{"attribution":{"source":"legal.exploreworldai.com","canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:pa-21-wap-2024-2025-10-23","cite_as":"NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:pa-21-wap-2024-2025-10-23)","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision","version":"legal-2026-10-13","fingerprint":"ewai:us:97516d","proof":"sha256:6c14d9683b6ac19a40f4462e30ea45fa3bc12d97efdf2b16284e1c44270d3762","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","publisher":"NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal","terms":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om"},"brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","item":{"schema_version":"1.0.0","id":"us:pa-21-wap-2024-2025-10-23","jurisdiction":"us","lang":"en","brand_source":"Source: NovaCopilot","brand":{"product":"NovaCopilot","platform":"ExploreWorldAI","infrastructure":"ExploreWorld Legal","infrastructure_url":"legal.exploreworldai.com","legal_entity":"Valkiv Ventures AB","permanent_url":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot","source":"Source: NovaCopilot","powered_by":"Powered by NovaCopilot","license":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor"},"sections":[{"title":"","paragraphs":["para_1"]},{"title":"IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"WESTERN DISTRICT","paragraphs":["para_4"]},{"title":"Appellant","paragraphs":["para_6"]},{"title":"BENJAMIN E. MANGUS D/B/A MANGUS","paragraphs":["para_8"]},{"title":"Appellee","paragraphs":["para_10","para_11","para_12","para_13","para_14","para_15","para_16","para_17","para_18","para_19","para_20","para_21"]},{"title":"No. 21 WAP 2024","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Appeal from the Order of the","paragraphs":["para_24","para_25","para_26","para_27"]},{"title":"Crawford County Civil Division","paragraphs":["para_29","para_30"]},{"title":"ARGUED: April 10, 2025","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"CONCURRING OPINION","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"JUSTICE WECHT DECIDED: OCTOBER 23, 2025","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"I agree with the Majority’s conclusion that the Home Inspection Law’s “Statute of","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Limitations”1 in fact unintuitively functions as a statute of repose2—a necessary","paragraphs":["para_36","para_37","para_38","para_39","para_40","para_41","para_42","para_43","para_44"]},{"title":"3 173 A.3d 634 (Pa. 2017). I did not participate in the Court’s consideration of that","paragraphs":["para_46","para_47","para_48","para_49","para_50","para_51","para_52"]},{"title":"It is, of course, beyond peradventure that the plain language of a statute must","paragraphs":["para_54","para_55","para_56","para_57","para_58","para_59","para_60","para_61"]},{"title":"To explain my reservations about DuBose, I address three interrelated","paragraphs":["para_63","para_64","para_65","para_66","para_67","para_68","para_69","para_70","para_71","para_72","para_73"]},{"title":"Critical to my conclusion is the absence of an express or implied element of","paragraphs":["para_75","para_76"]},{"title":"And many of Chapter 55’s individual provisions do not specify a triggering event that","paragraphs":["para_78","para_79","para_80","para_81","para_82","para_83","para_84","para_85","para_86","para_87"]},{"title":"10 Accrue, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (10th ed.); see Maj. Op. at 16 (“A statute of","paragraphs":["para_89","para_90","para_91","para_92","para_93","para_94"]},{"title":"11 “The discovery rule tolls the statute of limitations when an injury or its cause is not","paragraphs":["para_96","para_97","para_98","para_99","para_100","para_101","para_102"]},{"title":"Notably, the construction project limitations period discussed by the parties and","paragraphs":["para_104","para_105"]},{"title":"Section 5502, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5536—governing construction projects—provides its own","paragraphs":["para_107","para_108","para_109","para_110","para_111","para_112"]},{"title":"Furthermore, Section 5536 provides its own narrow exception in Section 5536(b), which","paragraphs":["para_114","para_115","para_116","para_117","para_118","para_119","para_120","para_121"]},{"title":"15 See generally Maj. Op. at 19 (citing cases). It must be said that, in providing an","paragraphs":["para_123","para_124"]},{"title":"(continued…)","paragraphs":["para_126"]},{"title":"Turn next to MCARE. At issue in DuBose was the limitations provision found at","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"MCARE Section 513, which provides in relevant part:","paragraphs":["para_129"]},{"title":"(a) General rule.