Legal Corner: How long can you wait to file a personal injury lawsuit?

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Legal Corner answers viewers’ civil legal questions.

QUESTION: Is it true that in Louisiana, a person now has two years to file a personal injury lawsuit? If it is true, when did that change?

ANSWER: Yes, it is true that in Louisiana, a person generally now has two years to file a personal injury lawsuit.

For injuries occurring before July 1, 2024, one has one (1) year from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. For injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024, one has two (2) years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit.

The prescriptive period or statute of limitations is the legal deadline that sets a time limit for filing a lawsuit. Effective July 1, 2024, the statute of limitations (prescriptive period) is now 2 years for most claims.

If one is a child or has a disability and the injury is permanent, then they may have more time to sue if the case is regarding a dangerous product.

QUESTION: I fell in a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, and I was hurt pretty badly. Many people have told me it will be hard for me to prove my case, so I should not even try to pursue it. The property owner has been ignoring me.

What duties, if any, does the property owner have? What are some things that I need to know if I try to hold the store owner liable?

ANSWER: Premises liability law in Louisiana requires property owners to maintain a safe space for their visitors. This includes repairing any hazards in an appropriate time frame. If that is not possible, then the property owners are generally responsible for warning visitors about the unsafe conditions on the premises.

If a property owner does not remove or warn of an unreasonably dangerous condition or situation, and someone slips and falls as a result, the owner could face a premises liability claim from the accident victim.

The burden of proving who is liable for an accident falls on the person seeking to recover damages. Injured claimants generally must prove three elements to establish that negligence led to their slip and fall accident:

• They must prove that an unreasonable danger was on the property at the time of their slip and fall.
• They must show that the property owner either created, knew about, or should have known about the danger.
• They must show that they suffered damages from an accident caused by the property owner’s failure to protect them from or prevent the unreasonable danger.

Since the change in the law in 2024, one generally has two years from that date to submit a personal injury lawsuit.

If the victim shares some responsibility for his accident, he can still pursue a financial recovery, with his award reduced by his percentage of fault.