Atlanta Accident Law Library
Time Limits for Filing Georgia Cases (Statute of Limitations)
If you're thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit, you should know that you have only a limited time in which to make up your mind. Georgia, like all states, has a set of laws that give deadlines for filing specific types of personal injury claims. (Similar laws apply to some crimes.) These laws are called statutes of limitations. If you miss the deadline that applies to you, you can't sue -- period. No matter how good your case is, you're out of time. Georgia has relatively restrictive statutes of limitations.
Statutes of Limitations: Exceptions
Most statutes of limitations start running on the date of the injury. When the injury is caused by a dramatic event such as a car wreck, that system makes sense. But in some cases, injuries aren't apparent right away. For example, you may hire an accountant to do your taxes, but discover a few years later that he did such a bad job that you're accused of tax fraud. For situations like this, the law includes a discovery rule, which says the statute of limitations doesn't start until the injury is discovered.
There are also situations where the statute of limitations can't start right away because the victim is incapacitated in some way. The most common example is when the victim is a minor under 18, but victims might also be mentally incapacitated because of an illness or involved in legal proceedings that take precedent. When this is the case, the statute of limitation is said to be tolled, meaning the clock is stopped, until the situation is resolved. For minors, statutes of limitations are tolled until they turn 18, except in medical malpractice cases. (There will be more about those in the next section.)
If you're suing the State of Georgia or a municipality -- a city, town or county -- your time limit gets shorter, not longer. That's because of laws requiring an ante litem notice, which is a written notice informing a government agency that you intend to sue it for hurting you. If you want to sue a municipal corporation in Georgia, you must tell the governing authority of the agency in writing. You must explain the severity, time and place of the injury, as well as explaining how the agency's negligence caused your injury. The agency has 30 days to respond, but any response it makes won't bar stop you from making a claim in court, unless you can settle the case. The statute of limitations that applies won't run while government authorities are considering your case.
If you want to sue the State of Georgia, the rules are similar -- but much more complex. You have 12 months from the date when your injury was discovered (or should have been discovered) to give notice in writing to the correct person or department at the agency you're suing, via first-class mail. You must also notify the Risk Management Department of the state's Department of Administrative Services, using certified mail, statutory overnight delivery with return receipt requested, or personal delivery with a written receipt. Your written notice should say which agency you're suing; the basis of your claim; the time and place of the event; the nature and amount of your loss; and the acts or omissions that caused your loss. You cannot file your suit until the Department of Administrative Services denies your claim or lets it go unanswered for 90 days. Then, you must attach a copy of the claim, plus the receipt showing you mailed or delivered it correctly, to your complaint.
As you can see, suing a Georgia government agency is very complicated. Even an honest mistake may derail the process, causing you to miss the deadline to give an ante litem notice. If you're considering suing a Georgia municipality or the state, you should call an attorney as soon as possible to make sure your rights are secure.
You may also have signed a contract that gives you an even shorter statute of limitations. This might be the case at a hospital, a shooting range or a rental car company. It's hard to get a court to overturn these types of contract clauses.
Statutes of Limitations: Types of Cases
In Georgia, the basic statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date of the injury, or two years from the date you discovered the injury. This applies to all personal injury claims based on negligence, which is a legal name for extreme carelessness. Claims arising from car accidents or slip-and-fall accidents at stores, to name common examples, would be based on negligence.
A accidental death claim is also subject to a two-year deadline. A accidental death is any death that occurred because someone broke the law or otherwise breached their legal duties. Libel, slander, fraud and intentional torts -- deliberate acts that caused an injury -- have a one-year statute of limitations.
If you're suing because you were hurt by a defective product, you have a product liability lawsuit. The statute of limitations for product liability in Georgia is two years from date of injury (or date of discovery), or one year after a death. However, Georgia confuses the issue by having a statute of repose for products liability cases as well. A statute of repose also limits when you may file a lawsuit, but it starts running right after the statute is passed into law. If you're injured after the statute of repose runs out, you can't sue, no matter how soon you file your lawsuit. In Georgia, the statute of repose on product liability is ten years unless the product caused death or a birth defect, the manufacturer offered a dangerous product willfully or wantonly, or your case alleges only a failure to warn of the dangers.
Complex rules apply to medical malpractice cases -- cases where the victim was hurt by substandard medical care. Adults have two years from the date of their injury to bring a case. Victims cannot bring a case at all after five years from the date of the medical care at issue. When a child under age five is a victim, the two-year statute of limitations starts on the child's fifth birthday. And the statute of repose for a minor under age five doesn't end until the minor's tenth birthday. All ages have a year from the date of discovery to bring a claim based on an object left in the body after surgery.
Statutes of limitations are complicated, and they change frequently because lawsuits are a politically charged issue. Most people involved in serious accidents could make several different legal claims, all of which might have different time limits. If you're not sure which laws apply to your accident, you should call a personal injury lawyer for help. But do it quickly; your time could be running out.
Don't Miss The Deadline -- Call Stokes & Kopitsky For Help
If you're thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit in Georgia, but you're concerned about the statute of limitations, the law firm of Stokes & Kopitsky can help. Based in Atlanta, our firm has helped seriously injured Georgians get the money they need for more than 30 years. We're proud to say that we've won millions for our clients, money that can help pay medical bills and other accident-related costs, including lost wages from missed days of work. And we always offer free, confidential case evaluations, at no further obligation to you. To set up your free consultation, call us today at 1-800-552-9200, or (404) 892-0011 in metro Atlanta, or fill out our consultation form online.
How to Contact Atlanta Injury Attorneys
Stokes & Kopitsky, P.A.
If you've been injured in a Georgia accident because of another person's fault - even if you were also at fault - we can help you. We're Atlanta injury lawyers Gregory M. Stokes and Neil J. Kopitsky, and we have over 30 years of experience helping injured people and their families get justice and payment when they are involved in a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, slip and fall, or workplace accident. We've recovered millions of dollars in payments for our clients in Atlanta accident, Atlanta accidental death cases, and Georgia injury or death cases.
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