How long do I have to file a personal injury claim?
Emery Brett Ledger's Answer
Full Transcript
Below is an AI-generated transcript of the video answer.
One of the easiest ways to lose a good personal injury case is not bad facts,
not bad medicine, not even bad insurance. It is missing the deadline.
I'm Emery Ledger.
I've been handling injury cases for more than 28 years and I'm licensed in
California, Washington, and Texas. Statutes of limitation vary by state.
So how long do you have to file? In California,
the general deadline for most personal injury cases is two years from the date
of injury. In Texas,
most personal injury cases also have a two year statute of limitations.
In Washington, the general rule is three years.
Those are the big picture rules and they matter, but they are not the whole story.
Here is where people get burned. If a public entity may be involved,
the deadlines can get much shorter and much more technical. In California,
if you are making an injury claim against a government agency,
you generally have only six months from the injury to present a government claim.
And if the claim is denied,
you usually have six months from the mailing of the rejection to file suit.
In Washington,
claims against the state or a local government generally require a tort claim
first,
and you cannot file suit until 60 calendar days have passed after presentment.
The limitations period is told during that 60 day period,
but you still need to get the claim process right. And in Texas,
if a governmental unit is involved,
the Texas Tort Claims Act generally requires notice of the claim within six
months of the incident.
And some city charter provisions may impose their own notice requirements within
a period permitted by law. So the safe answer is simple.
Do not guess and do not assume the ordinary deadline applies.
The moment you think a city, county, school district,
state agency or other public entity may be involved,
treat it like the clock is shorter, not longer.
If you have questions about an injury case,
contact the Ledger Law Firm at 800-300-0001 or visit ledgerlaw.com.
Thank you.