Understanding How the New York Statutes of Limitation Apply to Your Personal Injury
When you suffer a serious injury due to the negligence of another person or entity, it is important to realize that there is a clock ticking on how much time you have to file a legal claim for your injury. This ticking clock is the legally defined statute of limitations that applies to your particular situation.
The statutes of limitations vary for different claims, and also vary depending in which state you received your injury. Governor Cuomo recently issued an executive order that temporarily suspended certain statutes of limitations due to the disaster emergency of Superstorm Sandy.
In New York, most personal injury cases such as those arising out of a car accident, or a slip and fall at the mall, have a three-year statute of limitations. After the three years run out, you may be barred from bringing an action to recover compensation for the damages you incurred.
Other statutes of limitation in New York for injury include the following:
- Medical malpractice: Your claim must be filed within two years and six months after the date of the act that caused the injury. Actions based on insertion of a foreign object have a one year statute of limitations.
- Legal malpractice: Three years
- Libel or Slander: One year
- Property damage: Three years
- Trespass: Three years
- Wrongful death: Two years from date of death
- Intentional torts (such as assault and battery): One year
- Product liability: If you are injured by a product, generally you have three years from the date of injury to file a claim.
