Personal Injury Terms You May Not Know
The legal arena has one of the most complicated languages in the professional world. The jargon that you hear when you are moving through the legal process can be extremely difficult to understand if you haven’t lived constantly surrounded by it or have had some prior assembling of legal knowledge. That is why we at Lebaron & Jensen have compiled a list of important personal injury terms for people, including our clients, to learn.
Civil Rights
The rights that every U.S. citizen possesses are referred to as civil rights. The United States Constitution grants these rights and allows private individuals and businesses to sue other people, businesses, and even government agencies to obtain compensation if it is proven that they have been harmed by the other entity.
Defendant
The defendant is the person against who the lawsuit is filed.
Evidence
Another personal injury term is evidence. Evidence is the body of information that is used to prove whether or not a case is true.
Lawsuit
There are many words used to describe the same thing, which is a lawsuit. Other names that a lawsuit can go by include case, suit, action, or proceeding. To sue somebody is to take out a lawsuit against them. A lawsuit is simply a court action that is taken out by one person against another with the goal of obtaining recompense for an injury or punishing wrongdoing.
Liability
The obligation of a person to complete an action. Usually, liability refers to paying damages to another person (or their family) after being convicted of negligent behavior.
Litigation
The name for the process of starting and completing a lawsuit.
Negligence
Negligence is a personal injury term that is used frequently in all sorts of different types of cases. Negligence is basically the legal term for carelessness. Negligence is the failure to act as a reasonable person would in a situation. Specifically, negligence is defined as an action that does not meet the legal standard of care for protecting other people from harm.
Personal Injury
A personal injury is any sort of injury that affects a person’s mind, body, emotions, or reputation. The term “personal injury” can also be used to describe the field of law which covers the injuries caused to a person due to another person’s negligence. Most personal injury cases are handled within the civil court.
Plaintiff
The plaintiff is the person who pursues a lawsuit against another person. The person that files a lawsuit.
Power Of Attorney
A power of attorney is a legal document that allows a person to transfer their personal right to manage their property, medical care, and finances to another person. A power of attorney is commonly used by individuals who can no longer care for themselves.
Wrongful Death
A wrongful death claim is typically filed by a person’s family or beneficiaries after the individual has passed away due to another person’s negligence.
Reach Out For Professional Legal Services
If you are in need of professional legal advice or representation for a personal injury case, we at Lebaron & Jensen would be more than happy to be of service. One of the most important services that an attorney can provide is to help their clients understand the jargon and the flow of legal proceedings.
Even with the list of personal injury terms explained above, it can be difficult to understand in context. We at Lebaron & Jensen will be with you every step of the way as you navigate the legal process. We can answer any questions you may have and help you understand the steps that we will take to reach the optimal outcome for your case. Reach out to us today for more information.
