Accrual is the point at which a cause of action comes into existence and the limitations period begins to run.

Collateral estoppel bars relitigation of an issue actually litigated and necessarily decided in a prior action.

Contribution allows a defendant who paid more than its share to recover the excess from other responsible parties.

The discovery rule delays accrual of a claim until the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury and its cause.

Equitable estoppel bars a party from asserting rights inconsistent with prior conduct on which another reasonably relied.

Failure to join a party asserts that an absent person is required for a just adjudication.

A final judgment resolves all claims among all parties, triggering appeal rights and preclusive effect.

Improper service asserts that the summons and complaint were not delivered in a manner the rules permit.

Joint tortfeasors are two or more parties whose conduct combined to cause a single indivisible injury.

Judicial estoppel bars a party from asserting a position contrary to one it successfully maintained in an earlier proceeding.

Laches bars equitable relief where unreasonable delay in asserting a claim prejudiced the defendant.

Lack of standing asserts that the plaintiff is not the proper party to bring the claim.

Law of the case holds that a court's decision on an issue governs subsequent proceedings in the same case.

Prior pending action asserts that the same claim between the same parties is already pending elsewhere.

Accord and satisfaction discharges a claim through an agreement to accept different performance, which is then rendered.

Res judicata bars relitigation of claims that were or could have been raised in a prior action that reached final judgment between the same parties.

A statute of limitations sets the deadline for filing suit after a claim accrues, and expiration bars the claim regardless of its merit.

A statute of repose extinguishes a claim a fixed period after a defined event, regardless of when the injury occurs or is discovered.

Tolling suspends the running of a limitations period, extending the time to file.

Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right, barring later assertion of that right.