Tort Reform Article – SOL

While the new tort reform House Bill 837 may have many other provisions that will have a more immediate impact, the shortening of the statute of limitations for negligence actions will have a large long-term impact on personal injury litigation in Florida. Specifically, House Bill 837 reduced the statute of limitations for “an action founded on negligence” from four years to two years. This change will require Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ attorneys to file their claims much quicker and prevent Plaintiff’s attorneys from holding onto files for years while their clients continue to increase their medical bills prior to filing the actions. Importantly, the bill specifically indicates that the change to the statute of limitations only applies to actions which accrue after the bill was signed as it states, “the amendments made by this act to s. 95.11, Florida Statutes, apply to causes of action accruing after the effective date of this act.” Thus, it is important for attorneys to review Complaints in which the date of the incident is alleged to be after March 24, 2023. This change will not impact the statute of limitations for UM/UIM matters, and it will be interesting to watch if Plaintiff’s firms attempt to hold such files for longer periods of time before filing.