Is This Personal Injury Lawsuit Still Viable ?

[Friendassist]

A friend was seriously injured in an auto accident & filed a lawsuit around six years ago. The defendant went into hiding and, as a result, the case could not be heard. If the defendant has recently been found, is my friend's suit still viable ?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Regarding the statute of limitations, if the defendant is unavailable or makes him or herself unavailable, the statute is usually tolled or delayed for that period of time which the defendant is outside of the jurisdiction of the court. You are not permitted to simply leave the jurisdiction in order to get a court case dismissed and the law recognizes this important issue. If it allowed a case to expire, many would avoid court by simply leaving the jurisdiction until a statute of limitations period ends.