Statute of Limitations

[00:00:08.00] The deadline to bring a personal injury claim in general [00:00:11.04] in the state of Texas is 2 years. [00:00:13.15] That's 2 years from the date of the accident. [00:00:16.19] There are some limited exceptions to that, [00:00:18.15] but in general, if you're involved in some type of a personal injury incident, [00:00:23.08] your deadline to file a lawsuit is 2 years. [00:00:25.22] Now, I always tell people, please don't wait the full time. [00:00:29.09] Come to us early. [00:00:30.12] It's always good to start working on a case early, [00:00:33.15] but the deadline to actually file a lawsuit is 2 years. [00:00:37.03] Now, there can be some exceptions to that. [00:00:39.02] The main one is in cases that involve the government. [00:00:43.01] When I say that, I don't just mean the federal government. [00:00:45.23] I particularly mean state government. [00:00:48.11] If you live here in the state of Texas, you may be involved in an accident [00:00:52.03] or an incident that involves the state government or the county or the city. [00:00:57.02] That can even include things like a local water district, [00:01:02.19] the city trash service, the police. [00:01:05.19] There's all kinds of governmental entities. [00:01:07.20] It also includes school districts, public school districts. [00:01:11.09] A lot of times people even call they've had an incident at, say, a hospital, [00:01:15.04] like UT Southwestern in Dallas, that's a governmental hospital. [00:01:19.19] Or in Fort Worth, John Peter Smith Hospital. [00:01:23.10] In Dallas, Parkland Hospital, those are county hospitals. [00:01:26.21] There are different deadlines [00:01:28.10] if your incident involves some governmental entity. [00:01:31.21] Generally, that deadline is 6 months, not to file a lawsuit, [00:01:36.01] but we have to send a very formal written notice of claim [00:01:39.13] to that governmental entity within 6 months of the incident. [00:01:43.14] So we always tell our clients, if you've been involved in an accident [00:01:46.12] and it involves any form of government, state or local, [00:01:51.02] you need to take action very quickly [00:01:52.18] because you only have 6 months to send notice. [00:01:55.13] In some situations, cities can even shorten that notice in their charter. [00:02:00.03] We've seen notice requirements of as little as 30 days, [00:02:03.06] which is almost no time at all. [00:02:05.12] So we encourage our clients, if you're involved in a claim [00:02:08.06] that in any way involves a city, [00:02:10.01] then you need to reach out to a lawyer immediately [00:02:12.03] because the deadline could be a short as 30 days. [00:02:14.21] Again, not to file a lawsuit, but to send formal notice of the claim to the city. [00:02:19.22] Because if you don't send notice in time, your case can get thrown out. [00:02:23.14] Another exception that we see on deadlines to file lawsuits [00:02:26.13] is those involving minors. [00:02:28.04] If your kid is involved in a lawsuit, [00:02:30.04] normally they have until their 20th birthday to bring a claim. [00:02:34.01] It's 2 years after they turn 18. [00:02:37.02] But there are exceptions to that. [00:02:38.14] Especially in cases that involve medical malpractice, medical errors. [00:02:42.14] That deadline can be much, much shorter. [00:02:44.22] Sometimes your 2-year deadline can be extended for various things, [00:02:48.08] but there can be an outside limit of 10 years on certain types of claims. [00:02:52.16] Maybe if it involves like a defect to your home that maybe you didn't know about [00:02:58.06] during the first 2 years. [00:02:59.22] Sometimes people don't know about their injury [00:03:01.19] until further down the road if it involves maybe some type of exposure [00:03:05.21] to a chemical or something like that. [00:03:08.18] The law can be very confusing. [00:03:11.17] You just need to make sure that you're reaching out to a lawyer [00:03:14.11] who's board-certified [00:03:16.03] in the area of the law to get your questions answered.