Legal Terminology

defamation

• Defamation as a Personal Injury Claim Defamation can be a personal injury claim because injury law covers intangible harm, including damage to reputation, not just bodily harm. To win, the plaintiff must prove the four negligence elements -- duty, breach, causation, and actual damages -- by a preponderance of the evidence.

legal-terminology

• Legal Terminology Legal terminology is the specialized vocabulary lawyers, judges, and statutes use to name precise legal ideas. A single word can carry a fixed meaning that decides who wins, who pays, and what a document requires. That is why two contracts that look almost identical can produce opposite outcomes.

liability

• SERIOUS INJURY VS. PERSONAL INJURY: HOW THEY DIFFER & WHY IT MATTERS Not All Injuries Are the Same. Here’s Why & How Those Differences Could Impact Your Recovery Trauma from an accident can be debilitating in diverse ways. Aside from the region of the body affected, trauma can be psychological in nature, and it can vary by severity. In many cases, it takes time to determine the […]
• What Is an Intentional Tort? An intentional tort is a civil wrong committed on purpose, rather than by accident or carelessness. Unlike negligence, where harm results from a failure to use reasonable care, an intentional tort involves a deliberate act — assault, battery, false imprisonment, or intentional infliction of emotional distress. The same conduct can be both a crime and a tort, and a victim can sue for damages even if no criminal charge succeeds.
• What Is Negligent Entrustment? Negligent entrustment is a form of negligence that holds the owner of a dangerous instrument — usually a vehicle — liable when they hand it to someone they knew, or should have known, was incompetent, unlicensed, or reckless. If that person then causes a crash, the owner can be on the hook for the resulting damages, separate from the driver's own fault.
• What Is Negligent Supervision? Negligent supervision is a form of direct employer liability that arises when a company fails to adequately monitor and manage its employees and someone is harmed as a result. To prove it, an injured party must show the employer owed a duty to supervise, breached that duty, and that the breach directly caused the harm. Remedies can include monetary damages, reinstatement, and court-ordered policy changes.
• What Is the Reasonable Person Standard? The reasonable person standard sets an expected level of acceptable behavior. Violating it and causing harm may serve as a breach of duty in an injury claim.
• What is Vicarious Liability? Vicarious liability occurs when one party bears liability for the actions of another party, often an employee. A lawyer can help victims understand what bearing vicarious liability has on their claims.

process

• What is Res Ipsa Loquitur? The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur shifts the burden of proof to the defendant in a personal injury case. Learn how it could affect your claim.