What is the Statute of Limitations on Construction Injuries in Massachusetts?

Construction injuries can lead to weeks or months of missed work, multiple surgeries, pain, and other significant financial and physical hardship. If you are looking to file a construction injury lawsuit, the attorneys at the Law Office of John J. Sheehan can help. In this article, we explain the statute of limitations for construction accident injuries, how long does workers’ compensation last in Massachusetts, the differences between personal injury, premises liability, and workers’ comp, and how a lawyer may be able to help you to file a Boston premises liability construction accident lawsuit

How Long Do You Have to File a Construction Injury Lawsuit In MA?

The statute of limitations is a law that sets a period of typically at least a year in which a victim could file a civil case with a court. If you are a construction worker who was injured in the state of Massachusetts, you have three years to file a personal injury lawsuit to recover damages for their injuries. For example, if you were injured at a construction site in March 2021, you would have until the exact date of the accident in March 2024 to file your case. Additionally, you will have four years to seek damages for your accident if you decide that you want to file a workers’ compensation claim against your employer.

A construction worker should also know that there could be exceptions to the three-year deadline for their personal injury claim. For example, if your injury was masked because you received an incorrect diagnosis from a doctor, you could be eligible to receive an extension on the filing deadline. However, do not assume that you will be able to claim an exception without first consulting a Massachusetts construction accident lawyer.

Premises Liability In a Construction Accident Injury Case

When a worker is injured at a construction site, it is important to consider options to seek compensation for injuries caused by the accident. While your employer likely has workers’ compensation coverage that would provide you with benefits, you should also consider the damages that could be awarded in a premises liability case.

Due to the nature of the work performed by construction workers, there is a high risk that a worker would experience terrible injuries if they were in an accident. When this happens, the worker would need to deal with a host of issues, from medical treatment to financial problems from being unable to work. Luckily, the victim could file a lawsuit, but they must do so before the statute of limitations elapses.

If you elect to pursue a premises liability lawsuit against your employer instead of filing for workers’ comp, note that you will have to adhere to the statute of limitations. As laws vary from state to state, it is essential to speak with a Boston construction injury lawyer that is experienced in dealing with premises liability lawsuits. The Law Office of John J. Sheehan is familiar with the statute of limitations for construction injuries and could help you get your case to a court of law on time.

Consequences of Missing the Statute of Limitations Deadline for a Construction Injury Case

With three years to file a personal injury case, it may seem difficult to understand how a person could miss a filing deadline. However, a person that was injured at the workplace may have several reasons for delaying their construction injury case. For example, the individual may need months of recovery time for their injuries or might be concerned about the costs of retaining a law firm.

If you are not able to meet the three-year filing deadline for one reason or another, this would likely eliminate your opportunity to get compensation for your claim. When a plaintiff is unable to file their lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires, the court will not accept the case. Specifically, the defendant may argue the deadline has passed, or the court may dismiss the case with prejudice on its own authority. If a case is dismissed with prejudice, it means it cannot be refiled again, and your options for recovering damages will be lost.

Reasons to File Your Construction Injury Case Promptly

Outside of the statute of limitations, there are other benefits of speaking with a lawyer to start with filing a workers’ compensation case as soon as possible.

Reasons to File Your Massachusetts Construction Injury Lawsuit Quickly

The statute of limitations is the primary reason that you should seek to file your construction injury case with a Massachusetts court as soon as you can. However, there are many other benefits to pursuing your case soon after the accident. Here are some other reasons to pursue damages for your injuries quickly.

Preservation of Evidence

To prove the damages that you request in your construction accident lawsuit, you will need a fair amount of evidence. For example, if you were injured because an employer failed to equip certain machinery with an appropriate safety measure, this evidence would be relevant to your case.

Additionally, eyewitnesses are often a big part of a personal injury lawsuit. You will want to know that the witnesses that you call to testify accurately remember the details of your accident. By waiting nearly three years to file your case, the memories of your best witnesses could become compromised.

If there is any physical evidence to show that you were injured at a construction site, a delay in filing your case could mean that the evidence is possibly lost, misplaced, or destroyed.

Easier to Find Legal Representation

While you are provided three years for your construction injury lawsuit, it could be harmful to your case to wait until the deadline has almost arrived to pursue your case. When bringing your case to a law firm, they will want to know that they have a sufficient amount of time to build their client’s case.

By presenting the case to a law firm too late, the firm may be hesitant to accept the case out of fear that the deadline could be missed or that they would not be able to provide adequate representation to the victim.

Length of Time for Litigation

A construction injury lawsuit case against an employer may drag on for months or possibly over a year if neither party is interested in a settlement. it is important to take this into account as you may be relying on a favorable outcome to your case so that you could manage medical bills and other costs associated with your accident.

The Massachusetts construction accident lawyers at The Law Office of John. J Sheehan are dedicated to helping our clients get the damages they deserve in their potential cases. Filing a lawsuit so soon after a serious accident could be stressful for a victim, and we want to address all your concerns.

Call Our Firm about the Statute of Limitations in a Construction Injuries Lawsuit

After being injured at a construction site, it could be a burden to learn that you now need to file your lawsuit quickly to avoid losing your right to litigation. Fortunately, our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers are here to assist you. John Sheehan and his legal team have decades of experience, and we are confident that we will make sure that your case is filed prior to the statute of limitations deadline. Call us at (617) 925-6407 for a free consultation.