An adult must file a personal injury lawsuit within two years of the injury. This time limit is called the statute of limitations. If a person attempts to file a lawsuit after the time limit has run out, the case will be dismissed. There are different statutes of limitations for different types of cases (e.g. contract, property damage, defamation). If a child has a personal injury case, the statute of limitations does not end until his twentieth birthday. Because Virginia law considers a minor to be "under a disability," the statute of limitations is tolled, or on hold, until the child is eighteen years old. Therefore, the statute of limitations does not go into effect until the child is legally an adult and no longer considered to be under a disability. [Virginia Code §8.01-8, 8.01-229]

Palm Desert Attorney Kevin Cortright