California Personal Injury Lawyers
Personal Injury Glossary
Acknowledgment: 1. An acceptance of responsibility. 2. The declaration at the end of a legal paper showing that the paper was duly executed and acknowledged.
Action: A legal term used to describe a judicial proceeding, a formal complaint or a suit brought in court.
Additur: An increase by a judge in the amount of damages awarded by a jury.
Adjudication: 1. The legal process of resolving a dispute. 2. A judgment or decree. Also the judgment given.
Administrative Agency: Governmental body responsible for administering and implementing legislation.
Administrative Hearing: Proceeding before an administrative agency where evidence is offered for argument, a trial, or both.
Adversary Proceeding: Legal proceeding involving parties with opposing interests.
Affiant: A person who makes and signs an affidavit.
Affidavit: A voluntary written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
Agreement: Mutual understanding or assent between two or more parties. Sometimes referred to as a contract; may be verbal or written.
Allegation: The claim made in a pleading by a party to an action declaring something to be true, but has yet to be proved.
Alternative Dispute Resolution: A procedure for settling a dispute without a full, formal trial. Methods include mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and settlement.
Appeal: Request to a higher court to review and change the result in a case decided by a lower court or administrative agency.
Appearance: 1. The formal proceeding by which a defendant submits to the jurisdiction of the court. 2. A written notification to the plaintiff by an attorney stating that he or she is representing the defendant.
Arbitration: A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party to render decision. In arbitration there is a hearing where both parties have an opportunity to be heard.
Arbitrator: A person who conducts an arbitration.
Assault: A threat to use force against another person, coupled with the present ability to inflict injury on that person, which causes apprehension of harm or battery in that person.
Asset: An owned item or property that has value.
Assumption of the Risk. When a person voluntarily and knowingly proceeds in the face of an obvious and known danger. A person who has assumed the risk cannot make out the duty element of a negligence cause of action.
Attorney-Client Privilege: The client's right to refuse to disclose, and prevent others from disclosing, confidential communications between the client and his or her attorney.
Avulsion Fracture: Disruption of soft tissue with it's bony attachment.
Bad faith: Intention to mislead or deceive; conscious refusal to fulfill some duty. Implies active ill will, as opposed to negligence. Bad faith often involves an insurance company's unreasonable refusal to provide coverage.
Breach of Contract: Failure, without legal excuse, to perform all or some of the promises made in a contract, or interfering with another's promises.
Brief: Written document about the case, prepared by counsel and submitted to the court. A brief contains summaries of the facts of the case, relevant laws, and an argument showing how the laws support that party's position.
Burden of Proof or Standard of Proof: Degree of proof required in a specific kind of case to prevail.
Bystander: A person is present during an event, but not involved.
Calendar: List of cases scheduled for hearing in court.
Cartilage: Fibrous soft tissue formation located in a joint which serves as a shock absorber and spacer.
Case Law: Law established by previous decisions of reported cases in a given jurisdiction.
Casualty: 1. A serious or fatal accident. 2. Lost or destroyed property.
Cause: Something that brings about or effects a result, attributed to.
Causation: The act by which an effect is produced.
Cause of Action: Fact or facts that give someone the right to seek a remedy through the court. The legal theory of a lawsuit.
Caveat: A warning; a note of caution or proviso.
Certification: 1. Written attestation. 2. Authorized declaration verifying that an instrument is a true and correct copy of the original.
Chambers: A judge's private office. A hearing in chambers takes place in the judge's office outside of the presence of the jury and the public.
Change of Venue: Moving a lawsuit or criminal trial to another place for trial.
Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the fact in dispute, but, rather, evidence of other personal knowledge or observation which allows a jury to infer the existence or nonexistence of the fact in dispute. An example of direct evidence of who was at fault for a car accident would be a witness who actually saw the accident. An example of circumstantial evidence in this case, would be a witness who drove by after the impact and saw the defendant's car in the wrong lane.
Citation: 1. A reference to a source of legal authority. 2. A direction to appear in court, as when a defendant is cited into court, rather than arrested.
Civil Actions: Noncriminal cases in which one private individual or business sues another to protect, enforce, or redress private or civil rights.
