Understanding 10 Legal Terms in Personal Injury Cases

 Posted on August 15, 2024 in Personal Injury

If you are injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages through a personal injury claim. During your claims process, you will likely encounter several unfamiliar legal terms. Understanding what they mean and how they affect your case is vital. Your personal injury lawyer from Kaiser Law can explain these and other relevant terms and what they mean for your case.

Glossary of Terms Commonly Seen in Personal Injury Claims

Every accident is different with case-specific factors. These definitions are general, but they apply to most personal injury claims. When we discuss your case during your free consultation, your attorney from Kaiser Law can describe them in more detail, particularly how they may affect your case.

1. Civil Lawsuit

Personal injury cases typically begin with filing an insurance claim. If you cannot reach an acceptable settlement offer through negotiations, you may choose to file a civil lawsuit. This action puts the outcome of your case into a judge’s or jury’s hands. Your lawyer from Kaiser Law can increase your odds of success.

2. Compensation

The money you might receive to reimburse or compensate you for accident- and injury-related losses.

3. Damages

Another term referring to the money you may obtain from the at-fault party or his insurance company. Damages are broken into categories: compensatory damages intended to compensate you for your losses and exemplary or punitive damages, which are intended as a further punishment to the liable party and a deterrent to prevent similar future offenses.

3a. Economic Damages

This category of compensatory damages applies to actual expenses that result from your accident and injuries. Examples include medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and the costs of ongoing care. Economic damages are exact, dollar-for-dollar reimbursements. Keeping your bills and receipts is vital for accurate damages.

3b. Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are compensatory and reflect how your accident and injuries impact your life. These damages are subjective, meaning that the more impact qualifying conditions have on you, the higher they are likely to be. Common non-economic damages include:

• Pain and suffering: mental and physical anguish

• Loss of consortium: losing intimacy and companionship between spouses

• Anxiety, depression, and PTSD: mental difficulties resulting from accident-related trauma

Permanent disfigurement or disability, losing the ability to enjoy life, and inconvenience are other conditions that potentially qualify for compensation.

3c. Punitive Damages

Sometimes called exemplary damages, punitive damages do not reflect your expenses or suffering. Instead, they intend to punish the at-fault party for extremely negligent or intentional actions.

4. Duty of Care

In specific circumstances, a party assumes a legal obligation to act responsibly and use reasonable care to avoid harming others. Validating that someone owed you a duty of care is necessary to prove negligence.

5. Fault

Responsibility for causing an accident, injuries, and related losses.

6. Liability

A legal obligation to do something. This can apply in various ways, including the responsibility for paying damages.

7. Modified Comparative Negligence

When multiple parties share fault, Illinois uses modified comparative negligence to determine who can obtain damages and how much they can receive.

8. Negligence

A failure to behave as another reasonable person would in the same situation, either by action or inaction. You must prove that another party’s negligence caused your accident to hold them accountable for paying your damages.

9. Party

This term can refer to a single person, a business, an organization, or a government entity.

10. Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the state-imposed deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit, which can differ between states and by type of claim. If you miss this filing deadline, you likely lose the possibility of receiving compensation.

Call Us for Your Free Consultation With Our Experienced Bensenville, IL Personal Injury Lawyers

At Kaiser Law, we focus on representing injured victims and helping them acquire the highest possible payout from liable parties. Our track record of success shows that you can rely on our firm to handle your case effectively. Call us at 630-274-4400 for your free consultation with our skilled DuPage County, IL personal injury attorneys today. Hablamos Espanol.claim.