If you are injured and want to pursue a claim for damages, it is always important to contact a lawyer as soon as you can. There are both legal and practical reasons that it might become “too late” to get your case filed on time, and knowing when those deadlines arise is vital to making sure you get your case in on time.
The legal deadline for filing a personal injury case is typically 2 years for most injury cases in Pennsylvania, though some types of cases have much longer deadlines. However, it takes attorneys some time to get the paperwork for your case prepared and filed in court. This often means you must talk to a lawyer at least a few weeks or months before this to get your case filed on time. However, it is never “too late” to call and inquire with a lawyer about taking your case, as we may still be able to get your case in under the deadline or extend the filing deadline under various special rules.
For a free case evaluation, do not hesitate to call our Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys at The Reiff Law Firm at (215) 709-6940.
Legal Deadlines for Filing a Personal Injury Case in Pennsylvania
The law that gives the deadline for filing an injury case is known as the “statute of limitations.” A particular statute, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, sets a 2-year deadline for personal injury cases based on negligence as well as claims for assault and battery. However, claims based on specific types of injuries might get longer filing deadlines.
The main type of case that has a much longer filing deadline is a sexual assault claim, governed by 42 Pa.C.S. § 5533. Subsection (b)(2)(i) gives minors injured before age 18 until they turn 55 years old. If they were abused as adults before turning 24, subsection (b)(2)(i.1) gives them until age 30 to file. Adults abused after age 24 face the normal 2-year filing deadline for assault and battery. These rules are based on what law was in effect when the events occurred.
Laws Shortening the Filing Deadline for Injury Claims in Pennsylvania
Another important thing to consider is that some cases require a much quicker deadline for action before filing a lawsuit. The most common of these is for lawsuits against the government or government agencies. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522, claims against the government must have notice to sue filed within 6 months of the accident. Talk to our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers early on in your case to help avoid any issues with surprisingly shortened deadlines that might arise in your case.
Laws Extending Filing Deadlines for Injury Claims in Pennsylvania
As mentioned, there are also some laws that might give you longer to file your case than the typical 2-year deadline:
Infancy
It is difficult for kids to file lawsuits, given that they usually can’t enter into a contract with a lawyer or pay for legal fees themselves. Instead, § 5522 gives minors until they turn 18 before the 2-year statute of limitations period starts running. A parent can file on the child’s behalf within 2 years of the accident, but children can often file up until age 20.
Discovery Rules
The main area of practice where a “discovery rule” applies is in medical malpractice suits – lawsuits against care providers for negligence care. For a discovery rule to apply, the injury and its cause must have been undiscoverable at the time of the injury. When this happens, the rule pauses or “tolls” the statute of limitations from running and only starts it again when the victim discovers the injury or reasonably should have discovered it.
This gives you 2 years from when you discover the injury to file instead of 2 years from the injury itself. A “statute of repose” sometimes sets an outside limit, blocking cases older than 7 years under § 513 of Pennsylvania’s MCARE Act. This doesn’t apply to retained object injuries.
Fraudulent Concealment
Sometimes the at-fault parties hide the cause of the injury from the victim. Again, this often comes up in medical malpractice cases where a doctor gives an alternative cause of the injury or denies that the injury occurred, whether they meant to conceal the truth or not. For example, if your arm isn’t bending right after surgery, and the doctor says that’s normal after surgery, they might cause you to accept it as normal that you can’t bend your arm anymore. If they accidentally nicked a nerve and did not tell you – even if it was because they didn’t know they nicked a nerve – you could go years before another doctor tells you it isn’t normal.
In cases like this, where the victim was actually kept from finding the true cause of the injury, the statute of limitations should be tolled and will only start running again once they discover the true cause of the injury or reasonably should have discovered it. Often, this happens when they get a second opinion.
Continuing Negligence
Most injury cases involve one instance of injury that happens on a particular date we can count the statute of limitations from. Others involve a pattern of wrongdoing that might still be happening. With repeat negligence, we count the statute of limitations period from the most recent incident. For example, in a pattern of abuse, we count from the last date of abuse; in a pattern of ongoing medical malpractice, we can count from the most recent doctor’s appointment. If the negligence is literally ongoing, then the 2-year clock hasn’t even started, and there is no need to worry about the statute of limitations yet.
When to Call a Lawyer for an Injury Case in Pennsylvania
You should always call a lawyer as soon as you can. It is often best to call within a few weeks of the injury and get a lawyer on your side to start collecting evidence and building the case as soon as possible, before people forget what happened or evidence is lost or destroyed.
In any case, you are usually too late to get your case filed if you call a lawyer within a week of the filing deadline, but depending on the facts of your case, we might be able to make it work. Never hesitate to call; we’re here to help.
Call Our Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys Today
Call The Reiff Law Firm’s Bucks County, PA personal injury lawyers at (215) 709-6940 for a free case evaluation.
