Also known as: statute of limitations · statute of limitation · statutes of limitation · SOL · limitation period · prescription period
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory time limit on commencing an action or prosecution after the underlying events occur. The limit protects defendants from defending against stale claims where evidence may have deteriorated and encourages timely pursuit of remedies. It operates as an affirmative defense that bars recovery once the period expires unless tolled, revived by promise, or extended by relation back or other rules.
Sarah Sullivan filed a complaint against Silverline Industries within the applicable limitations period alleging breach of a supply contract. After the period expired she amended to add a new defendant. Because the governing limitations law permits relation back the amendment is treated as timely filed.
Sylvia Santos sued Summit Bank in federal court under diversity jurisdiction for breach of a loan agreement governed by state law. The bank moved to dismiss on the ground that the claim was time-barred under the forum state's shorter limitations period. The court applied the state limitations rule because ignoring it would produce a materially different outcome than in state court.
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Spencer Silver owed Southland Foods an unpaid invoice that had become unenforceable under the statute of limitations. Silver later wrote to the company admitting the debt still existed and promising to pay half. The acknowledgment made the debt enforceable again.
Sydney Santos and Simon Stern ended their cohabitation after five years. Santos sued Stern for breach of an oral agreement allocating property acquired during the relationship. The claim accrued on the date of termination and remained timely under the contractual limitations period.
Stephen Shaw was indicted for a crime after the original limitations period had expired. A new statute purported to revive the prosecution by extending the period retroactively. The court dismissed the indictment because the extension violated the Ex Post Facto Clause.
Sapphire Holdings sued in federal diversity court on a contract claim that state law would have barred under its limitations period. The federal court applied the state rule because disregarding it would allow the plaintiff to prevail when the same claim would fail in state court.
Federal courts must apply state limitations periods and tolling rules because they are substantive. Ignoring them would produce outcomes that differ materially from those in state court.
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A promise to pay an antecedent debt remains binding if the only bar is the statute of limitations. An acknowledgment admitting the debt's existence or a statement that the defense will not be pleaded operates as such a promise.
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Relation back is permitted when the law supplying the limitations period itself allows the amendment to relate back to the original pleading date.
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No. Retroactively extending a limitations period after it has expired to reopen a prosecution violates the Ex Post Facto Clause.
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The claim accrues on breach and may be brought during or after cohabitation subject to the contractual limitations period.
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…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…