Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

Every claim has a statute of limitation that establishes a deadline for when a lawsuit must be filed on the claim. The deadline depends on the type of claim in involved. Determining the exactly deadline is fact intensive analysis that should be done after a consultation with a local attorney.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

Four years or two years for written or verbal agreements respectively, Call me directly at 16192223504.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

It will depend on a number of factors, but the short answer is Yes, there is a time limit.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

Yes, there are time limits for just about every type of lawsuit. The time limit will depend upon the facts involved such as whether you and your partner had a written or oral agreement.

There are other factors that are likely going to come into play such as when a violation of the agreement occurred, when you first learned about the violation, etc.

This is something where you really want to consult with an attorney to determine your rights. Do not wait as time is ticking.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

A suit to recover for the breach of a written contract (or "an obligation based on a writing" to be more general) must be brought within four years of the time the right to sue arises.

A partnership will ordinarily have a written agreement between the partners; if not, there may be enough collateral documents to show an obligation based upon a writing. If even this fails, the time limit would be two years from the date of the breach.

However, the analysis doesn't end there. In a partnership, Partner X might be taking advantage of Partner Y every year from, say 1980 through 2005. Partner Y suspects, but does not investigate or bring suit, over the cheating until 2006. It might be argued that the claims for 1980 through 2001 are cut off by the statute of limitations. I would argue otherwise, on the theory that at the dissolution of a partnership the right to an accounting and settlement first arises. Therefore, the cause of action is fresh and suit for all the defalcations and cheats can be brought and maintained.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

Yes. How long you have depends upon the nature of your legal claims and not upon the identity of the defendant or the nature of your relationship with him. There may be a variety of claims you can make, and it is possible that they will have different limitation periods. Some or all of these periods may have already expired -- or may be about to expire. If some of them began at the end of your partnership, you may have additional challenges determining when that happened.

You also need to consider when your limitation periods began to run. They may have begun at the time of your partner's wrongdoing, at the end of your partnership, or when you learned (or reasonably should have learned) that you had been wronged. Here again, if you have multiple claims their limitation periods may have begun at different times.

There is no way I can tell you everything you need to know in order to answer your question without more facts. You need to arrange a consultation with an attorney as soon as possible, lest any of your claims expire before you learn about your rights.

Re: Suing an ex-business partner

It varies depending upon the cause of action, two years for negligence or breach of oral contract, three years for fraud, four years for breach of a written contract, etcetera. (See Code of Civil Procedure sections 335 et seq.) I am available for a telephone consultation and my rates are reasonable.