you must file your case within those two years. Resolution of the case, either by court order or settlement, may take much longer.

Atypical Limitations: Government Entity

While it is possible to sue a state or the federal government for an injury occurring on governmental property, the applicable statute of limitations are often much shorter, typically about six months. This is often the case to avoid the government from needing to dispute a case stemming from an old accident and to protect the government from frivolous claims.

Atypical Limitations: Age of Party

If the injured party was under the age of 18 at the time of the accident, many state’s laws suspend the statute of limitations until the child reaches the age of majority. This is to provide the injured child with the ability to pursue the claim on their own if their parents or guardians failed to do so.

Atypical Limitations: Strict Liability

In some, but not all, states, strict liability premise liability cases have no or extremely long statutes of limitations. This is because in these cases there is no need to prove fault, just damages, making them able to be litigated long after the specific facts of the case have been forgotten.

Seeking Legal Assistance

A statute of limitations could prevent you from bringing your case to court and recovering for your injury. If you have been injured on another person’s property, seek legal assistance immediately to ensure that you will have representation and timely file you suit.

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