Legal Terms You Should Know
Unless you operate in the legal profession, or enjoy a lot of legal dramas on TV, you most likely aren’t too familiar with some of the terms that are used. Law offices and courtrooms have their own language, and not everyone comprehends the terminology. Some of the words may sound familiar but might have completely various significances in relation to law. Even if you never ever need an attorney, it’s great to know the fundamentals of insurance law and personal injury law. In this blog post, we will list some legal terms you should know and provide a brief explanation of each term.
Adjuster: This is a person hired by an insurer who investigates claims, evaluates insurance policies for coverage and medical records for injuries and ultimately consents to any settlement with a claimant. An adjuster is often an employee of the insurance provider, although there are also private insurance adjusters who are contracted by insurance companies to deal with claims.
Bodily Injury Coverage: This is the insurance protection in a car insurance plan that pays others for the negligence of the policyholder or others insured under the policy. To put it simply, if I crash into you and it is my fault, my bodily injury coverage pays you for your injuries. My property damage coverage would apply for the damage to your car if any.
Comparative Negligence: As contrasted with contributory negligence, comparative negligence is the guideline that if you are in an accident that is primarily the fault of others, but you are partly to blame, your damages should be reduced by the quantity of your own negligence. For instance, if somebody rams into the back of your car as you turn and you do not have your turn signal on, a jury may find the individual who hit your 80 percent at fault for not stopping and your 20 percent at fault for not utilizing your turn signal. As such, whatever the jury decides is the full number of damages you are entitled to will be reduced by 20%.
Complaint: The document that is submitted with the court that commences a claim and describes to the court and Defendant(s) what the case is about and what damages are being sought.
Declarations Page: The file provided to you by your insurance company, usually comprising part of your policy which describes what insurance coverage protections you have purchased. Declarations pages generally include your name, a description of each automobile covered, the types of protections that apply to each vehicle covered, the limits of each coverage, amounts of deductibles and possibly a list of endorsements and discount rates or surcharges applied. In addition, they usually detail the price or premium paid for the insurance coverages listed on the declarations page.
Economic Damages: Economic damages, likewise sometimes called “special damages” or “specials” are damages that can be easily quantified by a financial figure, such as medical bills, lost incomes, home damage and the like. This is contrasted with noneconomic damages which cannot easily be measured, such as pain and suffering and psychological distress.
Expert Witness: These witnesses are accredited by the judge as experts on an offered subject may give opinions to the jury regarding technical concerns that are within their area of proficiency.
Judgment: This typically refers to an order of a judge saying that one person must pay another person money (or does not need to, depending upon the verdict). This is what results from a trial. For instance, if you have a jury trial and the jury provides you with one thousand dollars against the defendant, the judge will issue a judgment against the defendant in the amount of one thousand dollars. You can often then have the defendant’s salaries garnished (withheld) up until the judgment is settled.
Loss of Earning Capacity: The quantified loss of an individual’s capability to earn earnings because of an injury. For example, a surgeon who normally spends about half of their time conducting surgeries may have a 50 percent or more loss of capacity to make wages and for that reason a 50 percent loss of earning capability. Someone who is completely incapacitated from an injury would naturally have a one hundred percent loss of earning capacity and for that reason be absolutely disabled.
Mediation: A meeting in between celebrations to a lawsuit and a media- tor where the arbitrator, unlike an arbitrator, makes no decision in the event but simply tries to assist the parties to reach a settlement arrangement.
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