Nothing should last forever, especially lawsuits and stale claims. But a stale claim is exactly what New Jersey permits in products liability litigation.
New Jersey law requires all personal injury and products liability actions to be brought within two years of the date of accrual of the cause of action. See N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2(a). To determine the date of accrual, courts apply a “discovery rule”; thus, a person has two years from the date he or she knew or reasonably should have known that he or she might have a basis for a claim. SeeLopez v. Swyer, 62 N.J. 267, 273-74 (1973).
