Personal injury attorney terms, defined
The words you will meet in a first consultation and in a fee agreement, defined plainly. Where the rule varies by state, the entry says so.
- Contingency fee
- A fee paid only if money is recovered, calculated as an agreed percentage of the recovery. Nothing recovered, no fee; case costs may still be owed depending on the agreement.
- Damages
- The money a claim seeks. Economic damages cover measurable losses such as medical bills and lost wages; non-economic damages cover pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment; punitive damages, where allowed, are meant to punish rather than compensate.
- Demand letter
- A written statement sent to the responsible party or their insurer setting out what happened, the injuries, and the amount sought. Often the first formal step before any lawsuit.
- Deposition
- Sworn testimony given outside a courtroom, usually in a lawyer's office, recorded by a court reporter. Part of discovery.
- Discovery
- The stage of a lawsuit in which each side obtains evidence from the other: documents, written questions, depositions.
- Liability
- Legal responsibility for the harm. Establishing who is liable, and for how much, is most of the work in an injury claim.
- Litigation
- The process of taking a dispute through the courts, from filing a lawsuit onward. Many injury claims settle before or during litigation rather than at trial.
- Mediation
- A negotiation run by a neutral third party who helps both sides look for a settlement but does not decide the case.
- Negligence
- A failure to take the care a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances. The usual legal basis of an injury claim.
- Comparative fault
- A rule in many states that reduces a recovery by the injured person's own share of the blame. The exact rule, and whether a large share bars recovery entirely, varies by state.
- Personal injury
- A physical or psychological injury to a person, as opposed to damage to property. The area of law concerned with claims for such injuries caused by someone else's fault.
- Retainer agreement
- The written contract between a client and a practice setting out the scope of the work and how it will be paid for. In injury work it usually is the contingency fee agreement.
- Settlement
- An agreement to resolve a claim for an agreed sum without a court judgment. Most injury claims end this way.
- Statute of limitations
- The legal deadline for filing a claim. It differs by state and by the type of claim, and missing it usually ends the claim. The register does not track deadlines; ask the practice or the state bar.
- Tort
- A civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which the law provides a remedy. Personal injury claims are torts.