Even if many accidents do not involve criminal behavior, you can still seek justice through the legal system. Our attorneys are here to assist you in filing a personal injury claim against the party responsible for the accident so you can recover the compensation you deserve.
Personal injury cases encompass a wide variety of accidents. Generally, plaintiffs have about two years to file a personal injury claim, but certain situations will allow for an extension, giving you some extra time. Our attorneys can assist you by identifying the filing period and submitting your claim on time. However, we can argue for more time if special circumstances prevented you from filing before the window closed. Some medical malpractice victims are unaware of their injuries until much later, but the time it took to discover the malpractice should not count against you. Similarly, children and individuals with a legal disability will also have extended timeframes to file their claims.
Call Rice Law today at (470) 287-3070 to receive a free, confidential case review with our Atlanta personal injury attorneys.
How Long Personal Injury Victims Have to File a Lawsuit in McDonough, GA
No one really emphasizes the ideal time to start a personal injury case. You might spend weeks or even months focusing on your recovery and adjusting to the changes in your life. Nevertheless, it is crucial to consult with our personal injury attorneys about your situation as soon as you can since there is a limited window to file your case in court. If you miss that deadline, you might lose the chance to pursue your claim altogether if an exception does not provide more time to file. However, the exceptions described below are for very particular circumstances, so do not apply them to your situation without speaking to our team first.
The General Limitations Period
You might be familiar with the official term for the limitations period for personal injury claims, which is the “statute of limitations.” According to O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, you have just two years from the date of the accident to file your claim in court. This timeframe typically starts right on the day of the incident, which means the clock will already be ticking by the time you consult with our attorneys. Personal injury cases require careful preparation, so it is best to reach out to our team as soon as you are able. Delaying your decision can limit your time to gather crucial evidence, evaluate damages, and complete the necessary legal paperwork to initiate your case.
In certain situations, our lawyers can help you pause the statute of limitations. This process, known as tolling, essentially stops the countdown on your limitation period. The length of time this pause lasts will depend on your specific circumstances. If you are nearing the deadline, consult our team immediately to see if tolling applies to your case.
Tolling for Legal Disabilities
Tolling applies to individuals with a legal disability at the time their cause of action arises. Arguably, the most common example of such a disability is being a minor. Minors lack many of the same legal rights as adults, preventing them from pursuing legal action independently. Children are not considered legally competent until they turn 18. Therefore, if you were involved in an accident while under 18, the two-year window to file a lawsuit would not start until you reach 18 under § 9-3-90(b). This gives you until age 20 to bring your case forward.
What should you do if you are under a different legal disability when and after an accident occurs? Legal disabilities can encompass a wide range of conditions that hinder an individual from pursuing legal action on their own. For instance, certain mental health conditions prevent accident victims from fully grasping their injuries or understanding their legal rights. According to § 9-3-90(a) and § 9-3-91, if a disability prevents a plaintiff from initiating a lawsuit and did not voluntarily bring about the condition, the time limit for filing a claim should be paused until the disability no longer prevents the victim from exercising their legal rights.
Tolling for Medical Malpractice
Certain types of medical malpractice can go unnoticed, such as when a doctor overlooks a condition that should have been diagnosed, leading the patient to mistakenly believe they are in good health. Unfortunately, some patients do not realize the error until after the two-year window to file a claim has passed. If you could not reasonably identify the malpractice in time, this time will typically not count against you. However, there’s a maximum timeframe of five years to file most medical malpractice claims, irrespective of when the injury is ultimately discovered, according to § 9-3-71(b).
Fortunately, the five-year statute of limitations does not apply in cases where a healthcare provider has left a foreign object inside someone’s body. Victims can pursue a claim for a foreign object, even if more than five years have passed since the incident. According to § 9-3-72, once the foreign object is discovered or should have been reasonably discovered, victims have one year from that date to file a claim.
Tolling for Out-of-State Defendants
Under § 9-3-94, the statute of limitations can also be paused if the liable party lives outside or leaves the state and cannot be served your lawsuit after trying to affect service via long-arm statutes. This often occurs when defendants want to avoid paying almost certain losses and possibly facing criminal charges.
Tolling for Fraud
Another scenario where tolling should be considered is in cases involving fraud. If a defendant has misled or deceived you into postponing your legal action until after the filing deadline, perhaps by using a false name or other deceptive information, you might have valid grounds to request that the statute of limitations be tolled under § 9-3-96.
Call Our McDonough, GA Personal Injury lawyers Today for Help
Call Rice Law at (470) 287-3070 to get a confidential case assessment free of charge with our personal injury attorneys.