Opinion ID: 2325365
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Majority of Other Jurisdictions Apply the Statute of Limitations of the Forum State

Text: Finally, because serving the interests of judicial economy and predictability weigh strongly in favor of adopting an unclouded and simple rule on statutes of limitations, a majority of other states have decided that statutes of limitations are procedural, and therefore controlled by the law of the forum state. [35] Most states have held that there simply is no need for courts to engage in the harrowing multistep process of weighing the parties' interests when the states have such compelling reasons to employ their own procedural rules. Although states articulate the rule with some variations, there can be no serious argument that there is general consensus across the country that states should apply their own statutes of limitations because they are procedural in nature. Rhode Island should rejoin this overwhelming majority of jurisdictions and restore the centuries-old rule providing that because statutes of limitations are procedural, the law of the forum state controls. With enormous respect for the opinion of the majority, it is nonetheless our opinion that it missed the opportunity to do so in this case. We join in the opinion of the majority in all other respects.