Lawyers are responsible for advocating for their clients’ best interests. That means taking care of a number of duties such as investigating the allegations, conducting discovery, and filing court documents. One of the most important obligations a lawyer has is to avoid missing deadlines. In civil matters, a statute of limitations is a deadline set by law which gives an individual only a certain amount of time to file a lawsuit. Missing this deadline could destroy a person’s right to demand damages for his or her losses.
When attorneys fail to file before the statute of limitations expires, they harm their clients. This allows clients to seek compensation from the attorney by way of a legal malpractice lawsuit. If your attorney missed an important deadline that has jeopardized your rights, speak with the attorneys of Stanfield Bechtel Law.
Understanding Statutes of Limitations
Civil matters, such as breach of contract and personal injury lawsuits, are subject to filing deadlines that are known as statutes of limitations. These deadlines require that an aggrieved party or victim properly file their lawsuit within a certain amount of time. Every civil matter has its own statute of limitations. For example, a breach of contract has a statute of limitations of six years from the date of the breach, while a personal injury lawsuit has a general statute of limitations of two years. However, there are other subtleties to statutes of limitation and notice requirements. For instance, if your personal injury action is against a Town or the State of Connecticut, you need to give notice to a proper party in a time period that is far less than two years. If you have an underinsured motorist claim, in addition to a claim against the person who collided with your car, you need to give special notice in that circumstance. There are many sets of special circumstances that accompany the notion of a general statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations only requires that a lawsuit be filed by a certain date, not that it be completed by way of a settlement or judgment. Some lawsuits take years to work their way through the courts and may be subject to numerous delays, not to mention appeals. With respect to the statute of limitations, these timeframes are irrelevant. A lawyer only misses the statute of limitations if he or she fails to file the lawsuit by the deadline, or fails to give timely notice to parties involved as a target of your claims or lawsuit.
Are There Exceptions to the Statute of Limitations?
Some statutes of limitations have exceptions that apply in certain cases. For instance, in a Connecticut medical malpractice case, a patient generally has two years from the date he or she sustained the injury to file a lawsuit. However, there are circumstances in which a patient is unable to immediately discern that the doctor or hospital who provided the treatment made a mistake. If this occurs, the law allows the patient to file two years from the date when he or she should reasonably have discovered the injury. Please note this is a rarely allowed exception.
It should be stressed that neither a plaintiff nor an attorney should rely on these exceptions. Here are two reasons why:
- A statute of repose may apply: A statute of repose cuts off a plaintiff’s right to file a lawsuit even if the statute of limitations has not yet run. It is considered an absolute bar to filing a claim in court. There is a three-year statute of repose for Connecticut medical malpractice cases, for example.
- The parties may disagree on when the clock began to run: Some injuries can be traced to a certain date, like those sustained in car accidents. Others are up to disagreement. Consider the fact that a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case has two years from the date the injury should “reasonably” have been discovered. The defendant may argue that this date was much earlier, which could place the lawsuit filing deadline outside the statute of limitations.
Another important rule has to do with a 90 day extension allowed regarding medical malpractice actions, but proper documents must be filed with the Court in order to take advantage of the extension.
What Happens If the Statute of Limitations Expires?
Failing to file a lawsuit or give proper notice within the allotted time period, or statute of limitations, is a serious error that is typically fatal to the plaintiff’s case. Unless an exception applies to extend the filing deadline, the party named as a defendant can file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge will be bound to grant the motion and throw the case out of court. This means the plaintiff will be permanently deprived of being able to seek compensation and other judicial relief for his or her losses.
In Connecticut we have what we call an “Accidental Failure of Suit” statute, but it can only be utilized to save certain lawsuits and under certain conditions. Feel free to contact us to see if this may apply to your matter. However, once again this exception to the rule is used very sparingly by our courts.
How Missing a Deadline Becomes Malpractice
Lawsuits are rarely filed on the same day that a client retains an attorney. The attorney is obligated to apply due diligence to the case by investigating the allegations and building an argument. Also, the lawyer probably has other ongoing cases that need his or her attention. For this reason, if you have a potential civil claim against someone, you should not delay speaking with an attorney.
At the same time, attorneys have a duty to ensure that deadlines are not missed. When a client is retained long before the statute of limitations runs, the attorney should have plenty of time to do what is necessary to build a case and file the court papers. If it is discovered that the attorney allowed the statute of limitations to expire and there was no good reason for doing so, the plaintiff may have a claim for malpractice.
There are plenty of steps that an attorney can take to ensure the lawsuit is filed on time:
- Request an automatic extension, if available: Most civil claims do not allow for an automatic extension, but medical malpractice cases do. A plaintiff’s lawyer can request an automatic 90-day extension with the clerk of court to allow for reasonable inquiry into the facts. If a deadline is approaching, taking this step can preserve the plaintiff’s right to file.
- Use software to track statutes of limitations: There are software programs that lawyers can use to determine when a deadline may expire and therefore avoid a statute of limitations issue. Regardless, the attorney should adopt some protocol for tracking the deadline.
- Allow other attorneys to handle the case: The attorney hired to represent the client may need to pass it along to another lawyer working at the same firm. However, there are ethical rules that apply to these situations as well. The client needs to know about this and the attorney who handles the case must be competent to do so.
- Decline representation: Ultimately, if scheduling issues or a full caseload are going to prevent a lawyer from filing a lawsuit on time, then representation needs to be declined entirely. An attorney should do so in enough time to allow the client to speak with another law firm.
Since missing a statute of limitations deadline deprives the client of the right to seek legal relief in the courts, it is usually considered to be malpractice. However, the plaintiff must prove the following elements to prevail in a legal malpractice lawsuit:
- An attorney-client relationship existed when the malpractice occurred
- The attorney committed a wrongful act or omission, or acted in a manner that violates the standard of care owed to the client
- The attorney’s wrongful act or omission caused harm to the plaintiff
- The plaintiff suffered damages as a result
Has the Statute of Limitations in Your Case Expired? Talk to Our Team
Although missing a statute of limitations deadline is a strong indicator of legal malpractice, it is up to the plaintiff to make a case. That’s where our law firm comes in. If your lawyer missed the statute of limitations or a notice date and deprived you of the right to file a lawsuit and obtain compensation that you deserve, reach out to Stanfield Bechtel Law and offer our experience to review your matter and let you know how we can help.