Legal term
Statute of Limitations (SOL)
In a sentence
The legal deadline for filing a claim, set by each state. In mass torts the clock often starts at discovery of the injury's link to the product — and revival windows, tolling, and registries can reopen or pause it.
Every state sets its own limitations periods, and the trigger matters as much as the length: many toxic-injury claims run from when you knew or should have known the connection, not from exposure. Legislatures also enact revival windows — Rhode Island's 2026 law reopened child sexual-abuse claims through June 2028.
The honest rule: never assume a closed window means no case, and never assume an open one means unlimited time. Both errors are common; a licensed attorney can evaluate your specific dates. See our 51-state SOL tracker for the current map.
