In today's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, I want to answer an important question, and in fact, someone asked me about this issue this week, and that is “What is the statute of limitations?”  There is a deadline for filing lawsuits in Oklahoma, and depending on the type of lawsuit you're filing, there are different statutes of limitations. In today's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, I'm answering the question, “What is the statute of limitations?”

The statute of limitations is a defined period of time, or deadline, for filing a lawsuit. Oklahoma law sets specific deadlines for different types of lawsuits.  Some of the most common statutes of limitations are five (5) years for breach of contract (usually calculated from the date of last payment or date of breach) and two (2) years for most “tort” actions including personal injury, property damage, fraud, and wrongful death.  The clock starts running whenever the incident occurs, and in some cases, like fraud, when the incident was discovered by the plaintiff.

There are also certain situations when the statute of limitations can be paused or tolled.  These situations include when a plaintiff is a minor when the incident occurred and then the statute of limitations does not run until the plaintiff reaches adulthood at age 18.  Also, the discovery rule itself can toll the statute of limitations in certain medical malpractice cases.

The statute of limitations can affect a lawsuit in several ways.  If the lawsuit is filed too late the Court can dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds of having passed the statute of limitations.

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