DC Deadlines in the Pandemic: Emergency Orders, Emergency Legislation, and Your Claim
The District of Columbia ordinarily gives an injured person three years to file most injury claims — one of the more generous windows in the region. But "ordinarily" ended in March. The city is under a public health emergency, the courthouses on Indiana Avenue are closed to routine business, and a web of emergency orders and emergency legislation now governs what happens to legal deadlines. Here is the state of play as of mid-May.
Where DC's tolling comes from
Unlike Maryland and Virginia, where the highest courts' administrative orders did the work, the District's answer starts with a statute built for exactly this moment. D.C. Code § 11-947 gives the courts emergency authority when a natural disaster or other emergency makes compliance with deadlines impracticable: the courts may enter orders to delay, toll, or otherwise grant relief from time deadlines.
Acting under that authority, the DC Courts' Joint Committee on Judicial Administration and the chief judges issued orders in mid-March — beginning March 18–19, 2020 — restricting court operations and tolling deadlines, including statutes of limitations, for the duration of the emergency. Those orders have since been extended as the Mayor's public health emergency has been extended. In plain terms: the filing clock in the District stopped in mid-March and remains stopped as we write.
Meanwhile, the DC Council has been legislating at emergency speed. The COVID-19 response acts passed since March have extended the Mayor's emergency powers and enacted a raft of protections that matter to people with pending injuries and pending bills — including limits on debt collection and evictions during the emergency. The Council's emergency framework is why the court tolling orders can keep pace with the public health emergency itself.
What is (and is not) paused
| Paused | Not paused |
|---|---|
| Statutes of limitations for filing suit in DC courts, while the emergency orders remain in effect | The six-month notice to the District under D.C. Code § 12-309 for claims against the city |
| Court deadlines in pending cases, per the courts' orders | Insurance policy deadlines: notice provisions, proof-of-loss requirements, UM/UIM conditions |
| Jury trials and most in-person proceedings | Medical needs, evidence preservation, witness memories |
The § 12-309 point deserves emphasis. Claims against the District government require written notice within six months of injury — a trap in the best of times. Until someone in authority says in writing that the emergency tolls it, the only safe course is to serve the notice on time. Mail and email still work.
Remember, too, that DC's baseline deadlines vary more than people expect. The general three-year period under D.C. Code § 12-301 covers most negligence claims, but wrongful death claims, claims subject to the one-year periods for certain intentional torts, and medical malpractice claims with their own 90-day pre-suit notice requirement all run on different clocks. An emergency tolling order layered on top of the wrong assumed baseline is how good claims die politely. The first task in every new case this spring is the same: identify every applicable deadline, then determine — deadline by deadline — which ones the emergency orders actually reach.
Remote justice, real progress
The Superior Court has moved with impressive speed to remote hearings. Emergency matters are being heard by videoconference; judges are ruling on papers; filings are electronic. For injury claimants this cuts both ways: nothing about the emergency prevents a case from being filed, worked up, and negotiated — but jury trials, the engine that drives settlement value, are suspended indefinitely. Expect insurers to price that delay into their offers, and expect a substantial backlog when jurors return to the William B. Bryant courthouse and Moultrie.
What this means for injured people in the District of Columbia
- Your filing deadline is almost certainly paused — but document everything as if it were not. Tolling orders get construed narrowly after emergencies end, and the claimant who filed on the original schedule never has to litigate what the orders meant.
- Government claims are different. Serve § 12-309 notice within six months, emergency or no emergency.
- Keep treating. Telehealth visits are available across the District and they create the medical record your claim will stand on.
- Preserve evidence in writing now. Closed businesses discard video and records. A preservation letter costs nothing and can save a case.
- Use the pause productively. Cases that are fully documented, demanded, and negotiated during the shutdown will be first in line — for settlement or for trial — when the system reopens.
If you or a loved one has been hurt, call Posey Lebowitz at (202) 524-0123 or send us a message for a free consultation.
Part of our DMV case law archive, compiled in 2026 to reflect the archive of some of the most important decisions in injury law.
Update: The District's tolling ultimately ran from March 2020 through March 30, 2021 — far longer than Maryland's or Virginia's — but a 2024 D.C. Court of Appeals decision construed the orders narrowly, tolling only limitations periods that would have expired during that emergency window. See our 2020 year in review and our coverage of the return of DC jury trials.