Personal injury law terms
After practicing personal injury law for years, the commonly used terms become second nature. If you’ve never had to deal with a personal injury suit before, however, I can see how all the terminology can be daunting. Here’s a brief list of terms that have been used on this site or ones that are often asked about. I’ll complete the list in another post.
Ad Litem: One of many Latin legal terms, it means for the purpose of a lawsuit. An example would be a guardian “ad litem” that is appointed to a minor in a case.
Affidavit: A written statement confirmed under oath. Witness affidavits are often used in civil cases.
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Ending a dispute without taking it to trial. Most commonly you hear about cases reaching a ‘settlement’, but this may also include mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
Civil Action: Pretty much all non-criminal actions or cases. Civil trials are between private parties or businesses that are suing to enforce their rights or redress a wrong.
Class Action: A suit where the plaintiff is a representative for a large group of people. These kinds of lawsuits are used when it would not be practical for each individual of the group to come to court. Often this is used in product liability or premises liability cases.
Comparative Negligence: A case where two or more injured parties were negligent and bear some responsibility. An example would be a car accident where both drivers ran a stop sign.
Disability: In personal injury law, a disability is a condition that prevents an individual from performing a certain act. Loss of wages from not being able to work due to disability is taken into account in injury trials.
Fiduciary: A guardian, trustee or some other person with a legal relationship of trust that has a duty to act on another’s behalf.
Gross Negligence: Reckless disregard for the safety of another person or another person’s property. Intentionally failing to take the necessary steps to prevent an injury to another person.
Hearsay: A statement from a witness who heard about the incident second hand and did not actually see anything for him or herself. This is usually not admissible in court.
Indemnify: Restoring a victim with a loss by awarding money or repairing damages.
