New Jersey Personal Injury Laws and Statutes of Limitations

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in New Jersey?

You'll find the answer to that question in one of New Jersey's personal injury "statutes of limitations," laws that put a deadline on your time to file a case in court. We begin with the state's two-year general rule. Then we'll review some other statutes of limitations that might apply, depending on the nature of your claim.

The General Rule: Two Years From the Date You Were Injured

For most New Jersey personal injury cases, you have two years to file your lawsuit. (N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-2(a) (2024).) The clock probably starts on the date you were injured. But in some circumstances (see below) the time might be extended, giving you longer to file.

Unless the injuries cause death, New Jersey's two-year general rule covers lawsuits involving:

• car accidents
• dangerous properties, called "premises liability" suits
• dangerous or defective products, also known as "product liability" actions
• dog bites
• injuries intentionally caused by an assault and battery or false imprisonment, and
• medical malpractice.

Other Personal Injury Statutes of Limitations

New Jersey's general rule isn't a "one-size-fits-all" statute of limitations. Here are some others that might apply.

Defamation of character. Someone makes an untrue statement of fact about you that harms your standing in the community. You might have a claim for defamation. Defamatory statements come in two varieties: libel (written defamation) and slander (spoken defamation). If you decide to sue, you must act quickly. You have just one year, likely starting on the date the defamatory statement was first made, to file your case. (N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-3 (2024).)

Wrongful death lawsuits. When personal injuries cause death, the victim's surviving relatives might decide to sue for wrongful death damages. A New Jersey wrongful death case must be filed within two years after the date of death. (N.J. Stat. § 2A:31-3 (2024).)

There's an important exception to this two-year deadline. When the death results from murder, aggravated manslaughter, or manslaughter, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed at any time. In other words, there's no filing deadline when death follows from these crimes.

Can New Jersey's Statutes of Limitations Deadline Be Extended?

Sometimes, New Jersey law extends the lawsuit filing deadline, giving you more time to sue. Generally speaking, courts are reluctant to carve out exceptions to statutes of limitations. If you think one of these examples might apply in your case, seek advice from experienced New Jersey counsel.

Defendant is absent from New Jersey. Suppose the defendant lives outside of New Jersey when you're injured. Or after you're hurt, the defendant flees from the state to avoid your lawsuit. Will these tactics frustrate your plans to sue? New Jersey law tries to make sure they don't.

When the defendant's absence prevents you from getting "service of process" on them, the period they're out of state doesn't count against your filing deadline. (N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-22 (2024).) Ask your lawyer to fill you in on the finer points of serving an absent defendant.

Injured person is legally disabled. A person who's legally disabled can't take care of their own legal affairs without help, usually from a parent or legal guardian. For statute of limitations purposes, New Jersey recognizes as legally disabled those who are:

• younger than 18 years old, or
• mentally incapacitated to such a degree that they don't understand legal proceedings or they're not able to file a lawsuit on their own.

N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-21 (2024) gives an injured person who's legally disabled more time to file a personal injury case. The statute of limitations doesn't begin to run until their disability ends, meaning:

• they turn 18, or
• their mental incapacity resolves so they can handle their own legal matters.

New Jersey's discovery rule. In most cases, the statute of limitations starts running on the date a personal injury happens. Why? Because pain and other symptoms usually let you know right away that something's wrong, putting you on notice that you might have a legal claim.

But what happens when you don't immediately know you've been hurt? What if it takes you months, or even years, to discover an injury? Sound far fetched? Consider this example.

Jane had abdominal surgery on July 15, 2019. After it was done, Jane's doctor reported that the surgery was a success. For almost five years, Jane felt fine. On March 1, 2024, she saw her family doctor complaining of abdominal pain. Jane's doctor ordered an X-ray that revealed the source of her pain: A surgical instrument carelessly left inside her during the surgery years earlier.

If New Jersey's two-year lawsuit deadline started on the date Jane was injured—July 15, 2019—the last date she could sue for medical malpractice would be July 15, 2021. This outcome would be unfair, given that Jane had no idea she'd been injured until almost three years later.

To help minimize this unfairness, New Jersey has adopted the "discovery rule." When you don't know you've been injured, and there's no reasonable way you could have discovered it even if you'd diligently looked, the statute of limitations doesn't run from the date of your injury. Instead, it starts on the earlier of:

• the date you know you have a potential legal claim, or
• the date you should have known, exercising reasonable care, that you had a potential legal claim.

(See Lopez v. Swyer, 62 N.J. 267, 273-74 (1973).)

What If I Miss the New Jersey Statute of Limitations Deadline?

Miss the filing deadline and, unless an extension gives you more time, your legal claim is dead. Nothing you do will bring it back to life. You've forever lost the right to collect compensation ("damages") for your injuries. Any lawsuit you try to file will be dismissed. The defendant won't settle with you because as far as New Jersey is concerned, there's nothing to settle. You have no legal claim.