Civil Law: Body of law concerned with private rights and remedies, as contrasted with criminal law. Compare with criminal law.
Civil Procedure: The rules and process by which a civil case is tried and appealed, including the preparations for trial, the rules of evidence and trial conduct, and the procedure for pursuing appeals.
Clear and Convincing Evidence: Standard of proof commonly used in civil lawsuits and in regulatory agency cases. It governs the amount of proof that must be offered in order for the plaintiff to win the case.
Co- Defendant: A defendant joined together with one or more other defendants in the same case.
Collateral Source Rule: The rule ensures that compensation awarded to a plaintiff in a lawsuit will not be reduced if the plaintiff receives compensation for the same injury from another source, such as insurance. Under the rule, a defendant tort-feasor is unable to benefit from the fact that the plaintiff received money from another source, such as insurance, because of the defendant's tort.
Compensation: Something that makes up for a loss.
Complaint: In the legal sense, the document a plaintiff files with the court which contains allegations and damages sought. A complaint generally starts a lawsuit.
Complainant: The party who complains or sues; one who applies to the court for legal redress. Also called the plaintiff.
Concussion: Contusion to the brain.
Continuance: Postponement of a legal proceeding to a later date.
Contract: A legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties made either orally or in writing.
Contingent Fee Agreement: An agreement between an attorney and his or her client whereby the attorney agrees to represent the client for a percentage of the amount recovered. This fee agreement is frequently used in personal injury actions.
Contributory Negligence: Broadly, carelessness on the plaintiff's part. More precisely, conduct that falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of one's self against unreasonable risk of harm.
Contusion: Crushing of tissue.
Corroborating Evidence: Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.
Counsel: Legal adviser; a term used to refer to lawyers in a case.
Counterclaim: Claim brought by a defendant in a lawsuit against the plaintiff.
Court Administrator/Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the Court or elected to oversee the administrative, non-judicial activities of the court.
Court: Refers to a specific court, such as The Supreme Court of California, or may also refer to a judge.
Court Costs: The expenses of prosecuting or defending a lawsuit, other than the attorneys' fees. An amount of money may be awarded to the successful party (and may be recoverable from the losing party) as reimbursement for court costs.
Court Reporter: The person who stenographically records and transcribes testimony during court proceedings or related proceedings such as depositions.
Cross-Claim: Claim brought by a defendant in a lawsuit against a co-defendant in the lawsuit.
Damages: Money payment recovered in the courts for an injury or loss caused by an unlawful act or omission or negligence of another.
Decedent: A deceased person.
Decision: The judgment reached or given by a court of law.
Decree: An order of the court. A final decree is one that fully and finally disposes of the litigation. An interlocutory decree is a preliminary order that often disposes of only part of a lawsuit.
Defamation: That which tends to injure a persons reputation. Libel is published defamation, whereas slander is spoken.
Default: A failure to respond to a lawsuit within the specified time.
Default Judgment: A judgment entered against a party who fails to appear in court or respond to the charges.
Defendant: In civil law, the party defending a lawsuit; the party against whom the plaintiff seeks to recover damages from.
Demurrer: Defendant's claim that even if the allegations in a complaint are true, they are not sufficient to impose any liability on the defendant.
Deposition: Testimony of a witness taken under oath, but not in a courtroom. May be used to discover evidence prior to trial or to preserve testimony for use in court at a later time.
Deponent: The person who testifies at a deposition.
Directed Verdict: Now called Judgment as a matter of Law. An instruction by the judge to the jury to return a specific verdict.
Direct Evidence: Generally, eyewitness evidence. Compare with circumstantial evidence.
Disability: In the legal sense, lack of legal capacity to perform some act.
Discovery: The pretrial process by which one party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon in the trial by the opposing party.
Disfigurement: A technical term for a serious and permanent scar to the head, neck, or face.
Dislocation: Complete disunion of at least one of the bones in a joint.
Dismissal with Prejudice: Final judgment against the plaintiff which prohibits bringing an action on the same cause of action in the future. In contrast, "dismissal without prejudice" allows the plaintiff to sue again for the same cause of action.
