A wave of civil lawsuits is expected to hit Maryland courthouses Monday, as a law takes effect that gives child sex abuse victims expanded rights to sue institutions that harbored their attackers.

Under Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which eliminates previous time constraints on the filing of civil lawsuits, victims may seek up to $1.5 million from private institutions or individuals, and $890,000 from public institutions.

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Already, lawyers representing victims brutalized decades ago by Catholic clergy or staff at an Annapolis private school had pledged to digitally file their complaints the moment the law takes effect Sunday.

The act takes effect Oct. 1 along with several others across the region, including tougher gun laws in Maryland and a ban on cashless businesses in the District of Columbia. (Most new laws in Virginia take effect in July.)