Whether your potential legal claim stems from a slip and fall, a traffic accident, or any other incident where someone else's conduct caused you harm, you might be thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit in New York's civil courts. If so, it's crucial that you comply with the statute of limitations for this type of case. (A little background for those who may not be fluent in "legalese": a statute of limitations is a law that puts a time limit on your right to file a lawsuit in court.)
The New York personal injury statute of limitations is spelled out at New York Civil Practice Law & Rules section 214, which says that "an action to recover damages for a personal injury" must be "commenced" within three years.
So, after another person's careless or intentional act causes you injury, and you want to ask New York's courts for a civil remedy (damages) for your losses, you have three years to get the initial documentation (the "complaint" and other required paperwork) filed in court, and the "clock" typically starts on the date of the underlying accident or incident that caused the injuries.
New York's three-year deadline applies to 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).
If more than three 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 York'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 three-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.
New York 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 three-year filing deadline. Here are some examples of circumstances that are likely to modify the standard timeline:
If you have questions about how the New York statute of limitations applies to your personal injury case—especially if the deadline is fast-approaching—it may be time to discuss your situation with an experienced New York personal injury attorney.