Glossary of Legal Terminology

Liability

The result of an at-fault determination made by either a police officer/accident re-constructionist during the discovery phase of a case or by the finders of fact in a jury trial (the jurors).

Strict Liability

Strict liability means that you will be held liable without a finding of negligence. This generally applies to dog-related injury claims against dog owners or keepers who shall be liable for damages caused by their dog.

Negligence Law

Negligence is an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability. Foundational elements of Negligence or Tort Law include duty, breach, causation and damages:

Duty of Care – A legal obligation which is imposed upon an individual to adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any act that could foreseeably harm others.

Breach of Duty of Care – Occurs when an individual’s conduct fails to meet an applicable standard of care.

Causation – A causal relationship between things, one thing is responsible for causing the other thing – meaning, the car crash is responsible for causing your injuries.

Damages – The harm or loss that results from a breach of the duty of cared owed, and/or the sum of money the law imposes for a breach of the duty of care owed.

Types of Negligence

Ordinary Negligence – The failure to use reasonable care – meaning what the reasonable person of ordinary prudence would do or would not do under similar circumstances. This is true even if the negligent party had no intention of causing harm.

Comparative Negligence – The person who was injured contributed to causing the injury. Contributory negligence shall not bar recovery and any damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the plaintiff. In Massachusetts, however, if an injured party is more than 50% at fault, no damages can be recovered.

Gross Negligence – Willful, wanton and reckless conduct affecting the life or property or another. The negligence is so great that it appears to be a conscious violation of other people's rights to safety. Gross negligence falls between intent to do wrongful harm and ordinary negligence, and is considered more harmful than ordinary negligence because it implies a thoughtless, reckless disregard of the consequences and the failure to use even slight care to avoid harming the life or property of another. As such, someone who is found liable for gross negligence can be responsible for higher damages than ordinary negligence.

Types of Damages

The following list of damages are considered when determining compensation for injuries due to the negligence of another person or entity: 

Special Damages – Objective Damages:
These types of damages can be reduced to a number and itemized and can be supported by expert opinion.

  • Medical Expenses

  • Future Anticipated Medical Expenses

  • Lost Wages

  • Loss of Earning Capacity

General Damages – Subjective Damages:
These types of damages are based upon common sense and everyday life experience and can be supported by expert opinion.

  • Permanent Partial Disability/Permanent Impairment

  • Physical Pain

  • Mental Suffering

  • Loss of Enjoyment of Life

  • Scarring

  • Loss of Spousal Consortium

Arguably, your award of subjective damages is influenced by the amount of your objective damages.

Publications Relative to Expert Testimony

To prove how your injuries will impact you for the rest of your life, expert witnesses rely upon not only their knowledge, training and experience, but widely accepted publications including:

  • The American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition

  • The Unites States Department of Health and Human Services Life Expectancy Tables

These publications allow experts to render opinions as to whole body impairment ratings and how long an individual live with any such impairment as a result of the injuries sustained as a result of the negligence of another.

Premises Liability Claims

Actual Notice – Regarding premises liability claims, actual notice means the property owner actually knowsabout the existence of the dangerous or defective condition.

Constructive Notice – Regarding premises liability claims, actual notice means the property owner actually knows about the existence of the dangerous or defective condition. Constructive notice means the hazardous condition that caused your injuries was present long enough to imply that the owner of the property was aware of the hazard.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Benefits

PIP Benefits can cover you and any passenger in your car for medical expenses, lost wages and prescription reimbursements up to $8,000. A PIP Application must be filed with your auto insurance provider to receive these benefits. See sample Personal Injury Protection Benefits Form.

Tracking Order

A Tracking Order is provided by the Court to set forth the dates upon by which discovery and depositions must be completed, the date when expert disclosures must be shared with opposing counsel as well as when the Pre-Trial Conference, and when Trial Status Conference and Jury Trial will be held. An experienced lawyer will have little difficulty explaining this process to you. See sample Tracking Order.