Shot Clock Violation: Judge Tosses Untimely Construction Defect Claims

In basketball there is a shot clock. Once a team has the ball, it must shoot within 30 seconds. We're obviously talking about college basketball since its March, but the NBA has a similar 24-second shot clock. Failure to shoot within the required time automatically gives the ball back to the other team. The law's version of the shot clock is the statute of limitations (not to be confused with the statute of repose. Once you have a legal claim, you only have so much time to file suit. Depending on the circumstances, the clock starts when you are harmed, when you discover that you have been harmed, or when you reasonably should have discovered that you have been harmed. How much time is on the clock generally depends on which state's law applies and the type of claim. The consequence of not filing suit in time is not just a turnover, but may be game over, as one owner in Seattle learned last week (see Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue Condo. Ass'n v. Viracon, LLC, et al.,