Tolling Agreement
(Statute of Limitations) (SC)

Summary

This tolling agreement template can be used to toll a statute of limitations applicable to existing claims in a South Carolina civil action. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, and an alternate clause. The purpose of a tolling agreement is to suspend the period of time in which parties must legally bring a lawsuit. A tolling agreement extends the filing deadline and allows parties to negotiate and possibly resolve their dispute without litigation. Under South Carolina's discovery rule, the statute of limitations begins to run from the date the injured party either knows or should have known by the exercise of reasonable diligence that a cause of action arises from the wrongful conduct. Johnston v. Bowen, 437 S.E.2d 45, 47 (S.C. 1993). The discovery rule has been applied to the following claims: • Tort • Fraud • Breach of contract –and– • Professional negligence Abba Equip., Inc. v. Thomason, 517 S.E.2d 235, 238–39 (S.C. Ct. App. 1999); see S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-535. In South Carolina, statutes of limitations are procedural rules that limit the time in which a party can seek "the remedy available from an existing cause of action." See Langley v. Pierce, 313 S.C. 401, 403–04 (S.C. 1993). By contrast, a statute of repose creates a substantive right to be free from liability after a legislatively determined period of time. In other words, if a claimed injury occurs outside the time period, the injury is not actionable. See Nash v. Tindall Corp., 375 S.C. 36, 40 (S.C. Ct. App. 2007). Statutes of repose cannot be tolled in South Carolina. See Langley v. Pierce, 313 S.C. 401, 404 (1993). For related content, see Computing and Extending Time in Litigation (Federal), Commencing a Civil Action Resource Kit (Federal), and Civil Litigation Fundamentals Resource Kit (Federal).