How Long Do I Have To File A Personal Injury Negligence Lawsuit?
There is usually a legal deadline to file personal injury claims. This deadline is typically referred to as the “statute of limitations” or “prescription” period.
The deadline to file lawsuits depends on several factors, including the type of claim asserted, the state where the action is filed, and the court where the action is filed.
For example, in Texas, personal injury negligence lawsuits must typically be filed within 2 years of the accident.
Extension of the Deadlines
In some cases, the statute of limitations can be extended or “tolled,” meaning you would have longer than the standard time period to file a claim. Examples include:
- discovery rule: when a plaintiff did not initially know of the injury and could not have reasonably discovered it
- fraud: the defendant concealed its wrongdoing
- disability: when the plaintiff is a minor at the time of injury, or is of unsound mind
- military service: the plaintiff was actively serving in the military
- death: the statute of limitations is usually extended when a person dies
- absence from state: the limitations period is usually tolled during the time a defendant is out of state
- misnomer: when the wrong party is named accidentally but the correct party is served
- estoppel: when a defendant made representations that induced the claimant to delay filing suitrefiling: a lawsuit was timely filed but dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the claimant diligently files in a different court
Contact Morrow & Sheppard Now to Preserve Your Legal Rights
Because of these deadlines, it is important that you contact Morrow & Sheppard as soon as possible so that we can protect your legal rights. If you or a loved one has been injured, you are entitled to a 100% free and confidential consultation. After your consultation, if choose to hire us, we do not get paid unless you win.
Common Questions
- What Should I Do Right Now?
- Why Do I Need To Act Fast?
- Should I Sign Anything Or Give A Statement?
- I Don’t Live In Texas. What Should I Do?
- Will My Case Settle?
- I Don’t Know If I Can Afford A Lawsuit – How Much Does It Cost?
- What About Doctors & Medical Bills?
- What If My Employer Finds Out?
- What Is a Personal Injury?
- What is the Purpose of a Personal Injury Claim?
- What Will My Personal Injury Claim Be Worth?
- What Compensation Will I Be Entitled to Receive?
- Do All Personal Injury Cases Go to Trial?
- Personal Injury Negligence
- What Is Personal Injury Negligence?
- What Must Be Shown In A Personal Injury Negligence Case?
- Who Owes You A Negligence Duty?
- Does An Employer Have Special Duties?
- What Damages Can I Recover In A Personal Injury Negligence Lawsuit?
- How Long Do I Have To File A Personal Injury Negligence Lawsuit?
- What Are Examples Of Personal Injury Negligence Lawsuits?
- No Fee Promise
- Do I Really Need a Personal Injury Attorney?
- Who Has Claims For Wrongful Death?
- What Is The Jones Act?
- What Is The Death On The High Seas Act?
- Who Is A Jones Act Seaman?
- About Other Wrongful Death Actions
- How Long Do I Have To Pursue A Jones Act Claim?
- What Jones Act Damages Can I Recover?
- Who Can I Sue Under the Jones Act?
- What Is Jones Act Negligence?
- What Are Examples of Jones Act Cases?
- Maritime Law & Unseaworthiness
- Maritime Injury Lawyer Rules
- What Evidence Matters In 18 Wheeler Trucking Or Commercial Vehicle Accidents?
- Who Is Responsible For My 18 Wheeler Or Commercial Vehicle Accident?
- What Legal Claims Am I Entitled To Bring?
- How Common Are 18 Wheeler Truck And Commercial Vehicle Accidents? Why Are They Significant?
- Are There Special Inspection Requirements For 18 Wheeler Trucks And Commercial Vehicles?
- What Are Common Causes Of 18 Wheeler Truck And Commercial Vehicle Accidents?
- Inadequately Trained Or Unqualified Drivers
- Improper Maintenance & Inspection
- Driver Fatigue
- Poor Route Planning
- Failure To Properly Secure Cargo
- Specific Issues Involving Vocational Trucks
- Hazardous Materials & Oversized Loads
- Distracted Truck Drivers
- Braking & Tire Issues
- Speeding
- Weather Conditions
- Alcohol and Drugs
- What Oilfields Are Active In Texas?
- What Is Shale?
- What Is Hydraulic Fracturing Or “Fracking”?
