What is the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations in New Jersey

Whether you've been involved in a slip-and-fall, a traffic accident, or any other incident where someone else's conduct caused you harm, you could be thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit in New Jersey's civil court system. If so, it's crucial to understand and comply with the statute of limitations for this type of case. (In case you're not fluent in "legalese," a statute of limitations is a law that sets a strictly-enforced time limit on your right to file a lawsuit in court.)

In this article, we'll cover the details of New Jersey's personal injury statute of limitations, explain why the deadline is so important, and summarize a few instances when the filing period might be extended.

Two Years is the Standard Time Limit for New Jersey Personal Injury Lawsuits

The New Jersey personal injury statute of limitations is spelled out at New Jersey Statutes section 2A:14-2, which says: "Every action at law for an injury to the person caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default of any person within this State shall be commenced within two years next after the cause of any such action shall have accrued."

In plain English, this law sets a two-year deadline for the filing of almost all conceivable types of personal injury lawsuits, whether the case is driven by the liability principle of "negligence" (which applies to most accidents) or intentional tort (which applies to civil assault and battery and other purposeful conduct).

So, when another person's careless or intentional act causes you injury, and you want to ask New Jersey's courts for a civil remedy (damages) for your losses, you have two years to get the initial documentation (the "complaint" and other required paperwork) filed in court, starting from the date of the underlying accident.

What If You Miss the Filing Deadline?

If more than two years have passed since the underlying accident, but you try to file your personal injury lawsuit anyway, the defendant (the person you're trying to sue) will almost certainly file a "motion to dismiss" and point this fact out to the court. And unless a rare exception entitles you to extra time (more details on these exceptions later), the court will summarily dismiss your case. Once that happens, you've lost your right to ask a court to award you damages for your injuries, no matter how significant they might be, and no matter how obvious the defendant's liability.

New Jersey's personal injury statute of limitations is obviously pivotal if you want to take your injury case to court via a formal lawsuit, but the filing deadline set by this law is also crucial to your position in personal injury settlement negotiations with the defendant and his or her insurance company. If the other side knows that the two-year deadline has passed, you'll have lost all your negotiating leverage, making "I'll see you in court" the very definition of an empty threat.

Exceptions to the New Jersey Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

New Jersey has identified a number of different scenarios that might delay the running of the statute of limitations "clock," or pause the clock after it has started to run, effectively extending the filing deadline. Here are some examples of circumstances that are likely to modify the standard timeline:

• If the injured person, at the time of the underlying accident, is under 18 years of age or has a mental disability that prevents him or her from understanding his/her legal rights or commencing a legal action, then once the person turns 18 or re-gains the proper mental capacity, he or she will be entitled to the full two years to get their personal injury lawsuit filed. (New Jersey Statutes section 2A:14-21.)
• If the person who is allegedly responsible for the plaintiff's injuries leaves the state of New Jersey at some point after the underlying accident, but before the lawsuit can be filed, the time of absence probably won't be counted as part of the two years. But in this situation, in order to get the filing deadline extended, the plaintiff (or the plaintiff's attorney) will likely need to file an affidavit saying that, after diligent inquiry and effort, "service of process" on the absent defendant isn't possible. (New Jersey Statutes section 2A:14-22.)

If you have questions about how the New Jersey statute of limitations applies to your personal injury case -- especially if the deadline is fast-approaching or has already passed -- it may be time to discuss your situation with an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney.