There are a lot of different things that you have to plan on as far as presenting a case as part of a lawsuit. If you haven’t heard of the statute of limitations, that’s where you need to start when it comes to different lawsuits that you want to bring out into the public eye.
In different states, at different times, and for various crimes, the statute of limitations will be different, and in some cases, there are even exceptions that can be had in a court of law depending on the severity of the criminal intent.
If you plan on suing someone for something, make sure that you understand these time limitations. If you wait too long, you may not be able to get the kind of legal representation you want, and it may be legally impossible in fact for you to win the suit.
Medical Malpractice Suits
If you are a victim of medical malpractice, you need to sue immediately. There is a window of time that you can do this, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to wait until later if you already know that the medical malpractice happened.
The only time that you should have an extended timeline is if somehow you weren’t unaware that the malpractice or negligence occurred. For example, if you find out that a doctor did a surgery incorrectly many years down the road, there still is the potential for a lawsuit, but again, timing is everything, especially when it comes to remembering details.
Sexual Harassment Suits
Another time to consider the range of time involved in an illegal activity is when you’re dealing with sexual harassment suits. There are many instances where you might feel as though if you turned an employer or coworker in, it would affect your livelihood, your job, or some other aspect of your life.
There are also social reasons for trying to avoid sexual harassment lawsuits in the first place. But again, if you wait too long, courts might tend to think that you didn’t report it because it didn’t happen, or perhaps that your memory has changed over time, or maybe even that you are retaliating against someone later with a fake suit.
Divorce Court Proceedings
A final time to consider the timing when it comes to lawsuits is if you’re going to get a divorce. If you bring up some activity that a spouse did 20 years earlier as a reason for your divorce, the judges and juries involved in civil aspects of the case may question your motives. Even if you have specific documentation of activities that occurred long ago, as time passes, the legal system can give less credence to your memory and to the reasoning behind the lawsuits that eventually come up.