New York’s Statute of Limitations on Personal Injury

 

 

The statute of limitations, as it pertains to personal injury law, is the amount of time after which a lawsuit can no longer be filed after the act that causes harm. It varies from state to state, and in some cases by the type of case. In New York, the statute of limitations on most personal injury cases is three years.

 

Time Limits to File a New York Personal Injury Claim

The three-year statute of limitations applies to most personal injury cases involving negligence. This includes:

• Car or other traffic accidents
• Premises liability
• Product liability

For cases involving medical malpractice, the statute is two and a half years from the date of malpractice, or the last day of continuous treatment by the practitioner you intend to sue.

The statute of limitations for a wrongful death suit in New York is two years from the date of death.

 

Intentional Harm

For most personal injury cases stemming from intentional harm, such as battery, assault or other crimes, the law limits your time to file a civil action to one year. This may differ from the statute of limitations assigned to any criminal charge for the act that caused the injury.

 

Discovery of Harm

In most cases, the statute of limitations clock starts ticking the moment you become injured. However, the time period actually begins at the moment the injured person knew—or reasonably should have known—that he or she suffered harm. This would usually be at the time of injury, but not always.

For example: A surgeon mistakenly leaves a surgical sponge in a patient’s belly during surgery. The error goes unnoticed until six years later during another, unrelated surgery. If the original error caused the patient harm, it may seem at first glance that it would be too late to file a lawsuit. However, since the patient had no way to know about the sponge until the second surgery, that discovery would mark the beginning of the limitation period.

Because of the statute of limitations, you should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after you’re injured. It can take time to investigate your case and determine if you have a claim, so it’s best to begin as soon as possible.