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Wrongful Death
Wrongful Death is defined as the death of an individual as a direct result of the negligence of another individual, company, or entity.
Bodily Injury
A cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement; physical pain, illness, impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary.
Quadriplegia
Complete paralysis of the body from the neck down, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord.
Eggshell skull
A hypothetical medical condition used to illustrate the idea that if you are at fault when you injure someone, you are responsible for all the consequences, whether you could have foreseen them or not.
Liable
Legally responsible. For example, a person may be liable for a debt, liable for an accident due to careless behavior, liable for failing do something required by a contract or liable for the commission of a crime.
Acute condition
Type of illness or injury that ordinarily lasts less than 3 months, was first noticed less than 3 months before the reference data of the interview, and was serious enough to have had an impact on behavior.
Whiplash injury
Hyperextension (over-extension) injury to the neck, often the result of being struck from behind, as by a fast-moving vehicle in a car accident.
Burden of proof
A party's job of convincing the decisionmaker in a trial that the party's version of the facts is true. In a civil trial, it means that the plaintiff must convince the judge or jury "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the plaintiff's version is true -- that is, over 50% of the believable evidence is in the plaintiff's favor.
Soft Tissue Injury
Injury to the ligaments, tendons and fibers of the body that connect the skeletal bones.
Vicarious Liability
When a person who did not actually cause an injury is held for the injury. Sometimes called imputed liability.
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Did You Know?