—Except as provided in subsection (b) [injury by foreign","paragraphs":["para_131","para_132","para_133","para_134","para_135","para_136","para_137","para_138","para_139","para_140","para_141","para_142","para_143"]},{"title":"The Majority offers the following explanation for declining Gidor’s invitation:","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"We reject Gidor’s argument that [HIL] Section 7512 is analogous to","paragraphs":["para_146","para_147","para_148","para_149","para_150","para_151","para_152","para_153"]},{"title":"Section 513(d) compared to Section 513(a) . . . , which we explained is a","paragraphs":["para_155","para_156","para_157","para_158","para_159","para_160","para_161","para_162","para_163","para_164"]},{"title":"Section 513(d) is a statute of limitations. Critically, we observed that","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Section 513(d) sets forth “specific equitable considerations that may toll the","paragraphs":["para_167","para_168","para_169","para_170","para_171","para_172"]},{"title":"Thus, in DuBose, the Court found that a provision tying a time limitation to a certain","paragraphs":["para_174","para_175"]},{"title":"Take for granted one principle: one can properly understand a limitations provision","paragraphs":["para_177","para_178","para_179","para_180","para_181","para_182","para_183","para_184","para_185","para_186","para_187","para_188"]},{"title":"In DuBose, though, we construed MCARE’s limitations provision’s specification of","paragraphs":["para_190","para_191","para_192","para_193","para_194","para_195","para_196","para_197","para_198","para_199","para_200"]},{"title":"Thus, I find fault with DuBose’s analysis. I struggle to understand how this Court","paragraphs":["para_202","para_203","para_204","para_205","para_206","para_207","para_208","para_209","para_210","para_211","para_212","para_213"]},{"title":"This is important because, in my view, there is no material distinction between","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"MCARE Section 513(d)’s primary language and the language at issue in HIL","paragraphs":[]},{"title":"Section 7512. In relevant part, stripped of its (express) exceptions, Section 513(d)","paragraphs":["para_217","para_218","para_219","para_220","para_221","para_222"]},{"title":"Similarly, based upon the text and independent of what the Majority gleans from","paragraphs":["para_224","para_225"]},{"title":"20 The Majority misconstrues my disagreement with its invocation of the problematic","paragraphs":["para_227"]},{"title":"I fault Gidor for citing DuBose, and I do not; Gidor must make the best argument she can","paragraphs":["para_229","para_230","para_231","para_232","para_233","para_234","para_235","para_236","para_237","para_238","para_239","para_240","para_241","para_242","para_243","para_244"]},{"title":"21 I qualify this concern because Section 513(d) might more fairly be treated as","paragraphs":["para_246","para_247","para_248"]}],"paragraphs":[{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.]","paragraph_id":"para_1"},{"text":"IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA","paragraph_id":"para_2"},{"text":"WESTERN DISTRICT","paragraph_id":"para_3"},{"text":"MARY JOAN GIDOR,","paragraph_id":"para_4"},{"text":"Appellant","paragraph_id":"para_5"},{"text":"v.","paragraph_id":"para_6"},{"text":"BENJAMIN E. MANGUS D/B/A