How long do I have to sue? The New York Statue of Limitations

Cen­turies ago, there was no fixed time start a law­suit.  The Statute of Lim­i­ta­tions was enacted to pro­tect defen­dants against defend­ing old law­suits after a rea­son­able time has passed.  The law has spe­cific pro­vi­sions that pre­scribe how long a plain­tiff has before start­ing a law­suit. If you fail to com­mence your law­suit within the statute of lim­i­ta­tions, your case is gen­er­ally dismissed.

As a gen­eral rule, it is wise to begin a law­suit within at least six to eight months before the statute of lim­i­ta­tions expires. The rea­son for this is because the law is often quirky.  For exam­ple the law requires the plain­tiff to serve the defen­dant.  By allot­ting a six-eight month win­dow  before the statute of lim­i­ta­tions expires, it would be pos­si­ble to re-serve the defendant.

The spe­cific time peri­ods regard­ing the statue of lim­i­ta­tions can be found in the New York Civil Prac­tice Law and Pro­ce­dure Arti­cle 2.

If you have a ques­tion of how the statute of lim­i­ta­tions impacts your case, con­tact my law office by phone at 212–233-0666 or via email at fabramson@abramsonlegal.com

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