If you’ve been hurt, you should contact a California personal injury lawyer immediately. One of the most common questions people ask when injured is how long they have to pursue legal action. It’s an unfortunate fact of the legal world. Some personal injury cases in California and other states just don’t make it to trial because the statute of limitations for filing has run out. If you’re looking for information on how the statute of limitations impacts personal injury claims in California, you’ll find it here. If that’s the case, you’ve found the ideal spot. This article covers a statute of limitations and how it directly affects your potential for success in your injury claim.
What Is the Statute of Limitations
According to consumerfinance.gov, the statute of limitations is the amount of time a person takes legal action after an injury or harm. In California, this varies by type of injury. These time limits apply to medical malpractice cases. You should also be aware that you can revive your claim in some situations after the statute of limitations has expired or been tolled by certain events. There are five everyday situations under which the statute of limitations is tolling in a California Personal Injury case. Under those circumstances, the time limit for filing the lawsuit is extended because a delay forced the injured party to request an extension.
Those situations are:
- The plaintiff is a minor
- The plaintiff was located out of state
- The plaintiff was incapacitated
- The plaintiff was legally insane
- The plaintiff was in prison
With A California Personal Injury Attorney, How Long Does The Statute Of Limitations For Personal Injury Cases Last?
If you’ve been injured in an accident, it’s essential to know how long you have to file a lawsuit. You’ll also want to see the time limits if you’ve been sued. They’re called statutes of limitations, and they set deadlines for filing claims and counterclaims in civil lawsuits, including:
- Car accidents. In California, a person injured in a car accident has two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit against the driver who caused the crash. There are exceptions, though, if you were under 18 when the accident occurred or if you didn’t discover that you had injuries right away. In those cases, you might have longer to file your claim.
- Medical malpractice. In the event of medical misconduct, a patient has two years from the date of injury to submit a malpractice claim against the doctor or medical institution responsible for inflicting the patient’s arm to file a medical malpractice claim.
- Product liability. If you’ve suffered harm due to a defective product and want to sue for damages, then you’ll have four years from the date of injury to file suit against the manufacturer or seller of that product. You can sue for damages even after this deadline passes.
Exceptions to Statute Of Limitations California
In general, a California personal injury lawyer case has to be filed within two years of the accident date. If it’s not, the injured party loses their right to sue. That doesn’t always happen. Courts have carved out several exceptions to California’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims. Here are some common scenarios that can trigger tolling:
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The Discovery Rule
Exceptions to the statute of limitations are standard in California courts. No matter how much time has passed since an accident, it may still be possible to sue if the injured party didn’t discover they had been hurt until later on.
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Defendant’s Flight from the Jurisdiction
If a defendant in an injury case moves out of state or simply disappears, that can delay or suspend the running of the statute of limitations in California. You might think that this would apply only when a criminal accusation is involved, but it also applies in civil lawsuits.
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Incapacity for Thought
Similarly, if a prospective plaintiff has a mental handicap, the statute of limitations is likewise halted. There are no attorneys or insurance firms engaged if the plaintiff cannot participate in the legal proceedings or authorize legal claims made on their behalf.
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Minority
As long as the prospective plaintiff is under 18, California’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is paused. As a result, they may submit a claim within two years after turning 18. An 18-year-old plaintiff is no longer a minor and may therefore engage in a contract, making him or her eligible for compensation.
California Personal Injury Lawyer Hamideh can handle all your injury needs. He will make sure you get complete compensation for your injuries, medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages due to someone else’s negligence (negligence claims). There is no charge for an initial consultation. Attorney Hamideh handles all injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay the attorney nothing until the case is settled or won. Attorney Hamideh has a 99% success rate in Court and treats his clients like friends, not just clients. You can contact us at Local: 562-526-1224 or Fax: 1-562-309-8100.