MANGUS","paragraph_id":"para_7"},{"text":"INSPECTIONS,","paragraph_id":"para_8"},{"text":"Appellee","paragraph_id":"para_9"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_10"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_11"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_12"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_13"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_14"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_15"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_16"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_17"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_18"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_19"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_20"},{"text":":","paragraph_id":"para_21"},{"text":"No. 21 WAP 2024","paragraph_id":"para_22"},{"text":"Appeal from the Order of the","paragraph_id":"para_23"},{"text":"Superior Court entered January 8,","paragraph_id":"para_24"},{"text":"2024, at No. 541 WDA 2023,","paragraph_id":"para_25"},{"text":"reversing and remanding the Order","paragraph_id":"para_26"},{"text":"of the Court of Common Pleas","paragraph_id":"para_27"},{"text":"Crawford County Civil Division","paragraph_id":"para_28"},{"text":"entered September 20, 2022, at No.","paragraph_id":"para_29"},{"text":"605 AD 2019.","paragraph_id":"para_30"},{"text":"ARGUED: April 10, 2025","paragraph_id":"para_31"},{"text":"CONCURRING OPINION","paragraph_id":"para_32"},{"text":"JUSTICE WECHT DECIDED: OCTOBER 23, 2025","paragraph_id":"para_33"},{"text":"I agree with the Majority’s conclusion that the Home Inspection Law’s “Statute of","paragraph_id":"para_34"},{"text":"Limitations”1 in fact unintuitively functions as a statute of repose2—a necessary","paragraph_id":"para_35"},{"text":"consequence of its text taken at face value. It ties its one-year limitations period to a","paragraph_id":"para_36"},{"text":"certain event, and brooks no exception, express or implied. I write separately not to","paragraph_id":"para_37"},{"text":"bemoan this unlikely but necessary conclusion, but rather to express my difficulties with","paragraph_id":"para_38"},{"text":"the Majority’s reliance upon disanalogy to what this Court found in Dubose v. Quinlan3 to","paragraph_id":"para_39"},{"text":"1 See 68 Pa.C.S. § 7512.","paragraph_id":"para_40"},{"text":"2 See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1924 (“The headings prefixed to titles, parts, articles, chapters,","paragraph_id":"para_41"},{"text":"sections and other divisions of a statute shall not be considered to control but may be","paragraph_id":"para_42"},{"text":"used to aid in the construction thereof.”); Maj. Op. at 15. But see Commonwealth v.","paragraph_id":"para_43"},{"text":"Linton, 337 A.3d 467, 478 (Pa. 2025) (citing 1 Pa.C.S. § 1924).","paragraph_id":"para_44"},{"text":"3 173 A.3d 634 (Pa. 2017). I did not participate in the Court’s consideration of that","paragraph_id":"para_45"},{"text":"case.","paragraph_id":"para_46"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 2","paragraph_id":"para_47"},{"text":"be a statute of limitations in the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act","paragraph_id":"para_48"},{"text":"(“MCARE”).4 To be clear, I find no fault with the Majority’s review of that case; it is faithful","paragraph_id":"para_49"},{"text":"to Dubose’s analysis. I just have doubts about the soundness of our decision in DuBose.","paragraph_id":"para_50"},{"text":"Furthermore, I question the effort to draw a material distinction between the limitation at","paragraph_id":"para_51"},{"text":"issue in that case and the provision now before us.","paragraph_id":"para_52"},{"text":"It is, of course, beyond peradventure that the plain language of a statute must","paragraph_id":"para_53"},{"text":"govern where it is explicit and unambiguous.5 And here, it seems clear on its face that","paragraph_id":"para_54"},{"text":"the provision before us, Section 7512 of the Home Inspection Law (“HIL”),6 imposes a","paragraph_id":"para_55"},{"text":"firm and unqualified time limit for bringing suit under its provisions: “An action to recover","paragraph_id":"para_56"},{"text":"damages arising from a home inspection report must be commenced within one year