Introduction: General Considerations

A statute of repose and a statute of limitations are separate and distinct statutes that place a limitation on the time in which a plaintiff has to file its lawsuit. The difference between a statute of limitations and a statute of repose is that "a statute of limitations governs the time within which lawsuits may be commenced after a cause of action has accrued, while a statute of repose extinguishes the action itself after a fixed period of time, regardless of when the action accrued." DeLuna v. Burciaga, 223 Ill. 2d 49 (2006). Statutes of repose do not incorporate the discovery rule (see below) and generally terminate claims regardless of a...