In Georgia, you generally have two years from the date of your injury to bring a personal injury lawsuit. That’s the law. It’s written plainly in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, and for most claims, car accidents, fall injuries, negligent security, it starts the day something goes wrong. But if that’s all you read, you’re already too close to missing something. Let’s slow it down.
Yes, the two-year window is standard. But “standard” doesn’t mean “simple.” The moment your injury occurred isn’t always the moment the law says your clock started. And if you misread that moment, you might spend the next year building a case that can’t legally exist. Let’s talk about what changes that clock.
Sometimes, you don’t know you’ve been hurt. Maybe it’s internal bleeding after surgery. Maybe it’s a medication that doesn’t show its side effects for months. The law has a word for this: “discovery.” In certain cases, the two-year clock starts not at the time of the act, but when you discover the harm, or when a court believes you should have discovered it.
But Georgia’s not generous here. In medical malpractice claims, for instance, there’s a hard wall: five years. It’s called the statute of repose. And it doesn’t care when you found out. If five years pass from the date the negligent act occurred, your case is done. We’ve seen this play out in Macon, where a surgical mistake wasn’t discovered until year six. Despite the obvious error, the statute of repose barred the claim.
There are other exceptions, most people don’t know them by name, but the consequences are real. Start with minors. If the injured person is under 18, their clock usually doesn’t start until they legally become an adult. It sounds comforting. But if parents delay their own claim, like reimbursement for medical costs, they don’t get that extension. Their two years start from day one, not their child’s birthday.
Then there’s fraud, when the person who harmed you also hides it. Maybe it’s a misdiagnosis the doctor never admits. Maybe it’s a business that alters records. The clock can pause, but it won’t reset. And the burden’s on you to prove deception, not just harm.
Or say the defendant flees, leaves the state before you can serve them. In theory, your window pauses. But only until they return and you act. Delay too long, and the court may say the pause never really applied. Each one of these situations is technical. Every one of them has been misread by good people with real injuries. That’s what makes this hard. The law doesn’t reward honesty. It rewards precision.
You don’t have to remember these rules. But you do need to know that they exist, and that they can decide your case before it ever begins. So no, it’s not just “two years.” It’s two years unless. And “unless” is where most claims go quiet.
Not Every Deadline Is Yours to Choose
The law doesn’t care how complicated your life was when the accident happened. It doesn’t care if your car was totaled, if you were unconscious, or if you spent a week waiting on test results. It only cares when you acted, and how fast.
But not all cases follow the same calendar. Different types of claims in Georgia have different clocks. Some give you breathing room. Others start ticking before you even realize someone made a mistake.
In wrongful death claims, the clock usually begins on the day of death, not the injury itself. That sounds straightforward, but what if the person survived for months before complications took their life? If you’re filing on behalf of the estate, that delay matters. If you’re the spouse, it may not.
Medical malpractice is worse. Georgia gives you two years from injury or death. But even if you don’t discover the harm right away, there’s a five-year cap. If five years pass from the procedure or diagnosis, even if the error was just found last week, your case likely won’t be heard. That’s not a loophole. That’s the law.
Workers’ compensation is a different animal. You have one year from the date of the injury, or the last employer-paid treatment. If you’ve been receiving weekly income benefits, then it’s two years from the final check. But those aren’t guesses. They’re deadlines. We’ve seen clients in Milledgeville lose valid comp claims simply because they didn’t realize their benefit payments had quietly stopped 24 months ago.
Property damage? You get four years. Assault claims? Still two. The problem isn’t knowing your deadline, it’s knowing which one applies to your case. And if the defendant is the government, then time isn’t just shorter, it’s sharper.
If the Government Hurt You, the Law Shrinks Fast
Most people don’t expect to sue the city, a county, or the State of Georgia. But when it happens, faulty sidewalks, negligent police chases, school bus collisions, it doesn’t matter how it happened. It only matters that it involved them.
And the deadlines change instantly.
For city or county claims, Georgia requires what’s called ante litem notice: a formal written letter sent to the right official within six months of the incident. Not a phone call. Not a complaint form. A certified, legally sufficient notice served properly. If it arrives late, or goes to the wrong desk, you may never get your day in court.
For claims against the state, it’s twelve months. Sounds better. Isn’t. The requirements are stricter, the exceptions rarer, and the courts less forgiving.
We handled a case out of Warner Robins, a city vehicle ran a red light and t-boned a local pastor. The family contacted us eight months later. Liability was clear. Medical bills were in the six figures. But the ante litem notice had never been sent. The claim was legally dead before we ever opened the file. That’s what makes these cases brutal. Not the injuries. Not the evidence. The calendar.
What Happens If You File Late?
You can have every fact on your side. A clear diagnosis. A negligent defendant. But if your filing is late, even by a day, the court will not ask why. It will ask when. And then it will close the door.
There is no “close enough” in Georgia’s statute of limitations law. We’ve seen judges dismiss lawsuits with permanent injuries because service happened 48 hours past the cutoff. Not for lack of merit. Not for lack of harm. Just lack of time.
Even if an insurance adjuster promises to “work it out,” they’re not bound to honor anything once the statute expires. That handshake means nothing if the clock runs out. Worse, many insurers know exactly when your window ends. They may stall just long enough for you to lose your right to sue.
And here’s the part most people don’t expect: If you find an attorney after the deadline, they may not be able to help. Georgia ethics rules prevent lawyers from filing claims they know are time-barred. So you’re not just locked out of court. You may be locked out of representation.
Late means over. And that’s not drama. That’s precedent.
Filing Early Isn’t Just Safer. It’s Smarter.
Let’s flip the perspective. You get hurt. You act fast. You talk to someone who knows the deadlines better than your Google history. That early move? It doesn’t just protect your right to file, it amplifies everything else.
We’ve seen early clients in Bibb County preserve surveillance video that would’ve been erased in 21 days. We’ve pulled truck black box data before the company wiped the logs. We’ve interviewed store employees before corporate told them to stop talking. Timing doesn’t just secure evidence. It secures honesty.
And let’s be real. The earlier you file, the less stress lives in your body. You stop wondering. You stop second-guessing. You sleep knowing someone else is watching the clock. Most people think the legal system waits for them. It doesn’t. It times them.
What Adams, Jordan & Herrington Does Differently
We’re not a case mill. We don’t take 500 files and hope a few survive. When you come to us, even if you’re near the end of your deadline, we treat your timeline as our timeline. If we can file in time, we will. If we can’t, we won’t fake it. You’ll know where you stand the moment we do.
But when we move, we move fast. Preservation letters. Emergency records. Rapid intake protocol. We’ve filed full suits within 72 hours of first contact, clean, correct, and delivered to the right court with defendants served before the system blinked. Why? Because your clock doesn’t stop for us. So we never stop for it.
Still Unsure? That’s Your Signal.
You’re still reading. That means something. Maybe the injury was last year. Maybe the call to the insurer felt like enough. Maybe someone told you two years is a long time.
It’s not. And it won’t wait.
We don’t need to sell you hope. We don’t need to push a promise. But we can give you one thing right now, clarity.
Let us audit your deadline. Quietly. Quickly. We’ll look at the dates, the facts, the type of case, and we’ll tell you where you stand. No contracts. No pressure. Just truth, before time makes it irrelevant.
You don’t need to rush. You just need to know whether you can still choose when to move. Because if the law closes first, it chooses for you.
Still unsure if the law will let you file? Let us tell you quietly and clearly, without pressure. At Adams, Jordan & Herrington, we don’t just protect your rights. We protect your timing.
