Statutes of limitations regulate the time that a potential plaintiff has to initiate a personal injury lawsuit.
Statutes of limitations are state procedural rules that strictly limit legal actions based on time.
Once a statute of limitations expires, a plaintiff cannot file a legal claim, regardless of its underlying merits.
It is in your best interests to enlist the services of an experienced Queens Personal Injury Lawyer after an accident to protect your right to seek financial compensation.
Statute Of Limitations For Filing A Personal Injury Lawsuit In New York
You do not have unlimited time to collect evidence, consider legal options, and decide whether or not filing a claim is worth it.
If you have suffered injuries in New York due to someone else’s carelessness or negligence, you have limited time to file a personal injury lawsuit.
The personal injury statute of limitations in New York is three years. This means that you have three years from the injury date to file a lawsuit. The time starts with the date of injury or when the person knows about the injury which gives rise to the lawsuit.
The statutes of limitations encourage injury victims to bring their claims to court as quickly as possible. This helps the legal system to function more efficiently and prevents the overburdened system from becoming clogged with old cases.
if an injured person desires to file a lawsuit against another for an injury or claim, they should pursue the lawsuit with reasonable diligence;
Personal injury lawsuits rely heavily on witness statements. After a few weeks, witnesses tend to forget details about the accident.
Evidence can get destroyed, lost, or become weaker over time.
To be eligible to proceed with the civil lawsuit against the New York state government or its agencies, you must file a Notice of Claim within ninety days of the cause of action.
Personal injury claims against a city, state, county, town, or village in New York must be filed within one year and ninety days of the cause of action.
Exceptions To The Statute Of Limitations In New York
The Discovery Rule
Some injuries take days or even weeks to appear. A life-threatening injury could worsen in subsequent weeks. In certain catastrophic injuries, detection of internal organ damage can take time.
The discovery rule allows the statute of limitations to begin on the date that the injured person discovers their injury.
Departure Of The At-fault Party from New York State
New York laws prevent potential defendants from avoiding their legal responsibility by leaving the state for an extended period. If the at-fault party is absent from New York State for at least four months within the three-year statute of limitations period, but before a lawsuit is filed, you might receive an extension to file a lawsuit.
Tolling of Statutes of Limitations In New York
New York laws recognize that individuals who are minors are not as capable of evaluating their legal options. The New York Statute of Limitations is tolled when the victim is a minor under the age of eighteen or is found to be mentally incompetent by the court. Once the injured party attains the age of eighteen, the time will begin to run on their cause of action.
Contact A Queens Personal Injury Lawyer Immediately
Although New York courts are strict when it comes to enforcing statutes of limitations, there are certain exceptions to these deadlines. At Gregory Spektor And Associates, we have significant experience in dealing with exceptions to a statute of limitations on behalf of plaintiffs.
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence in Queens, contact a personal injury lawyer at Gregory Spektor And Associates
before the statute Of Limitations runs out.
Our firm offers free initial consultations to personal injury victims.
