Practice question I got wrong and I still do not think the answer is right
Doing the PassTheBar solicitor practice set and this one has been bothering me for two days. Paraphrasing it slightly:
Client had surgery in April 2022. In September 2024 a second doctor tells her the first surgery was done improperly and that is what has been causing her pain since. She comes to you in March 2026 wanting to sue the original surgeon. When does the basic limitation period expire?
Options were April 2024, September 2026, April 2037, and March 2028.
I picked April 2024 because the negligent act was the surgery. The answer key says September 2026 and the explanation talks about discovery. I follow what it is saying but the act happened in 2022 and I do not see how a claim sits around for over two years before the clock even starts.
Am I missing something obvious.
8 replies
Accepted answer
You are missing section 5. The clock does not run from the act, it runs from discovery.
Under the Limitations Act, 2002 the basic period is two years from the day the claim was discovered, and discovery has four parts. She has to know the injury happened, that it was caused by an act or omission, that the act was the defendant's, and that a proceeding would be an appropriate way to seek a remedy. She did not know the surgery caused it until September 2024. So September 2024 plus two.
April 2024 is the trap answer. It is the date you get by counting from the act, which is exactly the outcome the section exists to prevent.
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