Minnesota · Updated
Injured in Minnesota: 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 Minnesota’s, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
We don’t list firms in Minnesota yet. You can still check how to look up a lawyer’s license.
Know this first
Step 1: Six years to file in court
6 years(4 for medical mistakes; 3 for a death)
In Minnesota, injury lawsuits based on negligence (carelessness) generally get six years.
When the clock starts, and whether an exception applies, can depend on the facts. A lawyer can tell you your exact date.
Minnesota limitations periods are spread across chapter 541 and the wrongful-death statute, and claims against cities, counties and the state also need a written notice of claim within 180 days of discovering the injury.
The law, as written
Personal injury: two-year and six-year periods6 years (negligence); 2 years (intentional torts)
In Minnesota, an action for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment or other tort resulting in personal injury must be commenced within two years, except where another section (such as § 541.05 or § 541.073) provides otherwise1.
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 from death (6-year outer limit)
In Minnesota, a wrongful-death action may be commenced within three years after the date of death, but must be commenced within six years after the act or omission2.
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 cities and counties: notice180 days notice
In Minnesota, a person claiming damages from a municipality must present written notice to its governing body within 180 days after the loss or injury is discovered, stating the time, place and circumstances, the employees involved if known, and the relief sought3. Actual notice sufficient to put the governing body or its insurer on notice of a possible claim complies, and time during which the injured person is incapacitated by the injury does not count3.
Claims against the State of Minnesota: notice180 days notice
In Minnesota, a person claiming compensation from the state or a state employee acting within the scope of employment must give notice to the attorney general (for the University of Minnesota, to the attorney the regents designate) and to any state employee from whom compensation is sought, within 180 days after the loss or injury is discovered4.
How fault is counted
Step 4: If you were partly at fault
51% bar (vs. each defendant)
In Minnesota, if your fault is greater than the fault of the person you are suing, you generally can’t recover from them.
Minnesota uses modified comparative fault: a claimant's fault reduces the award, and bars recovery only when it is greater than the fault of the person the claimant is suing.
If a doctor, hospital or clinic was involved
Step 5: Medical malpractice has its own limits
Claims against a doctor, hospital or clinic often have their own deadline and extra steps before filing.
The law, as written
Medical malpractice4 years
In Minnesota, a patient's action against a health care provider alleging malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure, whether based in contract or tort, must be commenced within four years from the date the cause of action accrued5.
If they were a minor
Step 6: If the injured person is a child
The clock can run differently for a child’s claim.
The law, as written
MinorsTolled during minority
In Minnesota, the limitation period is suspended while the plaintiff is under 18, and, except for infancy, a disability may not extend the period by more than five years, nor in any case by more than one year after the disability ends6.
Next
Step 7: 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota
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 Minnesota’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
- Minn. Stat. § 541.07Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 541.07
- Minn. Stat. § 573.02Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 573.02
- Minn. Stat. § 466.05Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 466.05
- Minn. Stat. § 3.736Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 3.736
- Minn. Stat. § 541.076Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 541.076
- Minn. Stat. § 541.15Read the source: Minn. Stat. § 541.15
This is general information, not legal advice.