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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

Every year it happens. Someone calls me and asks if I will accept referral of a maritime personal injury case that happened 3 years and 9 months earlier. It is a sad occurrence when I have to advise them that even though Florida has a four year statute of limitations, the statute of limitations on maritime personal injury cases is three years.

I had to do it just recently. A young attorney called and said that she had been told that the three year statute of limitations didn't apply except to accidents on the high seas. She was now coming up on four years after the accident and wanted to know if I would take the case.

While the statute is found in the Death on the High Seas Act, it applies to all maritime accidents on the navigable waters of the United States, which includes most rivers and harbors. Land-locked lakes may be excluded.

When I told her that the SOL had passed, I could tell that she was getting upset. Sadly, she caught me in a rush and I was less than gentle in giving her the bad news. I have regretted it since.

The statute of limitations is only the first of many pitfalls you are up against if you are a non-maritime attorney trying to handle a boating accident case. If you dodge that bullet, don't worry, there are many more to come.