General Time Limits for Filing Legal Claims in Nevada:
Written Contracts - 6 years; Oral Contracts
- 4 years; Medical Malpractice - 1 year from discovery, but not later than 3 years from injury; Negligent Accidents - 2 years;
Property Damage - 3 years; Products Liability - 4 years.
If you have been injured or have a legal claim and want to sue to recover for your damages, keep in mind that you
only have a certain amount of time in which to file your claim. The legal term for this time limit is the "statute of
limitations." Every state has a statute of limitations that applies specifically to defective product liability claims. No
matter where you bring your case, you should file your lawsuit as soon as possible, or at a minimum, make sure you know the
deadline. If you don't file your lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires, the judge will almost certainly throw
out your case, no matter how good your claim may be.
When
Does the Time Limit Start To Run?In some defective product
cases, determining when the time limit starts to run is fairly straightforward. For example, if your finger is sliced off
by a defective electric carving knife, and in your state the statute of limitations for product liability claims is two years,
you must bring your lawsuit within two years from the day you lost your finger. But some types of injuries are
more difficult to detect, and may not be discovered until months or even years after the injury actually occurs. For example,
if your lungs are injured by inhaling fumes from a defective chemical product you used, you may not discover your injury until
you develop lung inflammation many months or even years later. In such cases, the issue of when exactly the statute of limitations
(or time limit) began to run may be crucially important to whether you can still file a defective product claim or if you've
missed the deadline. For these trickier cases, the rules on when the time limit begins to run vary from state to
state. Here are the two most common rules:
When the Injury
Occurred
In some states, the statute of limitations begins
to run when the injury actually occurs. This can have harsh consequences if the injured person doesn't discover the injury
until after the statute of limitations has already expired.
When
the Injury is Discovered
In many states, the statute of limitations begins
to run only when the injured person discovers (or should have discovered) the injury. For example, let's say you were injured
by inhaling fumes from a defective chemical product and you discovered your injury years later when your doctor diagnosed
you with lung damage. In a state with an injury-discovery rule, the time limit on your defective product claim would begin
to run on the date of your lung damage diagnosis (that is, when you discovered your injury), not when you inhaled the noxious
fumes (in other words, when the injury actually occurred). In these states the statute of limitation can begin
to run when the injured person should have discovered the injury. The "should have discovered" part
of this rule means that the deadline may start to run even though you do not actually know you have been injured. For example,
in the lung injury hypothetical mentioned above, let's say you develop a terrible cough but delay going to a doctor for several
months. A court might decide that the statute of limitations started to run when you developed the cough, as opposed to when
you finally went to the doctor, because you should have discovered your injury when you first developed the serious cough.
These issues are likely to arise only if your claim is on the edge of being timely,
so the sooner you file your claim, the better.
Watch Out for
Manufacturer's Notifications
Getting a lawsuit dismissed because
the plaintiff didn't file in time is an easy out for a defendant. Because of this, defendants will pursue this defense whenever
possible.
Sometimes a manufacturer will deliberately notify
potential plaintiffs that a product is defective in order to start the clock ticking on the statute of limitations. However,
this notification often just gives the consumer some inkling that the product might be defective, without explicitly saying
so. For example, the manufacturer might send a letter offering to replace the product, which has the legal effect of starting
the clock ticking without actually informing consumers that they have a certain amount of time in which to bring a lawsuit.
For example, in the movie Erin Brockovich, the big company defendant sent a letter offering free medical care -- an
attempt to start the statute of limitations clock.
Watch Out
for Secondary Time Limits
Some states have additional time
limits that prevent consumers from suing companies for injuries caused by defective products manufactured or sold many years
ago. For example, a state might set an absolute time limit on defective product claims of twelve years from the
date on which a defective product is sold. If you miss this longer deadline, you are out of luck no matter when you discovered
or should have discovered your injury. These secondary time limits are called "statutes of repose." The
specifics of statutes of repose may vary from state to state, and not all states have them. Statutes of repose generally
establish a second, longer deadline in states that follow the injury-discovery rule (explained above).
Getting Help
Depending
on the nature or your case, it may be tricky to determine when you must file a defective product lawsuit or if you've missed
the deadline. If you need assistance, call an attorney right away.