If you’re a resident of Illinois who has been injured or has lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to monetary compensation; a personal injury attorney can help. Personal injury law is an umbrella term that covers many specific areas of law including medical malpractice, product liability, vehicle accidents, elder abuse, slip and falls, dog bites, and more. Personal injury lawyers fight to get victims the compensation they need and deserve to help with the medical bills, pain, and suffering they have endured due to someone else’s negligent behavior. One very common term you will hear when reading about personal injury law is “statute of limitations,” which is the time period you have to take legal action following an injury or death due to negligence.
Illinois Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
In Illinois, a personal injury case must be filed within two years of the date of the act that caused the injury. This is not a lot of time. In fact, Illinois is one of only a few of the states with a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury cases.
Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice in Illinois
In Illinois, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is also short; the patient has up to two years from the date the patient knew or should have known of the injury to file a lawsuit against any medical professional. Keep in mind that when surgical mistakes are made and you may not realize that harm was done until years after the surgery or other medical treatment. In some cases, there are exceptions to the law that may allow you to file suit even after the two year period has expired. An experienced medical malpractice attorney in Illinois can advise you on whether or not you are still eligible to receive compensation for your pain and suffering.
Statute of Limitations for Defective Products in Illinois
If you have been injured due to a defective product or if a loved one was killed because a product was faulty, whether that be a car, medical device, kitchen appliance or prescription drug, you have only two years from the date the injury occurred to file legal action. With product liability claims involving defective medical devices, even if the device was implanted many years ago you may still be eligible for compensation if you were not aware and could not reasonably have known that the device caused injury until a later date.
Because of the complexity of the rules surrounding statutes of limitations in Illinois and because each case varies, it’s best to consult an attorney who handles these cases.
Breach of Contract Statutes of Limitations in Illinois
Breach of contract statutes of limitations in Illinois are a bit easier to grasp because they’re clear-cut with very little “gray area.” When a written contract is breached, you have ten years to file suit, and verbal contracts have a statute of limitations of just five years.
