How Does the Statute of Limitations Affect My Injury Claim?

What is a statute of limitations?

If you have been injured in an accident, one factor you need to be aware of is California’s statute of limitations as it pertains to civil litigation.

Every state places a time-limit on filing a claim for compensation. Making such claims time-sensitive is measure to decrease fraudulent claims from taking up the court’s time. Furthermore, limits are meant so that no one can threaten another with legal action in perpetuity. In each state, once the statute of limitations has expired on your case, there is virtually no way a court will hear your case, and you will be unable to collect any compensation.

In California, the statute of limitations for injury claims is two years from the day of the incident or discovery of a wrong.

All in all, it is in your best interests to move forward with filing a claim as quickly as you can after being seriously hurt in an accident. Given enough time, your recollection of how the accident unfolded will diminish, and your injuries will begin to heal.

Additionally, the party responsible for your injuries, and any attorneys they have retained in their defense, can try and delay the legal process as best they can in order to exceed the two year limit, this neutralizing any claim you may have against them.

But two years is a long time, right?

Two years may seem like plenty of time to retain a lawyer and begin your legal battle, but any personal injury attorney will tell you that the process of filing a claim is complex. The discovery phase and the research conducted on your behalf by your lawyer take considerable time. It is far from a simple matter of filling out a few forms, and the entire process can be very time-consuming.

For this reason alone, you cannot afford to hold off on filing your claim. Even if you believe you are uninjured in the aftermath of an accident of some kind, you lose nothing by speaking with a highly-trained Los Angeles personal injury attorney during a complimentary case evaluation. Here you can learn if you even have a case and what your next steps should be.

Call the Law Offices of Jacob Emrani if you or a loved one were harmed in a car accident, bad fall, motorcycle accident, or any other type of accident. Time is of the essence, so call the firm today at (888) 952-2952 and schedule your no-cost evaluation.