With a recent spree of state court rulings offering a range of outcomes for so-called “lookback laws,” litigators are evaluating new legal tactics and hurdles in pursuing civil child sexual abuse claims against accused abusers and connected entities.
More states are passing or considering legislative updates that strip the statute of limitations for tort claims involving allegations of child sexual abuse that otherwise would be time-barred. Many laws vary by granular details, which often narrow windows to file litigation by certain time frames, age, or who can be sued. Further complicating sensitive matters, recent back-to-back court rulings have varied, leaving some litigators batting around other legal remedies to pursue often decades-old child sexual abuse allegations.