Many Mississippi personal injury victims are injured by the negligent or intentional acts of others in Mississippi car crashes, construction accidents, violent crimes and other incidents involving wrongful conduct. What many people do not understand is the importance of timing requirements in pursuing a personal injury claim. The law imposes strict deadlines for initiating legal actions. When these deadlines are not met, it typically means that a claim will be completely barred despite the merits of the case.
An example is probably the best way to understand the critical role of these timing requirements on the viability of a personal injury claim. A person is shot in the head by an armed assailant during a robbery and sues the assailant for personal injury. The victim suffers traumatic brain injury and remains in a persistent vegetative state. This is about as much of a “no brainer” as one can get in terms of liability (i.e. fault), and there is no argument that the intentional misconduct of the assailant was the cause of the shooting victim’s traumatic brain injury. The shooting victim is a forty year old husband and father of three children who works as a neurosurgeon. This type of claim typically would appear to be worth millions of dollars.
If a personal injury lawsuit is not initiated within the statute of limitations, however, the claim will virtually always be permanently barred so that the injury victim has no legal right to obtain compensation for his injuries. Despite the tragic facts of this case, including a family left without the financial support of a bread winner or the loss of parenting and marital companionship, the court cannot make a “hardship” exception. The statute of limitations is an absolute deadline that must be met and failure to do so cannot be excused based on fairness or even extreme hardship.
This is why it is essential to seek legal advice as soon as you are injured so that your Mississippi personal injury attorney has time to research the law, investigate the facts and file your claim. Sometimes when personal injury victims delay in seeking assistance, personal injury law firms will decline to take a case because there is insufficient time to investigate the merits of the case and file a lawsuit without risking non-compliance with the statute of limitations. The determination of when the statute of limitation expires can also be complicated by special rules that designate when the time starts or when it is suspended in certain situations (called “tolling”).
Some deadlines for pursuing claims related to torts (i.e. injuries caused by wrongful acts) are even shorter. The statute for limitations for bringing a medical malpractice claim in Mississippi is only two years while a lawsuit for libel or slander must be initiated within a year. There are other deadlines that may apply that shorten the time line for pursuing a claim for personal injuries. For example, a public entity may fail to make remedial measures to an intersection that public officials know is unsafe and that has been the location of many collisions. Generally, you will be forced to comply with special procedures including filing a Notice of Claim before filing a lawsuit against a public entity. These time limits are much shorter than the statute of limitations and may be as short as only a few months.
If you have suffered serious injury caused by the misconduct of another, you should seek immediate legal advice. Most personal injury law firms in Mississippi offer a free consultation with no obligation so that they can assess the value of your claim, and you can obtain information about your options. The experienced Mississippi personal injury attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing effective representation to Mississippi personal injury victims for over 75 years. We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.
