What is the limitation period for a plaintiff to bring a claim against a defendant who has retired from the claim?

As earlier noted, limitation periods are intended to give potential defendants repose from "ancient obligations", to provide an incentive for plaintiffs to bring suit in a timely fashion, and to prevent the bringing of claims where evidence may have been lost by the passage of time: Novak v. Bond, supra. These are sufficiently important objectives and their benefits greatly outweigh the detrimental effect on potential plaintiffs who are precluded from pursuing "ancient" claims. Placing reasonable limitation periods on potential litigation is rationally connected to the pursuit of these objectives.