Dismissal: The termination of a lawsuit. A dismissal without prejudice allows a lawsuit to be brought before the court again at a later time. In contrast, a dismissal with prejudice prevents the lawsuit from being brought before a court in the future.
Docket: A list of cases to be heard by a court or a log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
Doctrine of avoidable consequences or mitigation of damages: Imposes a duty on victims of a tort to take reasonable steps to minimize their damages after an injury has been inflicted.
Domicile: The place where a person has his or her permanent legal home. A person may have several residences, but only one domicile.
Due Process of Law: The right of all persons to receive the guarantees and safeguards of the law and the judicial process. It includes such constitutional requirements as adequate notice, assistance of counsel. and the rights to remain silent, to a speedy and public trial, to an impartial jury, and to confront and secure witnesses.
Duty: In negligence cases, a "duty" is an obligation to conform to a particular standard of care. A failure to so conform places the actor at risk of being liable to another to whom a duty is owed for an injury sustained by the other of which the actor's conduct is a legal cause. See reasonable man doctrine.
Emotional Distress: Mental anguish.
Enjoining: An order by the court telling a person to stop performing a specific act.
Equitable Remedies: Remedies that do not include monetary settlements. Examples include injunctions and restraining orders.
Equity: Generally, justice or fairness.
Error: In the legal sense, a mistaken interpretation of facts or application of the law that can prove grounds for an appeal.
Estoppel: A person's own act, or acceptance of facts, which preclude his or her later making claims to the contrary.
Et al: And others.
Evidence: Proof of a probative matter presented at trial for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of the jury or judge. Evidence comes in a variety of forms, including testimony, writings, tangible objects, and exhibits.
Exemplary Damages or Punitive Damages: Compensation greater than is necessary to pay a plaintiff for a loss. These damages are awarded because the loss was aggravated by violence, oppression, malice, fraud or wanton and wicked conduct on the part of the defendant. Such damages are intended to punish the defendant for his evil behavior or make an example of him or her.
Execute: To complete the legal requirements (such as signing before witnesses) that make a will valid. Also, to execute a judgment or decree means to put the final judgment of the court into effect.
Exhibit: A document or other item introduced as evidence during a trial or hearing.
Expert: A witness who may give an opinion in court based on the particular competence of that witness.
Fact Question: Issues in a trial or hearing concerning facts and how they occurred, as opposed to questions of law. Fact questions are for the jury to decide, unless the issues are presented in a non-jury or bench trial, in which case the judge would decide fact questions. Questions of law are decided by a judge. Findings of fact are generally non-appealable, while rulings on questions of law are subject to appeal.
Family Practitioner: A physician who has a general health care practice and no specialization.
Fiduciary: A person having a legal relationship of trust and confidence to another and having a duty to act primarily for the others benefit, e.g., a guardian, trustee, or executor.
File: To place a paper in the official custody of the clerk of court/court administrator to enter into the files or records of a case.
Final Judgment: The written ruling on a lawsuit by the judge who presided at trial. This completes the case unless it is appealed to a higher court. Also called a final decree or final decision. Finding: Formal conclusion by a judge or regulatory agency on issues of fact. Also, a conclusion by a jury regarding a fact.
First Party Benefits: In insurance law, first party benefits include medical benefits, income loss benefits, accidental death benefit, funeral benefit, and extraordinary medical benefits. Fracture: A break or crack in a bone.
Fraud: False and deceptive statement of fact intended to induce another person to rely upon and, in reliance thereof, give up a valuable thing he or she owns or a legal right he or she is entitled to.
Garnishment: A legal proceeding in which a debtor's money, in the possession of another (called the garnishee), is applied to the debts of the debtor, such as when an employer garnishes a debtor's wages.
Gross Negligence: Intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences to another person's life or property. There is no clear distinction between gross negligence and willful negligence.
Guardian: A person appointed by will or by law to assume responsibility for incompetent adults or minor children. If a parent dies, this will usually be the other parent. If both die, it probably will be a close relative.
Guardian Ad Litem: An attorney appointed by the court to represent a minor or incompetent party for the purposes of the lawsuit.