after","paragraph_id":"para_57"},{"text":"the date the report is delivered.”7 It should be enough to say this and be done. Why?","paragraph_id":"para_58"},{"text":"Primarily because this limitation is triggered by a specific event, admits no exception, and","paragraph_id":"para_59"},{"text":"serves on its face to provide assurances to the potential defendant of the duration of","paragraph_id":"para_60"},{"text":"liability exposure.","paragraph_id":"para_61"},{"text":"To explain my reservations about DuBose, I address three interrelated","paragraph_id":"para_62"},{"text":"considerations. First, I review the principle of accrual, which—albeit to some extent","paragraph_id":"para_63"},{"text":"tacitly—pervades the present analysis. This, in turn, brings into focus the construction","paragraph_id":"para_64"},{"text":"project limitations period found at 42 Pa.C.S. § 5536, to which the Majority analogizes","paragraph_id":"para_65"},{"text":"Section 7512, which I briefly discuss relative to the question of accrual. After these brief","paragraph_id":"para_66"},{"text":"4 See 40 P.S. §§ 1303.101-1303.910.","paragraph_id":"para_67"},{"text":"5 See Maj. Op. at 14-15 (citing rules and cases).","paragraph_id":"para_68"},{"text":"6 See 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 7501-7513.","paragraph_id":"para_69"},{"text":"7 Id. § 7512 (emphasis added).","paragraph_id":"para_70"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 3","paragraph_id":"para_71"},{"text":"discussions, I explain my difficulties with DuBose, which the Majority distinguishes from","paragraph_id":"para_72"},{"text":"Section 7512’s limitations period.","paragraph_id":"para_73"},{"text":"Critical to my conclusion is the absence of an express or implied element of","paragraph_id":"para_74"},{"text":"“accrual” detectable in Section 7512. Speaking generally, the statutes of limitations","paragraph_id":"para_75"},{"text":"applicable to many categories of claims are governed by Chapter 55 of the Judicial Code.8","paragraph_id":"para_76"},{"text":"And many of Chapter 55’s individual provisions do not specify a triggering event that","paragraph_id":"para_77"},{"text":"exists outside the putative plaintiff’s experience. As to those provisions, Section 5502","paragraph_id":"para_78"},{"text":"provides generally that “the time within which a matter must be commenced under this","paragraph_id":"para_79"},{"text":"chapter shall be computed, except as provided by subsection (b) or by any other provision","paragraph_id":"para_80"},{"text":"of this chapter, from the time the cause of action accrued . . . .”9 “Accrue” is a term of art,","paragraph_id":"para_81"},{"text":"defined as follows: “[t]o come into existence as an enforceable claim or right; to arise <the","paragraph_id":"para_82"},{"text":"plaintiff’s cause of action for silicosis did not accrue until the plaintiff knew or had reason","paragraph_id":"para_83"},{"text":"to know of the disease>.”10 Thus, the “discovery rule,”11 the application of which is our","paragraph_id":"para_84"},{"text":"ultimate focus in this case, is baked into the concept of accrual, and by extension by the","paragraph_id":"para_85"},{"text":"8 See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5501-5574.","paragraph_id":"para_86"},{"text":"9 Id. § 5502(a).","paragraph_id":"para_87"},{"text":"10 Accrue, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (10th ed.); see Maj. Op. at 16 (“A statute of","paragraph_id":"para_88"},{"text":"limitations limits the time for a plaintiff to bring a suit based on when a cause of action","paragraph_id":"para_89"},{"text":"accrues. A cause of action accrues when an injury is inflicted and the corresponding right","paragraph_id":"para_90"},{"text":"to institute a suit for damages arises. While a statute of repose also limits the time for a","paragraph_id":"para_91"},{"text":"plaintiff to bring suit, unlike a statute of limitations, a statute of repose is not related to the","paragraph_id":"para_92"},{"text":"accrual of any cause of action because the injury need not have occurred, much less","paragraph_id":"para_93"},{"text":"have been