South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
A statute of limitations is a statutory deadline on the amount of time a person has to file a lawsuit. These time limits are present in many criminal proceedings, but in civil actions as well.
A personal injury victim who tries to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired for that particular type of claim will almost certainly have their claim dismissed. That means no matter how legitimate the claim, if it’s not filed timely, there will be no damage recovery.
Florida has a two-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice acts, which is half the normal four years for other types of personal injury lawsuits. There is, however, a seven-year maximum statute of repose cap in cases that involve fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation by a defendant health care provider. The only other exception is if the claimant is a minor younger than the age of 8, in which case the seven-year cap won’t affect the child’s ability to bring the action before his or her eighth birthday. Continue reading →