It's important to act promptly when you are injured by another person, because there are statute of limitations that can prevent you from filing a lawsuit if you wait too long. Here are a few questions you may have about these laws if you are injured and worried about filing a lawsuit in time.

What Exactly Is The Statute Of Limitations?

Statute of limitations laws are a way of stating the legal deadline that you must start the process of a lawsuit, typically by filing a claim with the local court system. Each type of lawsuit has its own statute of limitations and laws can vary from state to state, so it's important to understand what your local laws are. In personal injury cases, the statute of limitations timeline starts on the day the injury occurred.

Why Does The Statute Of Limitations Exist?

There are a few reasons why there are statute of limitation laws in place in regard to a personal injury. It's mainly designed to promote fairness, and to ensure that someone is not exposed to a lawsuit indefinitely and have it held over them. It is also used to help preserve evidence in a personal injury, since the time limit will encourage people to act in a timely manner. The lawsuit will also take place while the injury is fresh in everyone's mind, so details will be more accurate.

Are There Variations Of Statute Of Limitation Laws?

It's important to be aware of how states have different statute of limitation laws. There are states that have general laws that apply to all personal injury cases. Meanwhile, there are states that have different time frames for different injuries. You may be surprised to learn that a dog bite case has one time frame, while a slip and fall case has a totally different time frame.

Can The Statute Of Limitations Be Extended?

It's possible to extend the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit. It's common in situations where an injury is not discovered until later on, and then the day the injury occurs from a legal standpoint is the day it is discovered. This could be the day of an official diagnosis from a doctor. There are also situations regarding minors where the statue of limitation deadline is extended until they are old enough to be considered an adult.

Reach out to a personal injury lawyer for more information about the statute of limitations for your case.