Guardianship: Legal right given to a person to be responsible for the food, housing, health care, and other necessities of a person deemed incapable of providing these necessities for himself or herself. A guardian also may be given responsibility for the person's financial affairs, and thus perform additionally as a conservator. (See also conservatorship.)
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): A type of managed health care system that contracts with medical facilities, physicians, employers, and sometimes individuals to provide medical care to a group of people known as "members." Generally, members of HMOs don't have any significant "out-of-pocket" expenses because the medical care is most often paid for by an employer at a fixed price per patient.
Hearing: A proceeding usually without a jury.
Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.Hemorrhagic Stroke: Occurs when an artery in the brain tears or bursts, causing blood to spill out.
HMO Negligence: Generally, a type of medical malpractice that can be defined as the carelessness of an HMO, acting through its physicians, in making treatment decisions for a member that results in injury to that member.
Homeowner's Insurance: Policy that insures individuals against any, some, or all of the risks of loss to personal dwellings or the contents of personal dwellings or the personal liability pertaining to personal dwellings.
Hostile Witness: A witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party who calls him or her as a witness
Hurt on the Job: In order to establish a right to workers' compensation benefits, there must be an employment relationship during which an accident or an injury arises in the course of employment and is related thereto, and includes aggravation, reactivation, acceleration or death resulting from the injury.
Impeach: Attacking the credibility of a witness.
Impeachment of a Witness: An attack on the credibility (believability) of a witness, through evidence introduced for that purpose.
Inadmissible: That which, under the rules of evidence, cannot be admitted or received as evidence.
In Camera: In a judge's chambers; in private.
Indemnify: To restore the victim of a loss, either in whole or in part, by payment of money or repair or replacement of the thing lost.
Informed Consent: Person's agreement to allow something to happen, such as a medical procedure, that is based on full disclosure of the facts necessary to make an intelligent decision.
Injunction: Writ or order by a court prohibiting a specific action from being carried out by a person or group. A preliminary injunction is granted provisionally, until a full hearing can be held to determine if it should be made permanent.
Intangible Assets: Nonphysical items such as stock certificates, bonds, bank accounts, and pension benefits that have value and must be taken into account in estate planning.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Intentionally causing severe emotional distress by extreme or outrageous conduct.
Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party in a lawsuit for which the opposing party must provide written answers.
Intervention: An action by which a third person who may be affected by a lawsuit is permitted to become a party to the suit. Differs from the process of becoming an amicus curiae.
Invitee: A person is an invitee on land if he enters land by invitation; his entry is connected with business being conducted on the land by the possessor of land; and the possessor of land is benefited by the entry.
Issue: (1) The disputed point in a disagreement between parties in a lawsuit. (2) To send out officially, as in to issue an order.
Joint and Several Liability: Refers to a plaintiff's ability to sue one or more defendants separately or all together at his or her option. Permits a group of defendants to be held both individually and collectively liable for all damages suffered by the plaintiff. The plaintiff can recover the entire amount of damages from one defendant, even if all of the defendants are liable.
Judgment: Official decision of a court resolving the issues in a legal action and stating the rights and obligations of the parties. See also decree, order.
Judicial: Pertaining to a judge.
Jurisdiction: The legal right by which judges exercise their authority.
Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
Jury: Persons selected according to law and sworn to inquire into and declare a verdict on matters of fact
Law: The combination of those rules and principles of conduct promulgated by legislative authority, derived from court decisions and established by local custom.
Law Clerks: Persons trained in the law who assist judges in researching legal opinions.
Lawsuit or Suit: Generally, a court action brought by one person, the plaintiff, against another, the defendant, seeking compensation for some injury or enforcement of a right.
Legal Cause: Substantial factor in bringing about the harm. See also proximate cause.
Legal Fiction: Assumption of a fact that may or may not be true made by a judge to decide a legal question.
Liability: An obligation that one is bound in law to perform; usually involves the payment of money damages.
Liable: Legally responsible.
Libel: Published words or pictures that falsely and maliciously defame a person. Libel is published defamation; slander is spoken.
Licensee: In civil law, a person who enters land with consent, but nothing more.
Lien: A legal claim against another person's property as security for a debt. A lien does not convey ownership of the property, but gives the lien holder a right to have his or her debt satisfied out of the proceeds of the property if the debt is not otherwise paid.
