Mesothelioma cases are one of the most time-consuming types of litigation in the US judicial sphere. This asbestos-related disease has a very long latency period that lasts for decades. And it is usually a problem to define the time when a claimant is eligible for filing a lawsuit. Such restrictions are called ‘statute of limitations’. There are specific terms for timing in mesothelioma litigation, and here you will find out more about them.

Actually, this is a specific type of laws that define the time terms for such claims. Each incident has its own term for consideration. After a set period of time passes, it is usually hard or even impossible to investigate the case. And statute of limitations defines what time is fine to file a claim. As a rule, each state has its own statute, different for each type of claims. After a person was exposed to asbestos and injured, there will be specific amount of time for filing a lawsuit for this matter.

Minimally there are 20 years between asbestos exposure and diagnosing mesothelioma. This is not a typical injury in a car accident or a fire, when the clock begins ticking right after the incident. Moreover, the influence of asbestos often takes longer than a specific moment in time: people contact with asbestos for days and even years, so it is hard to define when exactly the damage was inflicted. Another complication in mesothelioma litigation is that it also takes time for getting the final diagnosis: the diagnostics of mesothelioma is a long-lasting process. The statute of limitations for personal injuries (and mesothelioma can be considered as the one) is usually 1 – 5 years, depending on the state it can be more or less. And this term is definitely too short for mesothelioma cases. That is why the modern legislation has exceptions for the claimants with such type of injury.

For the victims of asbestos exposure there is a ‘discovery’ rule. In traditional cases of personal injury the cause of action begins to accrue right at the time of injury. In asbestos-related cases the cause of action doesn’t accrue until revealing the effect of exposure. This means that the long latency period of mesothelioma doesn’t count into the time limitation for filing a claim. This gave millions of asbestos victims the right to get compensation for the injuries they got. This rule came in force in 1970.

For the plaintiffs who file lawsuits for compensating their asbestos-related injury the time for filing a claim starts after diagnosis is made. This term varies from state to state. In many US states this term is three years. The best thing after being diagnosed with mesothelioma is to consult a professional lawyer for getting more details about the statute of limitations and other rules of mesothelioma litigation. The process also requires time, so it is essentially important not to lose it for nothing. Mesothelioma is an aggressive disease that needs to be treated quickly with the use of expensive treatment methods. A claim filed on time will help to get worthy compensation for these and other expenses.