What is the statute of limitations for a negligence claim in California?

Posted on February 6, 2023

Generally, the statute of limitations for a negligence claim in California is 2 years. However, certain types of cases may have a longer or a shorter timeframe. There are also circumstances that toll, or delay, the running of the time to file the claim. Lawsuits filed after the applicable statute of limitations has expired are likely to be dismissed by the court.

What is the statute of limitations for a California personal injury claim?

Most of the time in California, a personal injury lawsuit based on negligence has to be filed within 2 years of the date of the injury. This includes wrongful death claims and most lawsuits that stem from car accidents. The general rule has exceptions, though. The most important exceptions under California law are:

Type of negligence claim	California statute of limitations
Claims against a government agency	6 months1
Defamation	1 year2
Medical malpractice	The earliest of: 3 years after the date of the injury, or 1 year after you discover the injury
Veterinary malpractice	1 year4
Asbestos exposure	1 year from the discovery of the injury5
Legal malpractice	1 year from the discovery of the malpractice6
Personal property damage or trespass	3 years7
Breach of a written contract	4 years8
Wrongful birth	6 years9

The different time limitations are meant to reflect how important it is for you to start your lawsuit early.

For example, breach of a written contract has a 4-year statute of limitations because much of the evidence in the case will be in writing. Because these cases do not rely on the memories of the parties or witnesses, it is less important to start the case while memories are fresh. Breach of an oral contract, though, has a statute of limitations of 2 years.¹⁰ Even shorter is the one-year statute for defamation claims. These shorter windows are due to the fact that the details of what was said will be very important in these cases. Clear memories are essential for these claims.

Failing to file a negligence claim in court before the applicable statute of limitations has expired will likely doom the case. All that the defendant has to do to get the case dismissed is point to the statute of limitations. If there is not a valid exception for the late-filed claim, the court will throw it out for being time-barred. The substance of the lawsuit will never be considered. Even if you had a very strong case for compensation, your claim will still be dismissed.

If you have been hurt by someone else’s negligence or wrongful conduct, you need to comply with these filing deadlines. The best way to make sure that your claim is not thrown out by California courts for being time-barred is to get the legal advice of a personal injury attorney from a reputable law firm.

What does “tolling” the statute mean?

“Tolling” the statute of limitations means to delay it. There are several circumstances that can toll the running of the statute. Most of them prevent the statute of limitations from beginning to run until something happens. Some of them will stop the progress of the statute temporarily.

Some of the most common situations that will toll the statute of limitations in California include:

• underage victims,
• undiscovered injuries, and
• victims who are legally insane.

Underage victims

In California, anyone who is under the age of 18 legally lacks the capacity to make a decision on their own behalf. Without that legal capacity, they do not have the ability to file a lawsuit if they have been hurt. To protect their legal right to compensation, California personal injury law tolls the statute of limitations until minors turn 18 years old.

There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule.

Medical malpractice claims involving a victim who was underage have to be initiated within 3 years of the malpractice, or, if the victim was under 6 at the time of the injury, before the child turns 8 years old.

If the negligent acts produced injuries before the child was born, the wrongful birth case has to be started within 6 years of the child’s birth.

Delayed discovery of injuries

The time limits of California’s statute of limitations will also get tolled for delayed discovery of your injuries. This “discovery rule” is triggered if:

• you did not discover or know of facts that would have caused a reasonable person to think that they had been hurt by someone else’s negligence or wrongful act, or
• you did not discover, and a reasonable and diligent investigation would not have discovered, the factual basis for your cause of action.¹¹

In either of these situations, the limitations period does not begin to run until you discover your injuries, or reasonably should have discovered them. This lets you recover compensation for injuries that are latent or only arise years after the fact. It also keeps defendants from getting away with their misconduct simply because the injuries they caused were not readily apparent.

Just like with underage victims, though, there is another exception for medical malpractice cases. In the state of California, all medical malpractice claims have to be filed within the earlier of:

• Three years after the date of the injury, or
• One year after you discover, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury.¹²

Why is there a statute of limitations?

The statute of limitations exists to make lawsuits fairer. By letting the defendant in the personal injury case easily dismiss the legal claims if they were filed outside of the allotted amount of time, the statute:

• forces you to invoke your rights early,
• prevents documentary evidence from being lost, destroyed, or thrown away in the normal course of business,
• ensures that the memories of the parties and any witnesses are sharp and reliable,
• increases the likelihood that important people are still around or alive, and
• lets defendants relax, or repose, once the statute of limitations has expired.

---