Auto Accident Law 101
Filing A Personal Injury Lawsuit? Become Familiar With These Terms
Everett Cook
Are you working with a lawyer to help file a personal injury lawsuit? If so, you're likely going to be hearing a lot of unfamiliar terms that are bound to confuse you. Here are some common legal terms that are good to know to better understand your case.
Tort
You may hear the phrase tort used quite often, which is one way to describe your injury case. A tort is any instance where legal liability results from the actions of another person, either intentionally or through negligence. Since this defines the basis of a personal injury claim quite well, the phrase will be used to describe it.
Partial and Total Disability
Your lawyer may say that you have a partial disability, with you not being quite sure what that means. A partial disability is best described as if you are able to fully function where you were before the injury. If you have an injury that has caused changes in your physical ability, leaving you unable to perform the exact same task as you once did at your job, you would have a partial disability. Many partial disabilities leave the injured person with the inability to make the full wages that they were making, which requires them to seek legal compensation for their damages.
A total disability means that you are unable to perform any work due to your disability. This is often the case if an injury causes someone to be bound to a wheelchair due to being unable to walk, or lost the use of one of their limbs. A total disability case would cause you to seek compensation for future wages that are lost as a result of your injury.
Temporary and Permanent Disability
Both partial and total disabilities can be classified as either temporary or permanent disability. It defines if your injury will last forever in a permanent nature, or if you have a chance of recovering your motor functions over time. For example, if you are unable to return to work at all because you are recovering, but you are on bed rest as a result, that would be an example or a temporary total disability. Meanwhile, an injury to your leg that causes you to walk with a limp forever would be classified as a permanent partial disability. The nature of your injury will ultimately determine your compensation.
Reach out to Nicholas B. Hall - Personal Injury Lawyer if you have questions about the terms that you hear being used to describe your case.
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After being involved in a serious auto accident with a drunk driver, I struggled heavily with getting the driver's insurance company to open a claim. When the insurance company started pushing back, I knew I needed to do something. I spent a lot of time digging through the laws surrounding auto accident claims so that I knew what my legal rights were. I even talked with an auto accident attorney. I created this site to teach others about what I learned, including my court experience. I hope it helps you to determine how you should proceed with your auto accident case.