Ligament: Soft tissue connecting a bone to another bone.
Litigant: A party to a lawsuit. Litigation refers to a case, controversy, or lawsuit.
Loss of consortium: Damages awarded to a family member (usually a spouse) for loss of companionship.
Magistrate: Judicial officer exercising some of the functions of a judge. It also refers in a general way to a judge.
Malfeasance: Commission of a wrongful act; evil doing; wrongful conduct.
Material Fact: Generally, a fact essential to a case or a defense without which said case or defense could not be supported.
Mediation: A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a settlement.
Medical Malpractice: Broadly, a claim brought against a health-care professional based on professional negligence wherein the health-care professional violates the applicable standard of care and an injury results.
Member: In relation to health care, a member is a person who belongs to a health care plan, like an HMO.
Memorialized: In writing.
Mental Anguish: Mental suffering. In some cases, damages may be awarded for mental anguish even though no physical injury is present.
Misfeasance: Improper performance of a lawful act.
Mitigation of Damages or Doctrine of Avoidable Consequences: Imposes a duty on victims of a tort to take reasonable steps to minimize their damages after an injury has been inflicted.
Moot: A moot case or a moot point is one not subject to a judicial determination because it involves an abstract question or a pretended controversy that has not yet actually arisen or has already passed. Mootness usually refers to a court's refusal to consider a case because the issue involved has been resolved prior to the court's decision, leaving nothing that would be affected by the court's decision.
Motion: An application made to a judge for the purpose of obtaining an order directing some act to be done in favor of the party presenting the application.
Moving Party: The party presenting the motion. Compare with non-moving party.
Negligence: In its broadest sense, carelessness. More precisely, conduct which falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm. In order to prevail in a negligence action, the plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the following four elements: (1) that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care; (2) that the defendant breached that duty; (3) that the defendant's breach of his or her duty of care caused the plaintiff's injury; (4) that the plaintiff suffered injury.
Negligence per se: Conduct, either by act or omission, that may be declared and treated as negligence without argument or proof of negligence, usually because the conduct violates a statute. A finding of negligence per se satisfies the plaintiff's burden of proof that the defendant's conduct was negligent. However, the burden remains on the plaintiff to establish that his injuries were proximately caused by the statutory violation.
Nonfeasance: Failure to perform some act which should have been performed.
No-Fault Proceedings: A civil case in which parties may resolve their dispute without a formal finding of error or fault.
Non-Jury Trial or Bench Trial: Trial before a judge and without a jury. In a bench trial, the judge decides questions of law and questions of fact.
Non-Moving Party: The party to a lawsuit that is not presenting a motion to the court. A non-moving party may or may not contest or oppose the motion. Compare with moving party.
Notice: Formal notification to the party that has been sued in a civil case of the fact that the lawsuit has been filed. Also, any form of notification of a legal proceeding.
Nuisance: An unreasonable or unlawful use of one's real estate that results in injures to another or interferes with another person's use of his real property.
Oath: Written or oral pledge by a person to keep a promise or speak the truth.
Occupational Disease: An illness resulting from long-term employment in a particular type of work, such as those employees exposed to asbestos, who later develop cancer.
Order: Written direction or command made by a court or judge, and not included in a judgment. See also decree.
Ordinance: Commonly, a regulation passed by a municipal legislative body.
Out-of-Court Settlement: An agreement reached between a plaintiff and a defendant to resolve a lawsuit privately and without a judge's authorization or approval.
Parens Patriae: The doctrine under which the court protects the interests of a juvenile.
Party: A person, business, or government agency actively involved in the prosecution or defense of a legal proceeding.
Perjury: Intentional false statement of material importance made under oath; lying under oath.
Permanent Injunction: A court order requiring that some action be taken, or that some party refrain from taking action. It differs from forms of temporary relief, such as a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.
Personal Property: Tangible physical property (such as cars, clothing, furniture, and jewelry) and intangible personal property. This does not include real property such as land or rights in land.
Personal Representative: One who stands in the place of another.
Petition: A formal request that the court take some action; a complaint.
