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Our New Jersey lawyers have over sixty years of combined experience

by David H. Sternlieb, Esquire

In our continuing series of articles intended to inform the community of useful legal information, this month, we are discussing the little known, but extremely important legal deadlines that often determine whether or not someone may make a claim when they or a family member has been injured. Here are some basic, but very important points everyone should know about the statute of limitations and how their rights may be affected.

What kind of legal deadlines are there for personal injury claims?

In New Jersey, if you have been injured on the job, in an accident, because of medical malpractice, or in a number of other circumstances, there is a strictly enforced legal deadline for bringing a claim. This deadline is known as the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the period of time the law allows for an injured party or their legal representative to prosecute certain kinds of claims. If the deadline at the end of the statute of limitations passes without the correct filing of the particular claim or lawsuit, the injured person will be prohibited from ever bringing such a claim. In essence, if the statute of limitations expires without the proper claim or lawsuit being filed, the injured person will be deprived of their right to try to recover monetary compensation for their injuries.

When does the statute of limitations period start, and when does it expire?

Ordinarily, the statute of limitations begins on the date that you are injured. For personal injuries caused by the careless, negligent, or intentional actions of others, generally speaking, the period to bring such a claim in New Jersey is two years. There are some exceptions to this general rule, some of which will be discussed in this article. For instance, an injured child's statute of limitations period will end on the child's twentieth birthday.

What are examples of some common statutes of limitations?

Motor Vehicle Accidents:
There are some very common situations that people often overlook where there is a statute of limitations that may have an impact on their rights and on their lives. For example, if you are injured because of someone else's negligent or careless operation of a motor vehicle like an automobile, truck, motorcycle, or bus, there is a two year statute of limitations during which you must file your claim in court. If you or your lawyer files your lawsuit even one day later than the second anniversary of the motor vehicle accident, your case will be dismissed as untimely and beyond the statute of limitations deadline. Additionally, if you wait to close to the statute of limitations deadline to find and hire a lawyer, you may have difficulty hiring an attorney to file your case because lawyers are uncomfortable filing lawsuits without having the opportunity to first thoroughly investigate the merits of their client's claims.

Worker's Compensation Claims:
Another application of the statute of limitations includes a two year deadline to bring worker's compensation claims. Workers compensation claims generally must be filed within two years from the date on which the worker is injured while in the course of performing his job or while at work. Failure to file a workers compensation claim petition within two years of becoming injured at work may deprive the injured worker of very valuable medical and disability income benefits as well as a lump sum award for the permanent effects of such a work-related injury. Failure to timely file a worker's compensation claim may also prohibit the injured worker from obtaining future medical care, disability income, and other benefits in the event their injury should become worse or require further treatment.

Medical Malpractice:
Medical malpractice occurs when a physician, hospital, or any other healthcare services provider carelessly or negligently causes a patient to suffer injury or death because of something the healthcare provider did, should have done, or should not have done under the particular circumstances. In New Jersey, injuries or death caused by medical malpractice is also governed by the two year statute of limitations period. Since the medical issues involved in these kinds of cases are often very complicated and not within the expertise of the ordinary patient or their family members, the law allows, under some circumstances, flexibility in determining the statute of limitations for certain medical malpractice claims. When under certain circumstances it is not immediately apparent to the patient or their family members that medical malpractice has occurred because the doctors failed to disclose this to them or for some other good reasons, the statute of limitations will start on the date that the patient or their representative knew or should have known through reasonable investigation or inquiry that they have a medical malpractice claim. Some different rules apply to children who have
been the victim of medical malpractice. If a child is injured by a healthcare provider's negligence or carelessness, the injured child's statute of limitations period will end two years following the child's eighteenth birthday, or, when the child turns twenty years old. However, any claims that the child's parents may have for their own damages suffered as a consequence of the child's injuries will have to be filed within two years from the date of the injury or date that the parents knew or should have known that their child was injured because of the medical malpractice. An oversight in timely filing a parents claim for their own losses and financial damages suffered because of a catastrophically
injured child can have tragic consequences.

Slips, Falls, and Premises Liability:
Injuries suffered from slips, falls, negligent security, or because of anything else negligently done or not done to make certain premises reasonably safe under the circumstances are all governed by the two year statute of limitations as well.

Defective Products Causing Serious Injuries:
If someone is injured because of any kind of consumer product that is improperly or defectively designed, packaged, labeled, marketed or manufactured, there are laws that allow the injured consumer to hold the manufacturers, distributers, and sellers of these products accountable for such injuries. In New Jersey, such claims, known as products liability cases, must generally be filed within 2 years from the date of the injury, or within 2 years of the date that the injured person knew or should have known of a connection between their injury and the defective product, whichever is later. These connections are sometimes made years after exposures to toxic chemicals or substances like asbestos where illnesses might take years to manifest themselves.

The Bottom Line:
Never sleep on your rights. If you or a family member has suffered an injury at work or because of the conduct of another party, the safest thing to do is to confer with an experienced attorney about the legal remedies available as well as the strictly enforced statute of limitations period during which the claim must be filed. Remember to contact the attorney as soon after the date of injury as possible to allow the attorney a chance to thoroughly investigate the claim and act accordingly. There are many more situations than the examples provided in this article where the law imposes strictly enforced periods of time for notices, claims, and pleadings to be filed. Therefore, if you ever have a legal question or a claim of your own, you should consult directly with an experienced attorney to answer all of your concerns.