20:59
got a random stanford email and almost had a heart attack
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LSDefine
Simple English definitions for legal terms
concealment rule
Read a random definition: Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System
A quick definition of concealment rule:
The concealment rule is a principle that says if someone does something to hide or keep a problem from being discovered, the time limit for taking legal action is paused until the problem is found. This is also called the fraudulent-concealment rule.
A more thorough explanation:
The concealment rule is a legal principle that states that if a defendant's actions prevent a plaintiff from discovering the existence of a claim, the statute of limitations is paused until the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered the claim. This is also known as the fraudulent-concealment rule.
For example, if a doctor fails to disclose a medical error to a patient, and the patient only discovers the error years later, the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim would be tolled until the patient discovered the error.
Another example would be if a company intentionally hides evidence of a defective product from consumers, and a consumer is injured by the product years later. The statute of limitations for a product liability claim would be tolled until the consumer discovered the evidence of the defect.
These examples illustrate how the concealment rule can protect plaintiffs from being unfairly barred from bringing a claim due to a defendant's intentional or unintentional actions to hide information.