California Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the deadline to start a lawsuit, and missing it can block recovery entirely regardless of how compelling your case is. In California, the deadline depends on the type of harm and who is being sued, though a two-year rule applies in most cases.

• Most personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits use a two-year deadline under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1.
• Medical malpractice uses a different rule under California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, with a one-year discovery clock plus a three-year outside limit.
• Cases against a city, county, school district, or state agency add a written notice deadline under Government Code § 911.2 of six months, plus a separate lawsuit deadline under Government Code § 945.6.

Wells Law, based in Ventura County, considers all aspects of your personal injury case and sees that all statute of limitation deadlines are met. If you were injured because of the negligence of another, you may be entitled to compensation. Call us at (805) 535-4372 for a free consultation.

Two-Year Deadline in California Injury Cases

Injuries From Crashes, Falls, and Negligence

California sets the two-year deadline for a wide range of injury cases. Examples may include:

• Car and truck crashes
• Bike and pedestrian collisions
• Slip and fall injuries
• Assault and battery
• Dog bites

The two-year period usually begins on the date of injury. Changes in pain, later diagnosis, or surgery timing do not restart the clock. Lengthy insurance negotiations similarly do not affect the two-year window to begin a lawsuit.

Wrongful Death Deadline

In wrongful death cases, there is also a two-year period, but it begins on the date of death, even if the harmful event happened earlier.

Wrongful death cases bring their own complications. Families may be dealing with probate, medical records requests, and decisions about power of attorney while the two-year clock is already running. Wells Law documents the timeline from the beginning so that the deadline doesn’t get lost in the middle of everything else you’re managing.

Medical Malpractice Deadlines

Medical malpractice cases in California have two separate deadlines, and whichever comes first controls the case.

1. One year from the date of discovery of malpractice. Discovery starts when you have enough reason to suspect the injury came from the medical care.
2. Three years from the date of injury.

Whichever deadline comes first will apply. If malpractice is discovered three years after the date of injury, you likely will be unable to pursue a lawsuit.

Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5 has limited extensions tied to fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign object left in the body, and the statute handles minors under separate timing rules.

Public Entity Deadlines in California

Government Notice Deadlines Can Arrive in Months

A case against a city, county, school district, or state agency usually requires a written government notice on a short timeline. Government Code § 911.2 sets a notice deadline of six months.

A public entity can be part of a case even when the connection isn’t immediately obvious. Any of the following can make a city, county, school district, or state agency a potential defendant:

• A crash with a city or county vehicle.
• A fall tied to a sidewalk, stairway, or other public property.
• Road work that leaves a hazard in a travel lane or pedestrian path.

Government Notice Rules Don’t Replace the Lawsuit Deadline

Filing a government notice and filing a lawsuit are two separate steps with two separate deadlines, and one does not pause or extend the other.

The notice tells the agency you intend to seek compensation for your injury. Once that notice is submitted, the agency has time to respond. If the agency rejects the notice, that rejection typically starts a six-month window to file a lawsuit against the agency. If the agency never sends a proper rejection, the window to sue can extend to two years from the date the injury occurred.

The key point is that while you are waiting for the agency to respond to your notice, the lawsuit deadline for any private defendants in the same case keeps running. A pending government review does not pause anything on the private side of the case.

When the Clock Starts Later

Delayed Discovery in Non-Medical Cases

Most of the time, the deadline starts on the day you get hurt. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re hurt until later, or you don’t know what caused it right away. In those situations, the clock can start when a reasonable person would have figured out both (1) that an injury exists and (2) what likely caused it.

Examples:

• Toxic exposure can make you sick weeks or months later, so the connection to the exposure may not be clear right away.
• A defect can injure you after a repair or replacement, and you might not learn the actual cause until someone inspects what failed.

Detailed records can show when the problem first appeared and when someone first connected it to a cause, so doctor notes, test orders, and repair paperwork usually carry more weight than a person’s memory later on.

Injuries to Minors

When a child gets hurt, California can pause the lawsuit deadline until the child turns 18, with the statute of limitations becoming two years after the 18th birthday.

Public entity situations still need extra care because the government notice deadline can apply even when the child is under 18, so a family should treat any possible city, county, school district, or state connection as a reason to check the notice deadline right away.

Helpful parent steps:

• Save photos and witness contact info.
• Keep a simple list of doctors, clinics, and appointment dates.

Most cases dealing with injuries to minors still have a deadline, even when the clock pauses until adulthood. One major exception involves certain childhood sexual assault civil cases, where California law can remove the filing deadline for a lawsuit seeking damages for abuse that happened when the victim was a minor. Specifics of the case will determine applicability, and it’s important to not assume that a case will be free of deadlines.

Mental Incapacity in Limited Situations

In rare situations, a serious mental condition can pause the deadline if medical records show that the person could not manage their own affairs during that period.

Call Wells Law If You’ve Been Injured and Have Questions

California personal injury deadlines are unforgiving, and the correct deadline isn’t always the obvious one. Wells Law reviews the facts of your situation from the start, identifies every applicable deadline including government notice requirements, and builds a timeline that keeps your case on track while you focus on recovery.

Call Wells Law in Ventura County at (805) 535-4372 for a free consultation. Don’t let a deadline you didn’t know about cost you the right to pursue your case.