Do you know everything there is to know about personal injury? Charles Flaxman, a personal injury attorney practicing in Hollywood, Florida, helps us understand some of the more common terms in personal injury law.
Regardless of whether you are representing yourself in a personal injury case or have professional legal aid, it’s important for you to understand as much as you can about the process to help you understand all your options and successfully fight for the damages you deserve. The problem is that terminology in legalese can be hard to understand, and sometimes it purposely complicated by insurance companies to confuse claimants and deter people from even filing personal injury claims in the first place. If you’re filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit, arm yourself with an understanding of some of the more common terms and phrases you’re likely to encounter in the process.
Assumption of risk:
Assumption of risk is a defense used in personal injury cases where the plaintiff was involved in and aware of their involvement in a risky activity. In cases where there is a reasonable assumption of risk on the part of the plaintiff, the defense cannot be held liable for that harm should it occur. The assumption of risk defense is most commonly used when people get injured while participating in extreme or dangerous sports such as skydiving, scuba diving and bungee jumping.
Damages:
As it concerns personal injury law, damages are the award or remedy received by the plaintiff as compensation for injury, pain, suffering or other losses.
Deposition:
After you file a personal injury lawsuit, the defendant has a right to ask you about all the circumstances revolving around your injury. This testimony will be usable in court, and the process of obtaining said testimony is the deposition. It’s important to be accurate about every detail and go over this process with an attorney to help you avoid the stumbling blocks you are likely to encounter. To use an exaggerated example to illustrate how your deposition can be used against you, take a case where a plaintiff says, “I fell off loose scaffolding at my job as a construction worker. Sure, it was nice to get a break after my injury, but I would have never dreamed of injuring myself to sue for damages.” Guess what part of that testimony the defense will play in court? That’s right: “It was nice to get a break after my injury.” This is just one more instance where having an experienced lawyer on your side can help you level the playing field when going against an insurance company.
Negligence:
In the simplest terms, negligence is when one party fails to exercise proper caution. When negligence leads to an injury, there is a foundation for a personal injury claim. Since the term negligence is open to broad interpretation according to this definition, the plaintiff has to establish negligence by proving that the defendant was required to take cautionary action to prevent a certain injury. For instance, many personal injury lawsuits stem from slip and fall accidents when property owners negligently overlook snow or ice-covered sidewalks or other public property.
Strict Liability:
Did you know that it’s not always necessary to prove negligence in order to win a personal injury case? In certain instances, the defendant can be held strictly liable for any harm caused to the plaintiff, even when he or she has taken reasonable precautions to prevent accidents and injuries. This is true with defective or harmful products and with companies that work with explosives, wild animals or other dangers that pose undue risk. The idea behind strict negligence is that some business practices should not be encouraged but also not prohibited. In these cases, it falls upon the business to assume strict liability for any practices that may cause unnecessary harm.