discovered.” (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)).","paragraph_id":"para_94"},{"text":"11 “The discovery rule tolls the statute of limitations when an injury or its cause is not","paragraph_id":"para_95"},{"text":"reasonably knowable. The purpose of this rule is clear: to ensure that persons who are","paragraph_id":"para_96"},{"text":"reasonably unaware of an injury that is not immediately ascertainable have essentially","paragraph_id":"para_97"},{"text":"the same rights as those who suffer an immediately ascertainable injury.” Rice v. Diocese","paragraph_id":"para_98"},{"text":"of Altoona-Johnstown, 255 A.3d 237, 247 (Pa. 2021) (cleaned up).","paragraph_id":"para_99"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 4","paragraph_id":"para_100"},{"text":"limitations periods in Chapter 55—“except as otherwise provided . . . by any other","paragraph_id":"para_101"},{"text":"provision of this chapter.”12","paragraph_id":"para_102"},{"text":"Notably, the construction project limitations period discussed by the parties and","paragraph_id":"para_103"},{"text":"the Majority appears in Chapter 55 of the Judicial Code. But unlike the various","paragraph_id":"para_104"},{"text":"Chapter 55 provisions that are subject in their silence to the default “accrual trigger” in","paragraph_id":"para_105"},{"text":"Section 5502, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5536—governing construction projects—provides its own","paragraph_id":"para_106"},{"text":"alternative to accrual: “Except as provided in subsection (b),” says Section 5536(a), “a","paragraph_id":"para_107"},{"text":"civil action or proceeding brought against any person lawfully performing or furnishing the","paragraph_id":"para_108"},{"text":"design, planning, supervision or observation of construction, or construction of any","paragraph_id":"para_109"},{"text":"improvement to real property must be commenced within 12 years after completion of","paragraph_id":"para_110"},{"text":"construction of such improvement . . . .”13 Unlike the various provisions subject to","paragraph_id":"para_111"},{"text":"Section 5502 accrual, Section 5536 specifies a certain event as triggering a firm time limit.","paragraph_id":"para_112"},{"text":"Furthermore, Section 5536 provides its own narrow exception in Section 5536(b), which","paragraph_id":"para_113"},{"text":"provides for up to a two-year extension of the twelve-year period when injury or wrongful","paragraph_id":"para_114"},{"text":"death occurs within the final two years of the twelve-year period.14 In providing its own","paragraph_id":"para_115"},{"text":"trigger and time limit, and in providing its own narrow exception, it should be read to","paragraph_id":"para_116"},{"text":"exclude any other exceptions. And because its running is not tied to accrual, it serves as","paragraph_id":"para_117"},{"text":"a statute of repose, precisely as we have held.15","paragraph_id":"para_118"},{"text":"12 42 Pa.C.S. § 5502(a).","paragraph_id":"para_119"},{"text":"13 Id. § 5536(a).","paragraph_id":"para_120"},{"text":"14 See id. § 5536(b).","paragraph_id":"para_121"},{"text":"15 See generally Maj. Op. at 19 (citing cases). It must be said that, in providing an","paragraph_id":"para_122"},{"text":"extension for a late-emerging injury or death, its exception looks a lot like the discovery","paragraph_id":"para_123"},{"text":"rule. But what looks like the discovery rule in Section 5536 does not, like accrual,","paragraph_id":"para_124"},{"text":"(continued…)","paragraph_id":"para_125"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 5","paragraph_id":"para_126"},{"text":"Turn next to MCARE. At issue in DuBose was the limitations provision found at","paragraph_id":"para_127"},{"text":"MCARE Section 513, which provides in relevant part:","paragraph_id":"para_128"},{"text":"§ 1303.513. Statute of repose","paragraph_id":"para_129"},{"text":"(a) General rule.