Petitioner: The person filing an action in a court of original jurisdiction. Also, the person who appeals the judgment of a lower court. The opposing party is called the respondent.
Plaintiff: In civil law, the person who brings an action or starts a lawsuit.
Plead: In civil law, a defendant's formal answer to a plaintiff's complaint.
Pleading: A document filed in a court that pertains to a case.
Pleadings: The written statements of fact and law filed by the parties to a lawsuit.
Possessor of Land: A person who occupies land and intends to control it. Most often, it is the owner of the property.
Power of Attorney: Written document authorizing one person to take certain legal actions on behalf of the person giving the power of attorney.
Pre-Injunction: Court order requiring action or forbidding action until a decision can be made whether to issue a permanent injunction. It differs from a temporary restraining order.
Preponderance of the Evidence: The amount of evidence needed for a plaintiff to win in a civil action. A preponderance of the evidence is the greater weight of the evidence or the more convincing evidence in comparison to the evidence offered in opposition. A plaintiff can win by a preponderance of the evidence even if plaintiff's evidence merely tips the scales in plaintiff's favor.
Pre-Trial Conference: A meeting between the judge and the lawyers involved in a lawsuit to narrow the issues in the suit, agree on what will be presented at the trial, and make a final effort to settle the case without a trial.
Prevailing Party: Generally, the winning party in a lawsuit.
Prima Facie: Literally means "at first sight" or "on the face of it." "Prima facie evidence" is evidence that is good and sufficient on its face. A plaintiff makes out a "prima facie case" when he or she presents "prima facie evidence," which means that the plaintiff is permitted to prevail on that evidence alone, unless the defendant can put forth sufficient evidence to overcome it.
Prima Facie Case: A case that is sufficient and has the minimum amount of evidence necessary to allow it to continue in the judicial process.
Primary Care Physician (PCP): A physician that is employed by or contracts with a managed health care system like an HMO that coordinates all of the member's medical care. A PCP is usually a family practitioner. PCP's are also known as "gatekeepers" because they control a member's access to medical care within a health plan.
Privileged Communication: Statement protected from forced disclosure in court because the statement was made within a "protected" relationship such as attorney/client. See attorney-client privilege.
Procedural Law: Generally, the body of law establishing the method or procedure of enforcing rights or obtaining redress for invasion of rights. Compare with substantive law which establishes rights.
Process Serving: The method by which a defendant in a lawsuit is notified that a plaintiff has filed a suit against him.
Products Liability: Area of the law involving the liability of manufacturers and sellers of dangerous or defective goods or products.
Promulgate: To officially announce.
Property Damage Liability Coverage: Automobile insurance coverage required under law that provides money to pay claims if your car damages the property of another person.
Pro Se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
Proximate Cause: The proximate cause of an injury is the primary or moving cause that produces the injury and without which the accident could not have happened, if the injury is one which might be reasonably anticipated or foreseen as a natural consequence of the wrongful act.
Punitive Damages or Exemplary Damages: Compensation greater than is necessary to pay a plaintiff for a loss. These damages are awarded because the loss was aggravated by violence, oppression, malice, fraud or wanton and wicked conduct on the part of the defendant. Such damages are intended to punish the defendant for his evil behavior or make an example of him or her.
Purchaser: In products liability law, a person who buys a product.
Quash: To vacate or void a summons, subpoena, etc.
Question of Fact: See fact question.
Question of Law: An issue involving the application or interpretation of the law which is within the province of the judge. Compare with question of fact.
Reasonable Care: The standard of care in negligence cases; the duty to act reasonably so as to avoid harming others.
Reconstruction: Rebuilding of a body part or joint.
Remedies: Relief that the plaintiff receives from the defendant in a lawsuit. Often this will include monetary damages or equitable relief (i.e. injunctions).
Service: The delivery of a legal document, such as a complaint, summons, or subpoena, notifying a person of a lawsuit or other legal action taken against him or her. Service, which constitutes formal legal notice, must be made by an officially authorized person in accordance with the formal requirements of the applicable laws.
Settlement: An agreement between the parties disposing of a lawsuit.
Several Liability: Liability separate and distinct from the liability of another which is sufficient to support a lawsuit without reference to anyone else's liability.
