I am not a lawyer but I have often wondered, can a case be filed after the deadline has passed to collect monetary damages, for the express purpose of being able to legally claim that the Defendant committed harm to another?
Many times when a wrongful death occurs the family has to deal with the shock, possible loss of income if the victim had income, cost of the funeral, emotional outrage, and being ground up by the legal system that always seems to have a reason to not litigate. The result can be that a proper legal filing just becomes too daunting of a task.
But what if a few years later the family has rebounded and has money available to file a claim against the parties that allegedly caused an avoidable death but the filing deadline to collect damages has passed? Most of us have been led to believe that when a filing deadline has passed, no filing can be made.
I would suggest that if a case cannot be filed once the monetary deadline has passed, that a precedent was set when Taylor Swift sued for one dollar. Whether Swift filed before any deadline, or after, by seeking one dollar the case was no longer about monetary compensation, the case was about justice according to Ms. Swift's version of events.
Taylor Swift was unable to collect a reasonable amount of money for damages, yet she proceeded with the lawsuit anyways. I see this as a precedent so that going forward, a case can be filed even after a deadline as long as the Plaintiff is not seeking a monetary verdict.
There is value in being able to legally state that a specific person harmed another, the value being not being sued for slander. So if anyone out there has been told that they are too late filing a case, but they can afford to file the case anyways, there is value in getting a verdict in their favor since it can save them from being accused of slander for speaking the truth.
If you agree or disagree, please leave a comment and if you can, identify if you are a lawyer or not.
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