Thanks to TV legal dramas many people are now familiar with the term “statute of limitations.” To put it simply, it’s the term used to describe how long a party has to bring action against a wrongdoer. While it may frustrate those who want to bring a case but find the statute has expired, there are reasons behind it. The most important reasons behind it are security and efficiency.
Keep in mind that as time goes on, it’s much harder to get the evidence necessary for a successful personal injury case. Many people no longer remember the events clearly and physical evidence may have been destroyed. The law also sees fit to protect the rights of those who caused the harm. While the law does want them to be punished in a timely manner, the statute of limitations ensures that they won’t have to spend the rest of their lives waiting for a lawsuit to hit. At Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas we are not here to defend this stance. Our only purpose in this article is to lay down the facts.
The California statute of limitations for personal injury actions
In California, the law provides a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits. Note that the statute of limitations beings from the date of the injury itself. However, California, like many other states in the California, does have one major exception: injuries that weren’t immediately known.
In some cases, especially car accidents, it can take time for injuries to present themselves. Note that the law doesn’t then automatically extend the statute of limitations to the date the injured party discovered their injury. The law states that the injured party has either two years from the date of the injury or one year from the date the injury was discovered – or should have been discovered.
This is an important distinction. If it takes you ten years to discover that the pain in your leg is related to a car accident, the courts will then have to decide if you should have known sooner. If they decide that you should have, then they’re not going to extend the statute of limitations. However, if they decide that you couldn’t have reasonably known then they’re likely to extend it.
There is another exception: Tolling
Finally, there’s another exception to the statute of limitations. It’s referred to as tolling and it can get very complicated. Essentially, it occurs in very limited circumstances typically involving a minor defendant, a defendant who was out of state, or when one party was declared incompetent to proceed with the case. To determine if tolling is an option, you will need to speak to an experienced personal injury attorney.
In fact, if you believe you have a case – whether the statute of limitations seems to have expired or the accident only occurred last week – your next move is to speak to a personal injury attorney. Contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas today at 909-982-0707 for your free legal consultation.
