What This Question Is Really Asking
Most people asking this are trying to avoid losing their right to pursue an injury claim because they didn’t notify the campus quickly enough. In practice, there are two different “clocks”: (1) internal reporting deadlines the campus or its insurer may ask for, and (2) the legal deadline to file the correct type of claim in the correct place.
A Practical Step-by-Step Path
- Immediate priorities: If you are hurt, get to a safe place and document what you can while it is still fresh—what the surface looked like, lighting, warning signs (or lack of them), footwear, and the general area. If you can do so safely, take photos and get contact information for witnesses.
- Short-term tasks: Make an incident report through the campus process (or the property manager’s process) and keep a copy or confirmation. If you are represented, your attorney can request the campus entity’s general liability insurance contact information and direct future communications appropriately.
- Later-stage steps: A claim typically turns on whether the property owner had a duty to keep the area reasonably safe, whether a dangerous condition existed, and whether the owner knew (or should have known) about it and failed to fix it or warn about it. Evidence like maintenance logs, cleaning schedules, prior complaints, and video can matter, and those items can be harder to obtain if too much time passes.
Timing: What Can Speed Things Up or Slow Things Down
- Delayed reporting: The longer the gap, the easier it is for the campus or insurer to argue they cannot confirm what happened or whether the condition existed long enough for them to have notice.
- Video overwrite and record retention: Many systems recycle footage and logs on a schedule. If you wait, key evidence may be gone.
- Disputed hazard (“open and obvious”): North Carolina premises cases often focus on whether the hazard was obvious and whether the injured person should have avoided it. If the defense argues you had equal or better knowledge of the condition, delays and missing documentation can make that argument stronger.
- Contributory negligence risk (NC-specific): North Carolina follows contributory negligence rules in many negligence cases. That means the defense may try to show you contributed to the fall (even slightly), which can bar recovery. Early documentation can help reduce misunderstandings about what you saw and did.
- Government-related issues: If the campus is tied to a government entity, different procedures and defenses (including immunity issues) may affect how and where a claim must be brought.
How This Applies
Apply to your facts: Because this incident happened on a campus and you were directed to follow up with an associate general counsel, it is especially important to identify what type of campus entity is involved and what claim process applies. Your attorney’s request for general liability insurance information is a common early step, but it should be paired with preserving evidence (photos, witness info, incident report confirmation) and confirming the correct legal deadline for that specific campus entity.
What the Statutes Say (Optional)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52 (Three years) – sets a three-year limitations period for many negligence-based personal injury lawsuits.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299 (State Tort Claims Act limitations) – generally bars claims against State departments/institutions/agencies unless filed with the Industrial Commission within three years of accrual.
Conclusion
For a campus slip-and-fall in Durham, the safest approach is to report the incident promptly and preserve evidence, even if you are not sure yet whether you will pursue a claim. The legal deadline is usually tied to filing suit (often three years), and State-entity campuses can involve a different filing process through the Industrial Commission. One practical next step is to gather and save your incident report confirmation, photos, and witness contacts so your attorney can evaluate the correct path without avoidable evidence gaps.
