Statute of Limitations -- Defined

• Statutes of Limitations are legal time limits upon bringing a lawsuit. Generally these limitations are laws passed through the legislature, though the court occasionally uses the equitable doctrine of laches to deny a claim when brought after an unreasonable delay.
  
  

Purpose of Statutes of Limitation

• Recognizing that evidence and memories may become stale over time, and that witnesses may become unavailable, the statutes of limitation simply promote diligent prosecution of claims.
  
  

Affirmative Defense

• The statute of limitations will not automatically bar a claim but must be asserted by the defendant as an affirmative defense at the time the claim is brought. Failure to assert the defense, or provide sufficient evidence to establish the defense, will waive it.
  
  

Common problems

• Typically the statute of limitations begins running on the date when the claim first arose, that is, when the injury occurred or was discovered. This tends to be a very simple prospect but in some cases can prove extremely difficult. For instance, in a medical malpractice action the injury could be deemed to have occurred on the date of a given surgical action, even though the pain or effects of the injury did not occur for several weeks or even months later.
  
  

Limitations with Notice Periods

• Most limitation are straightforward, establishing an absolute length of time in which to bring a claim. Others, though, impose notice periods, requiring the person bringing the suit not only to do so before the limitations period has expired but also to give notice to the defendant of the intent to bring the suit. The reason for this notice period is ostensibly to allow the defendant the opportunity to investigate the claim and potentially settle the matter without ever going to court. The downside is that in some instances there are two limitation periods placed within the same law.
  
  

Limitations with Notice Period - Example

• In Michigan, a person bringing a medical malpractice action generally must do so within six years but before the claim can be filed the person filing the claim is required to give six months notice to the defendant. This seems like a harmless requirement but can become a problem, especially when notice is not given until five years, six months and one day have run. Because the six-month notice requirement would now prevent filing the claim until six years and one day have run, the claim would be barred because it would not have been filed within the six years.
  
  

Common Limitations and a Word of Caution

• Some common limitations periods include six years for contract actions, though this depends on the nature of the contract, as sales contracts have different limitations than employment contracts. Actions for recovery or possession of property have a 15-year limitation, as do actions under mortgage or land contract. Personal injury actions generally have a three-year limitation though there are many exceptions to this.
  
  Though there are general limitations periods, there are exceptions to every rule and these vary wildly. If you have a claim that you are planning to bring you should contact an attorney immediately for more information.