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California personal injury deadlines: a working checklist

Published October 9, 2026

This is general information for law firm staff, not legal advice.

Every new injury case has at least one statute of limitations date, and some have three or four time limits that run at once. You will not decide which rule applies or when a period starts. That is the responsible attorney's job.

Your job is to collect the facts that set each date, write down where each fact came from, and put every date in front of the attorney for confirmation before it goes on the calendar.

Collect these facts on day one

Checklist

  • The exact date of the incident, and the document that shows it (police report, incident report, first medical visit).
  • Who may be responsible: a private person, a business, a health care provider, or a public entity or public employee.
  • The client's date of birth.
  • Whether the client has a guardian or conservator, or may lack the capacity to make decisions.
  • Whether the client was in custody when the injury happened.
  • For a medical injury: the date the client first learned of the injury, and how.
  • Any claim already sent to a public entity, and any written notice the client received back.

The general rule for injury cases

California gives two years for an action for injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by another's wrongful act or neglect (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1). Assault and battery are in the same section.

Record the incident date and its source. The attorney decides when the two years begin.

Public entities: a claim comes before any lawsuit

If a city, county, school district, transit agency, state agency or public employee may be involved, a separate set of time limits applies, and the first one is short.

  • Six months to present the claim. A claim for death or injury to a person must be presented not later than six months after the cause of action accrues; most other claims have one year (Gov. Code § 911.2). For claims to the Department of General Services, the presentation date depends on the $25 filing fee or a fee waiver request (same section, subdivision (b)).
  • 45 days for the board to act. The board must act within 45 days after the claim is presented. The time can be extended by written agreement. If the board does not act, the claim is deemed rejected on the last day of the period (Gov. Code § 912.4).
  • No lawsuit until the claim is acted on. A suit for money or damages cannot be brought until a written claim has been presented and acted on, or deemed rejected (Gov. Code § 945.4).
  • Time to sue after the claim. If the entity gives written notice of its action, suit must be filed not later than six months after the notice is personally delivered or mailed. If no written notice is given, the time is two years from accrual (Gov. Code § 945.6). A rejection notice must carry a printed warning about the six months (Gov. Code § 913), so scan every letter from a public entity for it and log the mailing or delivery date the same day.
  • A missed six months is not always the end. A written application for leave to present a late claim may be made within a reasonable time, not more than one year after accrual. It must state the reason for the delay and attach the proposed claim (Gov. Code § 911.4). The board has 45 days to grant or deny it, and silence counts as a denial on the 45th day (Gov. Code § 911.6). After a denial, a petition to the court must be filed within six months; if the court grants relief, suit must be filed within 30 days of the order (Gov. Code § 946.6).

Public entity checklist

Checklist

  • Note every possible public party (road, sidewalk, bus, school, county hospital, police vehicle).
  • Calendar six months from the incident date for the attorney to confirm.
  • Log the date the claim was presented and how.
  • Calendar 45 days from presentation.
  • Log the date of any written notice back, and how it arrived.

Medical injury: claims against a health care provider

For professional negligence by a health care provider, the time is three years after the date of injury or one year after the plaintiff discovers, or with reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever comes first (Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5). The three years can be exceeded only if tolled for fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign body with no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose. The section defines "health care provider" broadly: people licensed under Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, osteopathic and chiropractic licensees, and licensed clinics and health facilities. The text on the Legislature's site, as checked, was last amended in 1975.

There is also a notice step. No action may be filed unless the provider received at least 90 days' notice of the intention to sue. If that notice is served within 90 days of the end of the period, the time to file is extended 90 days from service (Code Civ. Proc. § 364).

For these cases, write down two dates and their sources: the date of the injury and the date the client learned of it. Flag both for the attorney.

Minors and clients who lack capacity

  • General rule. If the person entitled to sue was a minor, or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions, when the cause of action accrued, that time is not counted (Code Civ. Proc. § 352, subd. (a)). A minor is someone under 18 (Fam. Code § 6500).
  • Not for public entity claims. That rule does not apply to an action against a public entity or public employee where a claim is required (same section, subd. (b)). For the one-year late-claim period, time while the injured person is a minor is counted (Gov. Code § 911.4, subd. (c)(1)). Minority is instead one of the grounds on which the board must grant a late-claim application (Gov. Code § 911.6, subd. (b)(2) and (3)). Treat a child injured by a public entity as a six-month case until the attorney says otherwise.
  • Medical injury to a minor. A minor's action must be filed within three years from the date of the alleged wrongful act. For a child under six, the time is three years or before the eighth birthday, whichever is longer (Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5).
  • Clients in custody. Imprisonment at accrual can also stop the clock, for no more than two years, and not for public entity claims (Code Civ. Proc. § 352.1).

When to have the attorney verify the date

Every statute of limitations date needs the responsible attorney's confirmation. Count days and months exactly as the attorney instructs, and record who confirmed each date and when.

Brennick asks the public entity question at intake and calculates no date when the answer is yes; the date your attorney enters goes on the firm's connected calendar.

Raise these cases the same day you see them:

Checklist

  • Any public entity or public employee could be involved, even remotely.
  • A doctor, hospital, clinic, chiropractor or other licensed provider is involved.
  • The client is a minor, may lack capacity, or was in custody.
  • The incident date is unclear, or records disagree about it.
  • The case is a wrongful death case.
  • A claim was already presented, or a letter from a public entity is in the file.
  • The case arrives within 90 days of any date on this page.
  • More than one rule could apply, for example a county hospital.

Sources

Related: How Brennick works for personal injury firms