Maryland Courts and COVID-19: Tolled Deadlines, Remote Hearings, and What Claimants Should Do
Nothing about this spring is normal, and that includes the courts. Maryland's judiciary — like nearly everything else — has closed its doors to the public in response to COVID-19. If you were hurt in an accident before the pandemic, or get hurt during it, you are probably wondering what happens to your case and your deadlines. Here is where things stand as of mid-April, and what we are telling clients.
The courts are closed to the public, but not shut down
Governor Hogan declared a state of emergency and a catastrophic health emergency on March 5, 2020. On the judicial side, Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera of the Court of Appeals of Maryland has issued a series of statewide administrative orders: since March 16, 2020, Maryland courthouses have been closed to the public and restricted to emergency operations. Judges are still handling urgent matters — protective orders, bail reviews, quarantine issues — and courts are increasingly conducting hearings remotely by phone and video.
The tolling order: your filing deadline is paused
The most important order for injury claimants came on April 3, 2020. The Chief Judge ordered that all statutory and rules deadlines for initiating a case in a Maryland state court — including statutes of limitations — are tolled or suspended, effective March 16, 2020, by the number of days the courts are closed to the public because of the emergency.
In plain English: the clock on filing your lawsuit stopped on March 16. When the courts reopen to the public, the days they were closed will not count against you. Nobody yet knows how long that will be — the closure runs until further order — but the days are being counted, and they will be added back.
Two cautions before anyone relaxes:
| What the order covers | What it may not cover |
|---|---|
| Statutes of limitations for filing suit in Maryland state courts | Deadlines in federal court, which follow federal orders |
| Statutory and rules deadlines for initiating a matter in state court | Notice requirements owed to other entities — insurers' contractual notice provisions, and pre-suit notices that are not court filings |
| Deadlines that would expire while courts are closed | Evidence, witnesses, and memories — none of which are tolled |
Our advice is simple: treat every deadline as if it were still running. The tolling order is a safety net, not a plan. Courts are still accepting filings, and a complaint can be filed electronically or by mail even while courthouse doors are closed to the public.
It is also worth understanding how the arithmetic will eventually work. Suppose your three-year limitations period on a car-crash claim was due to expire on April 30, 2020 — six weeks into the closure. Under the order, the days from March 16 forward do not count against you; when the courts reopen, you will have the same number of days remaining that you had on March 16. The order is a pause button, not an extension of everyone's deadline by a fixed amount, and precisely how the reopening date gets counted will matter enormously at the margins. Claimants whose deadlines fall anywhere near the closure window should be tracking this with counsel, not estimating it from headlines.
What claimants should actually do right now
- Keep treating, even remotely. Gaps in medical treatment are the first thing insurers point to. If in-person care is unavailable, telehealth visits document both your symptoms and your diligence.
- Preserve evidence now. Businesses are closed, staff are being laid off, and surveillance video is being overwritten on schedule. Preservation letters should go out immediately — the pandemic has not paused evidence destruction.
- Report claims promptly. Insurance companies remain open and are processing claims. Late notice can jeopardize coverage regardless of what courts do.
- Expect negotiation, not trial, for now. Jury trials are suspended. Some insurers are using the shutdown to slow-walk claims; others are settling. Either way, a claim that is fully documented is the one that gets paid.
- Do not assume — ask. Whether a particular deadline is tolled is a lawyer's question with case-specific answers. Five minutes on the phone beats a guess.
What this means for injured people in Maryland
The tolling order means the pandemic should not, by itself, cost anyone a valid claim to a missed filing deadline. But deadlines are only one part of a case. The strongest thing an injured person can do this spring is what it always is: get treatment, keep records, preserve evidence, and get advice early. The courts will reopen. Your case should be ready when they do.
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 closure ultimately ran from March 16 through July 20, 2020 — 126 days that do not count against the time remaining on Maryland filing deadlines — and the Chief Judge's authority to toll limitations was upheld in Murphy v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 478 Md. 333 (2022). For where all three jurisdictions ended up, see our 2020 year in review.
Sources
- Miles & Stockbridge, "Order Tolling Statutes of Limitations… Raises More Questions Than Answers" (JDSupra, Apr. 2020)
- University of Baltimore Law Review, "Tolling the Statute of Limitations During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2022 retrospective on the Barbera orders)
- Lexology, "Maryland, Virginia, and DC Courts Toll Statute of Limitations and Other Deadlines" (2020)