In civil litigation, there is a time limit for taking legal action, as determined by the statute of limitations applicable to the claim. To determine whether the deadline has passed, it becomes necessary to identify the date from which the time period (typically 2-5 years) should be measured. In most…
Articles Posted in statute of limitations
Business Tort Claims Dismissed as Untimely in Dispute Between Wildlife Removal Companies
In this patent and trade-secret dispute between Safe Haven Wildlife Removal and Property Management Experts and Meridian Wildlife Services, the defendant tried to raise the stakes by inserting a number of business torts (including breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with contract and business expectancies, and business conspiracy) but the…
Waiving the Statute of Limitations: Harder than You Might Think
As a general rule, legal rights may be waived by contractual agreement. The protection afforded by statutes of limitations may be waived like other rights, but only in very narrow circumstances, due to a Virginia law that few know about. The General Assembly decided to make it a bit more…
Tell the Jury About Your Plea in Bar Now, or Later
If you get sued in Virginia on a claim your lawyer tells you is likely barred by the statute of limitations, you can raise the defense by way of a so-called “plea in bar.” A plea in bar is a pleading that presents a single set of facts that, if…