What Is the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations in Wisconsin?

You're a Wisconsin resident who's been injured—say, in a car accident, on a dangerous property, or by a careless doctor. You're thinking about filing a lawsuit but you're unsure of the lawsuit filing deadline, called a "statute of limitations," that applies to your case. We'll fill you in on the basics.

We begin with Wisconsin's three-year general rule. We'll also explain a few different deadlines that apply in specific kinds of cases. From there, we'll briefly discuss some situations when Wisconsin law might give you more time to file. We close with a discussion of what happens if you miss the filing deadline.

Wisconsin's General Rule: Three Years to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Wisconsin's basic personal injury statute of limitations is found at Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m) (2024). Unless a more specific statute of limitations applies, you have three years, usually from the date you're injured, to file a personal injury lawsuit in court. This is also the statute of limitations that applies to most wrongful death lawsuits—the kind of lawsuit that surviving family members might file when personal injuries cause death.

What if you don't know right away that you're hurt? In that case, Wisconsin's "discovery rule" might give you a bit more time to file. Under the discovery rule, the statute of limitations clock doesn't start to run until you discover—or if you were being reasonably careful, you should have discovered—your injury. (Pritzlaff v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 194 Wis.2d 302, 315-16 (Wis. 1995).)

Other Personal Injury Statutes of Limitations

When there's a more specific statute of limitations for your type of personal injury case, that's the statute that applies. Here are some examples.

Intentional injuries. When someone intentionally harms you, the law calls that an "intentional tort." In Wisconsin, the statute of limitations for the most common intentional tort lawsuits is three years. (Wis. Stat. § 893.57 (2024).) Here too, the clock usually begins running on the date you're injured, but the discovery rule might extend the deadline.

This is the statute of limitations that applies to injuries caused by:

• assault
• battery
• defamation, and
• false imprisonment.

Medical malpractice cases. Suppose you're injured by a health care provider's malpractice. Under Wisconsin law, you must bring your case within the later of these deadlines.

• The general rule. Generally speaking, you must file a malpractice lawsuit within three years from the date you were injured.
• The discovery rule. If you don't know you've been injured right away, you have one year from the date you discover (or reasonably should have discovered) your injury to file. But regardless of when (or if) you discover you were injured, you can't file suit later than five years from the date of the malpractice.

(Wis. Stat. § 893.55(1m) (2024).)

Finally, note that under Wis. Stat. § 893.55(2)-(3) (2024), special deadlines might apply when:

• your provider conceals the malpractice from you, or
• your doctor negligently leaves a foreign object (like a surgical instrument or sponge) in your body.

Car accidents causing death. There's a two year deadline to file suit when a car accident causes death. (Wis. Stat. § 893.54(2m) (2024).)

Exceptions to Wisconsin's Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

In some circumstances, Wisconsin law carves out exceptions to the statutes of limitations. When an exception applies, the statute of limitations might not begin running right away, or it might pause for some period after it's started to run. The discovery rule, discussed above, is an example of the former. Here are a couple more examples.

Injured Person Is Legally Disabled

If an injured person is legally disabled when the accident or event causing their injury happens, the statute doesn't start running on the date of injury. "Legal disability" is simply a fancy way of saying that a person can't manage their own affairs without help or supervision from a parent, guardian, or court.

Under Wis. Stat. § 893.16(1) (2024), minors and those who are mentally ill are considered legally disabled.

Persons younger than 18. A minor—someone younger than 18—is legally disabled until they reach the age of 18 or they're legally emancipated. Minors have two years from the earlier of those events (18th birthday or legal emancipation) to file a personal injury lawsuit. This exception doesn't apply to cases involving medical malpractice.

Persons who are mentally ill. Someone who's mentally ill has two years from the date their mental illness ends to file a personal injury suit. The longest that mental illness can extend the filing deadline is five years.

Person Who Injured You Is Outside Wisconsin

In some cases, when the person who caused your injuries (the "defendant") leaves Wisconsin, their period of absence might not count toward the statute of limitations deadline. (See Wis. Stat. § 893.19 (2024).)

What If You Miss the Filing Deadline?

The statute of limitations is a claim killer. That's its only job, and it does that job very well. Miss the applicable deadline and—barring some exception that gives you more time—your personal injury claim is legally dead. What happens if you try to file your lawsuit after the limitation period runs out? The defendant is almost certain to ask the court to dismiss your case. The court will have no choice but to grant that request.

Keep in mind, too, the impact that the statute of limitations can have even before you file a lawsuit. Once the filing deadline has passed, you've lost virtually all of your negotiating leverage. You can't go to court to enforce your right to collect compensation. Threatening a lawsuit will be meaningless. The defendant has no reason to settle your claim because in the eyes of the law, your claim no longer exists.

Get Help With the Wisconsin Statutes of Limitations

If you take nothing else from this article, it should be this: The statute of limitations is no place for amateurs to venture alone. Statutes of limitations are, without question, some of the most complex and difficult to understand and apply of all laws. It's easy to make a very costly mistake.

If you think you have a Wisconsin personal injury claim, contact a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer for help. And don't delay. Time is one of your biggest enemies. Once the filing deadline ends, there's no turning back the clock.