“Statutes of limitations govern when a lawsuit must be filed: ‘Civil actions, without exception, can only be commenced within the periods prescribed in this title, after the cause of action shall have accrued, unless where, in special cases, a different limitation is prescribed by statute.’ [] ‘Civil action’ as used in CCP 312, includes special proceedings—e.g., statutory actions not found at common law or equity. [] Statutes of limitations in the Code of Civil Procedure do not apply to administrative proceedings. [] Laches, however, may still apply to administrative proceedings. [] Administrative proceedings are often governed by their own limitations periods.”
“A civil action is ‘commenced’ for statute of limitations purposes against persons named in the complaint upon filing of the complaint. [] When the last day to file the complaint falls on a weekend or holiday, the time to sue is extended to the next court day. [] Where the statute of limitations is tolled because the plaintiff is a minor, the day after tolling ends is excluded in calculating whether the action is timely. [] If a “judicial emergency” (e.g., war, act of terrorism, public unrest or calamity, epidemic, natural disaster, influx of criminal cases, etc.) substantially interferes with the ability to file papers at a courthouse, the presiding judge may request, and the Chair of the Judicial Council may order, that those dates be deemed “holidays” under CCP 12 and 12a for statute of limitations purposes. The Chair of the Judicial Council may issue such orders sua sponte upon determining a circumstance which ‘threatens the orderly operation of superior court locations in more than one county, or renders the presence in, or access to affected facilities unsafe.’ The Chair of the Judicial Council may grant further extensions of time upon the determination that circumstances warranting such relief continue to exist. An allegation that all superior courts in the county where the complaint could properly be filed were closed due to an earthquake on the last day of the statutory period was sufficient to overcome a demurrer on statute of limitations grounds. []”
“Certain pleadings “relate back” to the date the original complaint was filed for statute of limitations purposes, even if the statute of limitations expired in the interim. This includes, among others: Amendments identifying fictitiously named (“Doe”) defendants []; Amendments correcting defendant’s name or form of entity (e.g., partnership or corporation []; Amendments alleging new claims or causes of action based on the same general facts in the original complaint.”
“[W]hile a statute of limitations normally sets the time within which proceedings must be commenced once a cause of action accrues, [a] statute of repose limits the time within which an action may be brought and is not related to accrual. Indeed, the injury need not have occurred, much less have been discovered. . . Unlike statutes of limitations, which generally do not begin to run until a cause of action has accrued, statutes of repose may cut off a claim before a plaintiff discovers he or she has been wronged or even before any damages have been suffered. ‘Put more bluntly, there is a time when allowing people to put their wrongful conduct behind them—and out of the law’s reach—is more important than providing those wronged with a legal remedy, even if the victims never had the opportunity to pursue one.’ [] Unlike statutes of limitations, a statute of repose is not subject to statutory or equitable tolling. []
“Statutes of limitations are designed to prevent the prosecution of stale claims, and to stimulate plaintiffs to assert fresh claims against defendants in a diligent fashion so that they can be resolved on their merits. [] The statute of limitations usually bars a cross-complaint in the same fashion as if defendant had brought a separate lawsuit on the claim. [] But either a compulsory or permissive cross-complaint against the plaintiff may “relate back” to when the action was filed for statute of limitations purposes. []”
“A claim for relief barred by a statute of limitations may still be asserted as a defense or setoff to another’s claim. For example: ‘One sued on a contract may urge defenses that render the contract unenforceable, even if the same matters, alleged as grounds for restitution after rescission, would be untimely.’ [D]efendant may assert fraud as defense although time to sue for damages for fraud has expired. []”
[California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial Statutes of Limitations [citations omitted]]
