Maryland · Updated
Injured in Maryland: deadlines, rules and lawyers
Most of what to do after an injury is the same everywhere. The deadline to file, and a few other rules, are set by each state. Here are Maryland’s, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
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Know this first
Step 1: Your deadline to file in court
We don’t show Maryland’s deadline here until we have checked it against the official text. Ask a lawyer, or each firm you call, which deadline applies to you.
When the clock starts, and whether an exception applies, can depend on the facts. A lawyer can tell you your exact date.
If a family member died
Step 2: If someone died
A claim for a death can have its own deadline, and it may start on a different day. Here is the rule as the research found it.
The law, as written
Wrongful death3 years after death
In Maryland, a wrongful-death action must be filed within three years after the death of the injured person1.
If a government body was involved
Step 3: Claims against the state or a local government
If a government vehicle, government property or a public employee was part of what happened, a shorter notice or claim step may come first. Ask a lawyer about it early.
The law, as written
Claims against the State (Maryland Tort Claims Act)1-year claim; 3-year suit
Under the Maryland Tort Claims Act, a claimant must submit a written claim to the State Treasurer or the Treasurer's designee within one year after the injury, the Treasurer must finally deny the claim, and the action must be filed within three years after the cause of action arises2.
Claims against local governments (LGTCA)1-year notice
Under Maryland's Local Government Tort Claims Act, an action for unliquidated damages against a local government or its employees may not be brought unless written notice of the claim, stating the time, place and cause of the injury, is given within one year after the injury3. Notice goes in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the official the statute names for that county or city3.
How fault is counted
Step 4: If you were partly at fault
Contributory
In Maryland, if your own carelessness helped cause the injury, you can be barred from recovering anything.
Maryland still applies contributory negligence: a plaintiff whose own negligence contributed to the injury cannot recover.
The law, as written
Fault modelContributory
In Maryland, contributory negligence remains the common-law rule; the Court of Appeals held that although it has the authority to change it, it declined to abrogate “Maryland's long-established common law principle of contributory negligence”4.
If they were a minor
Step 5: If the injured person is a child
The clock can run differently for a child’s claim.
The law, as written
Minors and incompetentsLesser of 3 years or the period, after disability ends
In Maryland, when a cause of action accrues to a minor or mental incompetent, the action must be filed within the lesser of three years or the applicable limitations period after the disability is removed5.
Next
Step 6: What to do with this
- Write down the datesThe day you were hurt, the day treatment ended, and anything a government body or hospital sent you.
- Ask a lawyer about your factsThese rules have exceptions that depend on details. A lawyer licensed in Maryland can tell you which ones apply.
- Ask each firmWhich deadline applies to me, does a notice need to go out, and by when?
How to check a lawyer’s license in Maryland
Each state keeps a public list of lawyers. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up by name and read what the listing says about their license. If it isn’t clear, call the office that keeps the list.
Case types
Each case type’s page has Maryland’s deadline and rules for it.
More about deadlines
- What to do after a car accident: learn your deadline
Plain steps after a crash: stay safe, get care, keep a record, talk to insurance companies carefully, and learn your state’s deadline to file.
- After a truck accident: your deadline to file still applies
How a crash with a big commercial truck differs from a car crash: federal safety rules, more than one company involved, larger insurance, and records that are only kept for a while.
- After a motorcycle or bike crash: your deadline to file
What’s different when you were on a motorcycle or a bicycle: keeping your helmet and gear, your rights on the road, helmet rules, fault, road hazards and insurance.
- Hit by a car while walking: your deadline to file
What to do if a car hit you while you were walking: first steps, the evidence that disappears fastest, whose insurance may pay, how fault gets argued, and your deadlines.
- After a slip and fall: your deadline to file
What to do after you fall on someone else’s property: get care, report it, keep a record, and learn the questions that decide a premises case, including falls on public property and at work.
- Wrongful death basics: the deadline often starts at the death
If someone in your family died because of another person’s carelessness: what a wrongful-death claim is, who can bring it, how it differs from a survival claim, getting records, and the deadline.
- Hurt at work: your deadlines
What to do after an injury on the job: get care, tell your employer in writing, and learn how workers’ compensation works and when a separate injury claim against someone else may exist.
- After a dog bite: your deadline to file
What to do after a dog bites you or your child: get care, find out who owns the dog, keep a record, and learn how state rules on dog bites differ.
- After a head or brain injury: deadlines keep running while you recover
What to do after a head injury from a crash, a fall or another accident: get checked, keep a record of how you feel, get help from family, and why legal deadlines keep running while you recover.
- When medical care goes wrong: deadlines are often different, and strict
What to do if you think a doctor, hospital or clinic hurt you: get care, get your records, and learn the extra steps and short deadlines that medical-malpractice claims often have, state by state.
- Deadlines in every state
The usual deadline in all 50 states and DC, side by side. Where we haven’t checked one yet, we say so.
How we list firms
How we list firms
We don’t rank firms. Listing is free and doesn’t depend on buying anything.
Firms are listed for free, in A–Z order. Every fact shows its source and date. We don’t recommend lawyers, and we don’t pass on your details.
Sources
Where the legal facts on this page come from
- Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-904Read the source: Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-904
- Md. Code Ann., State Gov't § 12-106 (Maryland Tort Claims Act)Read the source: Md. Code Ann., State Gov't § 12-106 (Maryland Tort Claims Act)
- Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-304 (Local Government Tort Claims Act)Read the source: Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-304 (Local Government Tort Claims Act)
- Coleman v. Soccer Ass'n of Columbia, 432 Md. 679, 69 A.3d 1149 (2013)Read the source: Coleman v. Soccer Ass'n of Columbia, 432 Md. 679, 69 A.3d 1149 (2013)
- Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-201Read the source: Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-201
This is general information, not legal advice.