If you have sustained injuries and losses in a motor vehicle collision, slip-and-fall case, or any other accident in which someone else was at fault, you might be considering whether to file a personal injury claim in Massachusetts. If you are in this situation, you must understand the personal injury statute of limitations in Massachusetts. If you do not adhere to this deadline, you could lose your right to file a lawsuit and recover damages for your losses. Scroll down to learn more.
What Is the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations in Massachusetts?
The personal injury statute of limitations in Massachusetts is found in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A. Under this law, people have three years to file personal injury lawsuits following the date of their injury accidents. This means that when someone else acts negligently or intentionally causes you to be injured, you have a deadline of three years to file a civil complaint in court. The deadline clock begins running on the date of the accident in which you were injured.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline for Filing a Claim?
If you wait too long to file a personal injury lawsuit but go ahead and attempt to file a complaint after three or more years have passed, the defendant will likely file a motion to dismiss your lawsuit with the court based on your missing the filing deadline. Unless an exception exists, your case will then be dismissed by the judge. This means that your case is time-barred, and you will not be able to pursue legal remedies and damages for your injuries regardless of their severity.
This makes it very important for you to speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after you have been injured. You do not want to wait until the deadline is approaching. If you miss the deadline, you might not have a remedy available to you. Even if you file a lawsuit right before the deadline, critical evidence to support your claim might have been lost over the intervening years since your accident.
Exceptions to the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations in Massachusetts
Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 7, a few limited exceptions to the statute of limitations are listed. Under this law, the statute of limitations clock will be tolled or paused for minors and people who are mentally incapacitated and will not begin to run until the minors turn age 18 or the incapacitated person is mentally restored. For a minor who is injured because of the negligent or intentional actions of someone else, this means that they will have until their 21st birthday to file a personal injury lawsuit. An incapacitated person will have three years after they are mentally restored to file a claim.
Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 9, another exception exists when the defendant lives outside of Massachusetts. Any period during which the defendant is absent from the state will be excluded from the limitations period. For example, if the defendant moves to Pennsylvania for six months after the accident before returning to Massachusetts, those six months will not count toward the limitations period.
A final exception is found in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 12. Under this law, if the defendant fraudulently concealed his or her actions or took steps to keep you from understanding your right to file a lawsuit against him or her, the deadline clock will be tolled while the fraud was ongoing until you discovered it.
Supreme Court Tolling of the Statute of Limitations
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an order tolling the statutes of limitations for many different types of cases from March 17, 2020, to June 30, 2020. This was in response to the pandemic and reflected the fact that the courts were largely closed during this period. This means that cases that involve accidents that happened before and during this period will need to have 106 days added to their deadline clocks to determine when they must be filed.
Talk to an Experienced Injury Attorney
If you have been injured in an accident that was caused by someone else, you should speak with a lawyer as soon as possible. Your attorney can help you understand the deadline for filing your case and the legal remedies that might be available. Contact Ellis & Associates today by calling 800-MR-ELLIS or sending us a message online.