A statute that requires a plaintiff to file a lawsuit within a specific time period after the cause of action accrues, often when the injury occurred or was discovered.

• A. Statute of limitations
• B. Statute of repose
• C. Express license
• D. Invitee

Answer: (A)

The time to sue is governed by a statute of limitations. It sets a deadline to file a lawsuit after the cause of action accrues, which is typically when the injury occurs or when the injury is discovered and the plaintiff knows or should know of the connection to the defendant’s conduct. If you don’t file within that period, the claim is barred, even if the claim has merit. Some situations may toll or extend that period, but the basic idea is that the legal action must be initiated within a finite window tied to accrual.

This differs from a statute of repose, which imposes a fixed deadline measured from a specific event such as construction or product manufacture, regardless of when the injury is discovered. Express license and invitee relate to permissions and duties on entering premises, not to time limits for filing lawsuits.