Potomac, MD asked in Civil Litigation for Maryland

Q: In a civil conspiracy lawsuit, does the statute of limitations begin when the conspiracy occurred

Or when the victim discovered it had happened?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
Answered
  • Rockville, MD
  • Licensed in Maryland

A: The later of: (1) date the plaintiff suffered harm or damage; or (2) the date the plaintiff discovered, or should have discovered in the exercise or ordinary diligence, that they suffered harm or damage. A civil conspiracy is a combination of two or more persons by an agreement or understanding to accomplish an unlawful act or to use unlawful means to accomplish an act not in itself illegal with the further requirement that the act or the means employed must result in damages to the plaintiff. Conspiracy is not a separate tort capable of independently supporting an award of damages, absent other tortious injury to the plaintiff. In other words, the activity the conspirators planned to do and actually did must be the basis for the claim, not the conspiracy alone. People can conspire to do all sorts of things that are not actionable torts.

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