Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit, which varies by state and by claim type — commonly two to three years for personal injury — and after which the claim is barred permanently.
Missing it ends the case regardless of how strong it is. This is the one deadline in a claim that cannot be argued around in most circumstances.
The clock usually starts on the date of injury, but discovery rules can delay it where the harm was not immediately apparent, and claims against government entities often carry much shorter notice deadlines.
Workers' compensation runs on its own separate and usually shorter clock, with a notice deadline to the employer measured in days.
Related terms
- Notice of claim — A notice of claim is a formal written notification that must be filed before suing a government entity, typically within a much shorter window than the ordinary statute of limitations.
- Tolling — Tolling is the legal pausing of a statute of limitations, which stops the filing deadline from running during a defined period such as a claimant's minority, incapacity or a defendant's absence from the state.
- Workers' compensation — Workers' compensation is a state-run no-fault system paying medical costs and partial wage replacement for workplace injuries, in exchange for which employees generally cannot sue their employer directly.
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