Severance of Actions: Judicial proceeding separating the claims of multiple parties and permitting separate actions on each one or some combination of them.
Severity: First, second, or third degree corresponding to a mild, moderate, or severe injury.
Service of Process: Providing a formal notice to the defendant that orders him to appear in court to answer plaintiff's allegations.
Show Cause Order: Judicial direction to appear in court and present reasons why the court should not take a proposed action.
Slander: False and defamatory spoken words tending to harm another's reputation, business, or means of livelihood. Slander is spoken defamation; libel is published.
Social Host Liability: The liability of a person (the "social host") who furnishes free alcoholic beverages to another (the "guest"), when the guest subsequently sustains injuries or causes injury to a third person because of his intoxication.
Sovereign Immunity: The doctrine that the government, state or federal, is immune to lawsuit unless it gives its consent.
Spasm: A muscle's protective splinting mechanism.
Sprain: Disruption of ligamentous fibers.
Specific Performance: A remedy requiring a person who has breached a contract to perform specifically what he or she has agreed to do. Specific performance is ordered when damages would be inadequate compensation.
Standard of Care: In the law of negligence, the degree of care which a reasonable, prudent or careful person should exercise under the same or similar circumstances. If the standard falls below that established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm, the person may be liable for damages resulting from such conduct.
Standard of Proof or Burden of Proof: Degree of proof required in a specific kind of case to prevail. In the majority of civil cases, it is proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
Standing: The legal right to bring a lawsuit. Only a person with something at stake has standing to bring a lawsuit.
Statute: Generally, a law created by a legislature.
Statute of Limitations: The time prescribed by statute in which a plaintiff can bring a lawsuit.
Statutory Law: Law enacted by the legislative branch of government, as distinguished from case law or common law.
Stay: Court-ordered suspension of a judicial proceeding.
Strain: Disruption of muscle fibers.
Strict Liability: Doctrine that holds defendants liable for harm caused by their actions regardless of their intentions or lack of negligence. Often applied to manufacturers or sellers of defective products in products liability cases.
Stroke: Damage to a part of the brain when its blood supply is suddenly reduced or stopped. This stoppage in blood flow can occur as the result of a blood vessel becoming blocked or bursting inside the brain. The part of the brain deprived of blood dies and can no longer function.
Stipulation: An agreement by attorneys on both sides of a civil or criminal case about some aspect of the case; e.g., to extend the time to answer, to adjourn the trial date, or to admit certain facts at the trial.
Subluxation: Partial shifting of a bone in a joint.
Subornation of Perjury: Procuring someone to make a false statement under oath.
Subpoena: Command to appear at a certain place and time to give testimony on a matter.
Subpoena Duces Tecum: Command to produce some document or paper.
Subrogation: Substitution of one person for another, giving the substitute the same legal rights as the original party. For example, an insurance company may have a right of subrogation to sue anyone whom the person it compensated had a right to sue.
Substantive law: The body of law that creates, defines and regulates right. Compare with procedural law which prescribes the manner to enforce rights or obtaining redress for invasion of rights.
Sue: The act of bringing a lawsuit.
Suit or Lawsuit: Generally, a court action brought by one person, the plaintiff, against another, the defendant, seeking compensation for some injury or enforcement of a right.
Summary Judgment: A decision made on the basis of statements and evidence presented for the record without a trial. It is used when there is no dispute as to the facts of the case, and one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Summons: Formal document beginning a civil action or special proceeding which is a means to gain jurisdiction over a party. Also, a document directed to a sheriff or other authorized person ordering him to serve the person named on the summons who must appear at a certain place and time to respond to the action.
Supplier of Goods: In products liability law, all parties in the chain of supply of a product for profit, including manufacturers, sellers, and dealers.
Survival Action: A survival action is brought by the administrator of a deceased person's estate in order to recover loss to the estate resulting from a tort. A survival action continues in the decedent's personal representative a right of action which accrued to the decedent at common law because of a tort. A survival action, unlike a wrongful death action, is not a new cause of action. Where death is caused by negligence, both a survival action and a wrongful death action may be brought.
Temporary Relief: Any form of action by a court granting one of the parties an order to protect its interest pending further action by the court.
