No two personal injury cases are the same, but there are some common terms you’re likely to hear if you decide to file a lawsuit. It’s useful to be familiar with the personal injury “jargon” you’re going to encounter before you start the process, as it will help you get comfortable with everything that’s likely to unfold.
The plaintiff is the party who files a personal injury lawsuit. If you’ve suffered an injury and you want to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party, you would be the plaintiff in that case.
This is a formal written statement submitted under oath. These are subject to similar rules as courtroom testimony; making false statements in an affidavit could see you charged with perjury, a third-degree felony.
A guardian ad litem is a court-appointed adult who represents someone else in a personal injury lawsuit. These are normally used in cases involving children or incompetent adults.
Compensation
When you file a personal injury lawsuit, you generally do so in the hope of receiving compensation. This compensation typically comes in the form of money that addresses economic damages (such as lost wages and medical expenses) and noneconomic damages (different kinds of pain and suffering).
In cases involving extreme negligence or malicious conduct, you may also be entitled to punitive damages. This is compensation that does not directly address a loss you’ve suffered, but instead punishes the conduct of the defendant.
This is the party you’ll be up against if you decide to file a lawsuit. Say, for example, you’re filing a case in the wake of a car accident; the defendant might be the at-fault driver or their employer.
This is similar to an affidavit, except instead of making a written statement, you submit testimony orally, during an out-of-court session. Again, this takes place under oath, so you may face criminal penalties if you knowingly say something untrue.
During a deposition, you will face questions from the opposing party’s legal team, as you would in a courtroom setting.
This is the law that sets the deadline before which you must file a lawsuit. In Pennsylvania personal injury cases, you generally have two years from the date of your injury (or the date on which you learned about it) to file a case. If you allow this deadline to pass, you will usually lose your right to file a lawsuit.
While the statute of limitations sets the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit, it’s a good idea to start the process long before it comes into view. The sooner you start pursuing legal action, the better your chances of success will be. To learn more, contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation.
Once a personal injury lawsuit is filed, lawyers for the defendant and plaintiff can begin requesting various forms of evidence from one another. This is known as the discovery process. Depositions can form a crucial part of discovery.
This is the standard a defendant’s conduct must generally meet in order for a personal injury lawsuit to succeed. In order to establish negligence as a plaintiff, you must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care and that they breached this duty.
Additionally, in order for your claim to succeed, you must be able to show that this breach of duty was the direct cause of harm you suffered.
Say, for example, you were pursuing a medical malpractice case. To establish negligence, you would need to show that a doctor, nurse, or healthcare facility was responsible for keeping you healthy, and that they somehow failed to properly discharge this responsibility. Additionally, you would need to show that this failure caused you some form of injury.
Property owners have a legal responsibility to provide a safe environment for people who enter their land or buildings. This responsibility is even greater in cases involving a public business, such as a store. If you suffer an injury because of unsafe conditions on someone else’s property, you may be entitled to compensation from that person according to the rules of premises liability.
Personal injury lawsuits are highly complex, and engaging with the process without expert assistance can be daunting. If you’ve suffered an injury because of someone else’s negligence and you’re not sure what to do next, contact the Cochran Firm in Philadelphia to schedule a free initial consultation.
You can reach us via our online contact form or over the phone at 800-969-4400.
