Reference
Tracking injury deadlines in Pennsylvania
What decides whether a Pennsylvania case is filed in time is rarely the headline limitation period. It is the exception that applies to the particular claim - and knowing which one applies on the day of intake rather than the week before filing.
This is not legal advice and it is not a substitute for checking the current statute. The period below is the ordinary one for a negligence injury claim; the deadline that applies to any particular case can be shorter, and frequently is.
The ordinary period in Pennsylvania
Two years
For a negligence personal injury claim, running from the date the cause of action accrued - which is not always the date of the incident.
The deadline that catches firms out
Notice to a local agency or the Commonwealth must be given within six months of the injury.
The Pennsylvania detail worth knowing
The discovery rule does real work here in cases where the injury or its cause was not apparent immediately, which makes the date the clock started a question of fact rather than a lookup.
Why the number above is the least useful part
A deadline published without its exceptions is worse than no deadline: the exceptions are what change the answer, and a visitor who relies on the headline can lose a claim that was still live - or abandon one that was.
Statutes are also amended, and recently have been. A number typed onto a marketing page in one year and read in the next is exactly the kind of thing nobody re-checks, so confirm the applicable period for the specific claim against the current statute rather than against this page.
The four things that actually move a deadline
Who the defendant is
A claim against a city, a transit authority or a state agency can carry a notice requirement measured in months, running well ahead of the ordinary period. Identifying the defendant late is how firms find out.
When the clock started
Not always the date of the incident. Where an injury or its cause was not apparent at the time, the discovery rule can move the start - which makes it a question of fact rather than a lookup.
How old the claimant was
Deadlines are commonly tolled for a minor, so a case that looks time-barred on the incident date may not be. The claimant's date of birth belongs in intake for this reason.
What kind of claim it is
Medical malpractice, product liability and wrongful death frequently run on their own periods, so the case type has to be settled early rather than adjusted later.
How OneCounsel handles it
The deadline is a property of the case, not a note in a calendar
Intake captures the incident date, the claimant's date of birth and the case type because those are the inputs the deadline depends on. The date is then carried on the case and surfaces while there is still room to act, rather than appearing in a diary reminder the week it matters.
See it on your own caseload
Thirty minutes with someone who knows personal injury practice. We will tell you plainly if it is not a fit.
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