Temporary Restraining Order: A judge's order forbidding certain actions until a full hearing can be held. Usually of short duration. Often referred to as a TRO.
Tendon: Soft tissue connecting a muscle to a bone.
Tendonitis: Inflammation of a tendon.
Testimony: Evidence delivered by a witness at trial either orally at trial or in the written form of an affidavit or deposition.
Third Party: A person, business, or government agency not actively involved in a legal proceeding, agreement, or transaction.
Third Party Benefit: In insurance law, third party benefits refer to the amount of available coverage that the at-fault party has in bodily injury and property damage.
Third Party Lawsuit: When an injury is caused by the act or failure to act of a party other than the employer, that party is the "third party," and the injured worker may file a lawsuit against that party. An example of a third party lawsuit in workplace injury would be a products liability suit against the manufacturer of a defective tool.
Third Party litigation: When a lawsuit is brought against a defendant and that defendant wants to add another party to the suit, the original defendant may file a "third party complaint" which results in a third party litigation or lawsuit.
Third-Party Claim: An action by the defendant that brings a third party into a lawsuit.
Thrombotic Stroke: Occurs when a blood clot forms in an artery and blocks blood flow to the brain.
Title: Legal ownership of property, usually real property or automobiles.
Tort: In civil law, generally, a wrong or injury committed against a person or property. A tort does not include breach of contract.
Tort-Feasor: One who commits a tort.
Tortious: Having the quality of a tort; the wrongdoer.
Transcript: Official written copy of proceedings in a case, including hearings, depositions, and trial. Usually made by a court reporter.
Traumatic Brain Injury: An insult to the brain caused by an external physical force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness that results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning and/or a disturbance of behavioral or emotional functioning. (See Brain Injury Glossary)
Trespasser: In civil law, a person who enters land without invitation, permission or privilege.
Trial: The judicial examination and determination of issues between the parties to an action.
Trial Court: The first court to hear the case, as opposed to an appellate court which hears appeals of decisions made in trial courts.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Optional insurance that provides protection to purchaser of said coverage and relatives living in his household who suffer injury caused by the negligence of another driver who does not have enough insurance to pay for all losses and damages. Underinsured motorist coverage can be stacked.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Optional insurance that provides protection to purchaser of said coverage and relatives living in his household who suffer injury caused by the negligence of another driver who does not have insurance to pay for losses and damages. Uninsured motorist coverage can be stacked.
User: In products liability, a person who uses goods.
Venue: Broadly, the geographical area where a court has authority to hear a case because it has personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction. The venue is usually the same area where the incident leading to the trial occurred. A change of venue may occur if negative publicity or other factor would make it difficult to find unbiased jurors.
Verdict: The jury's decision in a case. A general verdict is the jury's finding either for the plaintiff or the defendant. A special verdict is a statement by the jury of facts it has found in response to questions submitted by the judge.
Vicarious Liability: The liability of one person for the torts of another.
Waiver: Knowing and voluntary relinquishment of a right. Compare with release.
Willful Negligence: Intentional performance of an unreasonable act in disregard of a known risk, making it highly probable that harm will be caused. Willful negligence usually involves a conscious indifference to the consequences. There is no clear distinction between willful negligence and gross negligence.
Witness: A person who testifies to what he or she has seen, heard. or otherwise experienced. Also, a person who observes the signing of a will and is competent to testify that it is the will-maker's intended last will and testament.
Workers' Compensation: Insurance required of almost all employers to help cover their employees' economic loss due to a job-related injury or illness.
Writ: Broadly, a court order requiring the performance of some act or giving authority to have the act done.
Wrongful Death Action: An action brought to recover damages for the death of a person caused by a wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another; provided that no recovery for the same damages claimed in the wrongful death action was obtained by the deceased during his lifetime. The action may be brought by the decedent's spouse, children, or parents. If the decedent has no spouse, children or parents, the action may be brought by a personal representative in order to recover damages for hospital, nursing, medical, funeral and estate administration costs.
If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident resulting in a serious injury in Northern California, please contact our Personal Injury attorneys at Van Der Walde & Associates at (877) 862-6288.
