Understanding Personal Injury Basic Terms

Basic Terms

When navigating the unknown, such as personal injury law, it is important to be aware of the simple vocabulary terms to assist in understanding before beginning any sort of endeavor.

Here are some basic terms and essential vocabulary for terms in personal injury law:

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the period of time (set by law) in which you may file suit claiming damages. The statute of limitations can vary from case to case depending on circumstances and can vary from as little as one year to as long as ten or more civil suits.

Negligence

Negligence is a tort arising from carelessness or the failure to act with reasonable care when such conduct causes damage to a person or property of another.

Burden of Proof

The burden of proof refers to the plaintiff’s obligation to prove his or her allegations to be true, or at least more likely true than not.

Damages

Damages are what a plaintiff is seeking to recover in a lawsuit. In a personal injury suit, damages equals money. Damages are separated into two categories, economic damages and non economic damages.

Contributory Negligence

Although the statute still refers to it as contributory fault, the test applied is generally known as “comparative negligence”. In simple terms, the current Ohio law allows an injured person to recover damages if he or she was not more than 50% responsible for the event that caused injury.

No Fault

No fault is a legal theory most commonly applied in auto accident personal injury cases. States that have adopted no fault laws require that every auto owner carry a minimum amount of personal injury protection (PIP) insurance.

In the event of damages caused by an auto accident, the injured party collects from their own insurance company rather than filing a lawsuit.

How Tompkins Selph & Associates Can Help You?
Personal injury cases can range from minor accidents to fatalities. These cases may be difficult to navigate and are time intensive when working to reach a settlement. You don’t have to navigate this alone. Tompkins Selph & Associates is here for you to help gather medical information, request records, negotiate with insurance companies and reach a settlement to get your money in your hands. We will take your case to litigation if necessary. If your accident happened in or around Ohio our team is willing and able to help you. We will work with you in person or remotely over the phone whatever you prefer. We are located at 6047 Frantz Road Suite 101 Dublin, Ohio 43017. Give us a call today for a FREE case consultation 614-453-0971.

Understanding Personal Injury Basic Terms

Understanding Personal Injury Basic Terms

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