Also known as: limitations of action · limitation on action · statute of limitations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory period that bars commencement of a legal action after the period has run from the date the claim accrued. The bar prevents recovery even when the underlying facts would otherwise support liability. Revival or relation back may occur only when a separate rule expressly so provides.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Layla Lane filed a complaint against Landmark Realty within the state limitations period. After the period expired she amended to add a new defendant. Because the governing limitations law permitted relation back, the amendment was treated as timely filed.
Lamar Lewis owed Lumen Capital a contractual sum that had become time-barred. At a meeting Lewis signed minutes admitting the present balance and promising full payment. The signed promise revived the debt so that Lumen Capital could enforce it.
Luis Lopez sued Lunar Dynamics in federal court under diversity jurisdiction. The court dismissed the claim as time-barred under forum state law. When Lopez refiled in another state, that court applied the rendering state's rule on whether a limitations dismissal counted as a merits judgment.
Lola Langley and Landon Long ended their cohabitation. Langley sued for breach of their agreement six months later. The claim was timely because it accrued on breach and the contractual limitations period had not yet run.
Liberty Trust retained counsel who missed the filing deadline on a contract claim. Counsel paid the client personally without disclosing the error or advising independent counsel. The conduct constituted professional misconduct warranting discipline beyond ordinary negligence.
Lance Lee, an attorney, miscalculated the limitations period on a client's tort claim, causing dismissal. The error alone did not demonstrate unfitness to practice. Discipline was not imposed because the conduct did not rise to gross negligence showing unfitness.
No. Federal common law borrows the preclusion law of the state where the federal court sat. That state's rule determines whether a limitations dismissal counts as a merits judgment for claim preclusion purposes.
Supporting sources
A voluntary written acknowledgment admitting the present existence of the debt and promising payment revives the obligation even though the original limitations period has run.
Supporting sources
…solved by reference to any traditional or common-sense substance-procedure distinction: "And so the question is not whether a statute of limitations is deemed a matter of procedure' in some sense. The question is . . . does it significantly affect the result of a litigation for a federal court to disregard a law of a State that would…