The basic two-year rule
In California, most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date you were injured. That covers the ordinary cases: traffic collisions, slip and falls, dog bites, assault claims, most product injuries.
“Filed” means the complaint is actually on file with the court. Not sent to the insurer, not discussed with a lawyer, not agreed in principle with the other side. Filed.
When the clock starts
Usually the date of the injury. The complication is injuries you could not reasonably have known about at the time — the discovery rule pushes the start date to when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury and that someone else's conduct caused it.
This matters most for toxic exposure, surgical complications and some product cases. It matters very little for a rear-end collision, where you knew on the day.
Suing a government entity: six months
This is the trap that ends the most cases. If your claim is against a city, county, school district, transit agency or the State of California, you must first file an administrative claim within six months of the incident. Only after that claim is rejected does a court deadline apply.
A bus, a pothole, a public hospital, a police interaction, a slip in a county building — all of these put you on the six-month track, and people routinely do not realise the defendant is a public entity until months have passed.
What pauses the clock
Four situations come up often enough in LA County to know by name.
Other claim types have their own clocks
Medical malpractice, property damage, contracts, defamation and wrongful death all run on different clocks from ordinary personal injury — see the table below.
Working out your own date
A short, practical sequence for narrowing down your own deadline before you talk to anyone.
Settlement talks do not extend the deadline
An adjuster who is still “reviewing” your claim four months before the deadline is not obliged to warn you it is coming. If it passes while you are negotiating, the claim is generally gone and your leverage goes with it.
| Who you are suing | First step | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Private person or business | File complaint in court | 2 years from injury |
| City of Los Angeles | Administrative claim with the City Clerk | 6 months from injury |
| LA County / LA Metro | Administrative claim with the entity | 6 months from injury |
| School district | Administrative claim with the district | 6 months from injury |
| State of California | Claim with Dept. of General Services | 6 months from injury |
| Claim | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury (general) | 2 years | The default |
| Medical malpractice | 1 year from discovery, 3 years outer limit | Whichever comes first |
| Property damage only | 3 years | e.g. vehicle damage with no injury |
| Written contract | 4 years | |
| Oral contract | 2 years | |
| Defamation | 1 year | |
| Wrongful death | 2 years from date of death | Not date of injury |
The injured person was under 18
The two years generally does not begin until their eighteenth birthday.
The injured person lacked legal capacity
Time can be suspended for the period of incapacity — this is fact-specific and argued more often than it is granted.
The defendant left California
Time they spend out of state can be excluded from the count.
The injury could not reasonably have been discovered
The discovery rule above. Do not assume it applies to you — courts read it narrowly, and “I did not know I could sue” is not discovery.