—Except as provided in subsection (b) [injury by foreign","paragraph_id":"para_130"},{"text":"object] or (c) [injury to a minor], no cause of action asserting a medical","paragraph_id":"para_131"},{"text":"professional liability claim may be commenced after seven years from the","paragraph_id":"para_132"},{"text":"date of the alleged tort or breach of contract.","paragraph_id":"para_133"},{"text":"* * * *","paragraph_id":"para_134"},{"text":"(d) Death or survival actions.—If the claim is brought under 42 Pa.C.S.","paragraph_id":"para_135"},{"text":"§ 8301 (relating to death action) or 8302 (relating to survival action), the","paragraph_id":"para_136"},{"text":"action must be commenced within two years after the death in the absence","paragraph_id":"para_137"},{"text":"of affirmative misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment of the cause of","paragraph_id":"para_138"},{"text":"death.16","paragraph_id":"para_139"},{"text":"In Dubose, this Court held that 40 P.S. § 1303.513(a) functions as a statute of repose,","paragraph_id":"para_140"},{"text":"while Section 513(d) functions as a statute of limitations. Mary Joan Gidor would have","paragraph_id":"para_141"},{"text":"us find DuBose’s Section 513(d) analogous to Section 7152 and our analysis of that","paragraph_id":"para_142"},{"text":"provision in DuBose effectively controlling in this case.","paragraph_id":"para_143"},{"text":"The Majority offers the following explanation for declining Gidor’s invitation:","paragraph_id":"para_144"},{"text":"We reject Gidor’s argument that [HIL] Section 7512 is analogous to","paragraph_id":"para_145"},{"text":"[MCARE] Section 513(d) simply because each statute contains language","paragraph_id":"para_146"},{"text":"that the action “‘must be commenced within [a certain time].’” Gidor’s Brief","paragraph_id":"para_147"},{"text":"at 17 (quoting 68 Pa.C.S. § 7512; 40 P.S. § 1303.513(d)). . . . In DuBose,","paragraph_id":"para_148"},{"text":"we were tasked with deciding whether Section 513(d) is a statute of","paragraph_id":"para_149"},{"text":"limitations such that the limitation period for medical professional liability","paragraph_id":"para_150"},{"text":"wrongful death and survival actions would be two years from the time of the","paragraph_id":"para_151"},{"text":"decedent’s death. Dubose, 173 A.3d at 635. To answer this question, we","paragraph_id":"para_152"},{"text":"analyzed the entirety of Section 513 and noted the distinct language of","paragraph_id":"para_153"},{"text":"Section 513(d) compared to Section 513(a) . . . , which we explained is a","paragraph_id":"para_154"},{"text":"potentially toll the running of the statute indefinitely for unspecified circumstances","paragraph_id":"para_155"},{"text":"affecting the discovery or discoverability of the injury. Perhaps it is fairer to say that the","paragraph_id":"para_156"},{"text":"Section 5536 construction project statute of repose is, in effect, a fourteen-year statute of","paragraph_id":"para_157"},{"text":"repose, factoring in the potential effect of its extension. But it nonetheless provides the","paragraph_id":"para_158"},{"text":"defendant certainty regarding when its exposure will end.","paragraph_id":"para_159"},{"text":"16 40 P.S. § 1303.513.","paragraph_id":"para_160"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 6","paragraph_id":"para_161"},{"text":"statute of repose. While we recognized that “Section 513(d) focuses not on","paragraph_id":"para_162"},{"text":"the defendant’s conduct, but on the time within which the plaintiff must","paragraph_id":"para_163"},{"text":"sue[,]” id. at 647, this was not dispositive to our conclusion that","paragraph_id":"para_164"},{"text":"Section 513(d) is a statute of limitations. Critically, we observed that","paragraph_id":"para_165"},{"text":"Section 513(d) sets forth “specific equitable considerations that may toll the","paragraph_id":"para_166"},{"text":"two-year period to commence a suit: ‘affirmative misrepresentation or","paragraph_id":"para_167"},{"text":"fraudulent concealment of the cause of death.’” Id. (quoting 40 P.S.","paragraph_id":"para_168"},{"text":"§ 1303.513(d)).17","paragraph_id":"para_169"},{"text":"From the inclusion of those equitable exceptions, this Court inferred legislative intent to","paragraph_id":"para_170"},{"text":"incorporate principles of accrual, although in