Product Liability Statute of Limitations — Filing Deadlines by State

## The Clock Is Running on Your Product Liability Claim

Like all personal injury claims, product liability lawsuits must be filed within a state-imposed deadline called the statute of limitations. Missing this deadline permanently bars your claim regardless of how strong your evidence is or how serious your injuries are. Product liability cases have an additional complexity: the statute of repose, which cuts off your right to sue even if your injury was never discovered.

Product liability cases also carry a "statute of repose" that bars claims after a fixed period from the product's sale — regardless of when the injury occurred. California, for example, bars claims filed more than ten years after the product's sale, even under the discovery rule.

Standard Statute of Limitations by State for Product Liability

Most states apply the general personal injury statute of limitations to product liability claims, typically two to three years from the date of injury.

Two-year deadline states: California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina — file within two years of your injury
Three-year deadline states: New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, Oregon
One-year deadline states: Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee — act extremely quickly in these states
Four-year deadline states: Florida for strict liability under UCC, New Jersey, Minnesota

The Discovery Rule and Its Limits

The discovery rule allows the statute of limitations to begin running not at the date of injury but at the date when you knew or reasonably should have known that your injury was caused by a defective product. This rule is essential in latent injury cases — toxic exposure, defective implants with slow failure, or pharmaceutical injuries that develop over years.

You must actively investigate the cause of your injury — passive ignorance does not toll the statute indefinitely
Courts evaluate when a reasonable person in your situation would have connected the injury to a product defect
The statute of repose operates independently and can bar claims even when the discovery rule would otherwise extend the deadline

Product Liability Deadlines That Differ From Standard Rules

Claims involving children: tolled until the minor reaches age 18 in most states
Government contracts: manufacturing to government specifications provides an immunity defense in some states
Latent disease cases (asbestos, toxic tort): may have unique limitations periods under state environmental law
Claims against government entities using defective products: notice of claim requirements as short as 60 days may apply

Consult a product liability attorney as soon as you suspect a defective product caused your injury — even if you are not certain which company is responsible or exactly when the injury began. An experienced attorney can determine which limitations period applies, whether any exceptions extend your filing window, and whether preserving evidence now protects a claim that would otherwise expire before the investigation is complete.