- What Does The Texas Railroad Commission Have To Do With Oil & Gas?
- What Is The Barnett Shale?
- What Is The Eagle Ford Shale?
- What Is The Granite Walsh Formation?
- What Is The Haynesville Shale?
- What Is The Permian Basin?
- How Many Oilfield Accidents Have There Been In Texas?
- Do I Have A “Strict Liability” Products Personal Injury Claim?
- What Goes Into A Products Liability Claim?
- What Is A Product Defect?
- What Kinds of Product Defects Are There?
- What If There Have Been Other Accidents Involving The Same Product
- Do I Have To Prove Negligence In A Products Liability Case?
- What Is A Product Recall?
- What If The Product Cannot Be Traced Back To The Manufacturer?
- Who Are The Defendants In A Products Liability Case?
- Do I Have Any Other Claims?
- What Damages Can I Recover?
- What Are Examples Of Industrial Accidents?
- What Is OSHA?
- What Rights Do Workers Have Under OSHA?
- What Are The Most Common OSHA Violations?
- What Is The Chemical Safety Board?
- How Old Are Most Refineries? What Condition Are They In?
- What Refineries Are Active In Texas? Have They Had Safety Incidents?
- Incidents At Alon’s Big Spring Refinery
- Incidents At Calumet’s San Antonio Refinery
- Incidents At Citgo’s Corpus Christi Refinery
- Incidents At Delek’s Tyler Refinery
- Incidents At ExxonMobil’s Baytown Refinery
- Incidents At ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Refinery
- Incidents At Flint Hills Resources Corpus Christi Refinery
- Incidents At Lyondell’s Houston Refinery
- Incidents At Marathon’s Galveston Bay Refinery
- Incidents At Marathon’s Texas City Refinery
- Incidents At Petrobras’s Pasadena Refinery
- Incidents At Shell’s Deer Park Refinery
- Incidents At The Motiva Port Arthur Refinery
- Incidents At The Valero Port Arthur Refinery
- Incidents At Total’s Port Arthur Refinery
- Incidents At Valero’s Bill Greehey East & West Refineries
- Incidents At Valero’s Houston Refinery
- Incidents At Valero’s McKee Refinery In Sunray, Texas
- Incidents At Valero’s Texas City Refinery
- Incidents At Valero’s Three Rivers Refinery
- Incidents At Western Refining’s El Paso Refinery
References
Discovery Rule: Willis v. Maverick, 760 S.W.2d 642, 644 (Tex.1988) (“[t]he discovery rule is the legal principle which, when applicable, provides that limitations run from the date the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered, in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, the nature of the injury”).
Fraudulent Concealment: Gaddis v. Smith, 417 S.W.2d 577, 579-580 (Tex. 1967) (“Texas Courts have not invariably ignored the inability to know of the existence of the cause of action in determining when such cause of action accrues. For example, a cause of action based on actionable fraud accrues when the fraud is discovered, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered”).
Disability: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001, § 16.022.
Military Service: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001, § 16.022.
Death: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.062.
Absence from State: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.063.
Misnomer: Enserch Corp. v. Parker, 794 S.W.2d 2, 4-5 (Tex. 1990) (“Texas courts have recognized a distinction between misnomer and misidentification. If the plaintiff merely misnames the correct defendant (misnomer), limitations is tolled and a subsequent amendment of the petition relates back to the date of the original petition. If, however, the plaintiff is mistaken as to which of two defendants is the correct one and there is actually existing a corporation with the name of the erroneously named defendant (misidentification), then the plaintiff has sued the wrong party and limitations is not tolled”); Chilkewitz v. Hyson, 22 S.W.3d 825, 830 (Tex.1999) (“[i]n misidentification cases, limitations may be tolled when a plaintiff sues an incorrect entity if there are two separate but related entities that use a similar trade name and the correct entity had notice of the suit and was not misled or disadvantaged by the mistake”).
Estoppel: Frank v. Bradshaw, 920 S.W.2d 699, 701 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, no writ) (holding statute of limitations could be tolled where the defendant’s insurance company paid for the damage to plaintiffs’ car, and the insurance adjuster told the plaintiffs that it would pay their medical bills when their personal injury protection funds ran out, and also specifically represented that there was “no time limit problem with the filing of the medical bills and the payment of their claims”).