identifying accrual at the specific time of","paragraph_id":"para_171"},{"text":"death the Court did so with a provision bearing the hallmark of a statute of repose.18","paragraph_id":"para_172"},{"text":"Thus, in DuBose, the Court found that a provision tying a time limitation to a certain","paragraph_id":"para_173"},{"text":"event (death) in a statute entitled “Statute of repose” nonetheless functioned as a statute","paragraph_id":"para_174"},{"text":"of limitations. It is this essential conclusion in DuBose with which I struggle.","paragraph_id":"para_175"},{"text":"Take for granted one principle: one can properly understand a limitations provision","paragraph_id":"para_176"},{"text":"that comes with express exceptions to be a standard of repose. Indeed, this is the case","paragraph_id":"para_177"},{"text":"with respect to the statute of repose we found in MCARE Section 513(a) as well as the","paragraph_id":"para_178"},{"text":"statute of repose governing construction projects. Undisputedly a statute of repose, the","paragraph_id":"para_179"},{"text":"construction project statute carves out a narrow, discovery rule-esque exception for","paragraph_id":"para_180"},{"text":"instances in which an injury or death occurs in the two-year period preceding the","paragraph_id":"para_181"},{"text":"expiration of the twelve-year limitation. In that event, the cause of action may be","paragraph_id":"para_182"},{"text":"“commenced . . . not later than 14 years after completion of construction of such","paragraph_id":"para_183"},{"text":"17 See Maj. Op. at 20-21.","paragraph_id":"para_184"},{"text":"18 See DuBose, 173 A.3d at 647.","paragraph_id":"para_185"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 7","paragraph_id":"para_186"},{"text":"improvement.”19 This Court has never held that such an exception makes this a statute","paragraph_id":"para_187"},{"text":"of limitations rather than one of repose.","paragraph_id":"para_188"},{"text":"In DuBose, though, we construed MCARE’s limitations provision’s specification of","paragraph_id":"para_189"},{"text":"certain exceptions as the dispositive hallmark of a statute of limitations. In explaining the","paragraph_id":"para_190"},{"text":"discrepancy, the DuBose majority seemed to focus on the character of the exception: it","paragraph_id":"para_191"},{"text":"seems only equitable exceptions transform what looks like a statute of repose into a","paragraph_id":"para_192"},{"text":"statute of limitations. But it is more compatible with our understanding of the form and","paragraph_id":"para_193"},{"text":"function of statutes of limitation and statutes of repose to conclude that the exceptions","paragraph_id":"para_194"},{"text":"that are compatible with a statute of repose are those that provide a clear signal to the","paragraph_id":"para_195"},{"text":"potential defendant when his exposure will expire. While the “equitable exceptions” of","paragraph_id":"para_196"},{"text":"affirmative misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment are equitable in the historic","paragraph_id":"para_197"},{"text":"sense and do not provide the certainty of a fixed time limit to the defendant, they","paragraph_id":"para_198"},{"text":"nonetheless put the matter in the defendant’s hands. Only the defendant can cease or","paragraph_id":"para_199"},{"text":"cure his inherently intentional misrepresentation or concealment.","paragraph_id":"para_200"},{"text":"Thus, I find fault with DuBose’s analysis. I struggle to understand how this Court","paragraph_id":"para_201"},{"text":"took the existence of two explicit, defendant-centric exceptions as dispositive of the","paragraph_id":"para_202"},{"text":"determination that MCARE Section 513 functions as a statute of limitations. It seems","paragraph_id":"para_203"},{"text":"clear from our prior case law that the presence of exceptions that extend the time to file","paragraph_id":"para_204"},{"text":"suit are not categorically incompatible with statutes of repose. Outside the specified","paragraph_id":"para_205"},{"text":"exceptions, the outer limit of the time to sue is fixed. The question is one of defendant-","paragraph_id":"para_206"},{"text":"centricity—where the operation of the statute effectively assures the defendant that his","paragraph_id":"para_207"},{"text":"exposure has ended upon the running of time from an event certain or one within the","paragraph_id":"para_208"},{"text":"19 42 Pa.C.S. § 5536(b)(1).","paragraph_id":"para_209"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 8","paragraph_id":"para_210"},{"text":"defendant’s control, we find a statute of repose. Where the statute ties the running of the","paragraph_id":"para_211"},{"text":"time to sue specifically to what the putative plaintiff knows and when, we have a statute","paragraph_id":"para_212"},{"text":"of limitations.20","paragraph_id":"para_213"},{"text":"This is important because, in my view, there is no material distinction between","paragraph_id":"para_214"},{"text":"MCARE Section 513(d)’s primary language and the language at issue in HIL","paragraph_id":"para_215"},{"text":"Section 7512. In relevant part, stripped of its (express) exceptions, Section 513(d)","paragraph_id":"para_216"},{"text":"provides that a wrongful death or survival action “must be commenced within two years","paragraph_id":"para_217"},{"text":"after the death,” with the burden of commencement upon the plaintiff and the time limit-","paragraph_id":"para_218"},{"text":"triggered by the death, a certain event. Section 7512, similarly, provides that an HIL claim","paragraph_id":"para_219"},{"text":"“must be commenced within one year after the date the report is delivered,” also a certain","paragraph_id":"para_220"},{"text":"event. In both cases, the defendant enjoys the certainty of a fixed period of liability","paragraph_id":"para_221"},{"text":"exposure.","paragraph_id":"para_222"},{"text":"Similarly, based upon the text and independent of what the Majority gleans from","paragraph_id":"para_223"},{"text":"our decision in DuBose, Section 7512 of the HIL functions as a statute of repose because","paragraph_id":"para_224"},{"text":"it sets a fixed period of exposure that is defendant-centric, tied exclusively to delivery of","paragraph_id":"para_225"},{"text":"20 The Majority misconstrues my disagreement with its invocation of the problematic","paragraph_id":"para_226"},{"text":"decision in DuBose. See Maj. Op. at 22 n.20. Nothing I say in this opinion suggests that","paragraph_id":"para_227"},{"text":"I fault Gidor for citing DuBose, and I do not; Gidor must make the best argument she can","paragraph_id":"para_228"},{"text":"make using the authorities at her disposal. Rather, the point is that I disagree with the","paragraph_id":"para_229"},{"text":"Majority’s apparent view that DuBose has something useful to say about this case,","paragraph_id":"para_230"},{"text":"whether by analogy or disanalogy. I also disagree with the Majority’s sweeping assertion","paragraph_id":"para_231"},{"text":"that the “legitimacy of our decision” depends upon indulging every “well-developed legal","paragraph_id":"para_232"},{"text":"argument” that a given party raises. Id. An argument can be “well-developed” but distract","paragraph_id":"para_233"},{"text":"from the best analysis, and its consideration at length may muddy the basis for the Court’s","paragraph_id":"para_234"},{"text":"disposition. What we “owe” to the parties and those who read and rely upon our opinions","paragraph_id":"para_235"},{"text":"is to engage legal questions using the best available tools. Our primary goal must be to","paragraph_id":"para_236"},{"text":"fashion a rule that will be of service to bench and bar in the future. We advance that goal","paragraph_id":"para_237"},{"text":"by doing so with the clarity that comes from isolating what is helpful to that enterprise","paragraph_id":"para_238"},{"text":"from what is not.","paragraph_id":"para_239"},{"text":"[J-27-2025] [MO: Donohue, J.] - 9","paragraph_id":"para_240"},{"text":"the subject report. Consequently, I agree with the Majority that Gidor’s claims were","paragraph_id":"para_241"},{"text":"extinguished one year after the delivery of Mangus’ report. 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