Plain definitions of 35 terms we use on the job in Atlanta.
Term Index
Open any term below for a dedicated definition page.
Accident Reconstruction is a forensic process that examines vehicle damage, roadway conditions, physical evidence, witness accounts, and available records to explain how a collision occurred. A qualified professional may analyze speed, direction, impact points, visibility, and driver actions. The resulting analysis can help clarify disputed facts in a car accident claim.
Also called: Crash Reconstruction
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Affidavit of Merit is a sworn statement from a qualified medical professional that explains why a healthcare provider may have breached the applicable standard of care and caused an injury. In a medical malpractice claim, the affidavit supports the allegations with an expert opinion and connects the provider’s conduct to the claimed harm.
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Assumption of Risk is a legal defense asserting that an injured person knew about a specific danger, understood its nature, and voluntarily encountered it. In a slip and fall claim, the defense may reduce or prevent recovery when the evidence shows that the person recognized the hazardous condition and chose to proceed despite that knowledge.
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At-Fault Driver is the person whose careless, reckless, or unlawful conduct caused a car crash or contributed to the harm that followed. Fault may rest on actions such as distracted driving, unsafe lane changes, or impaired driving. Insurance companies, lawyers, and courts examine evidence to decide how responsibility should be assigned.
Also called: Negligent Driver
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Black Box is a data-recording system in a commercial truck that may preserve information about vehicle operation before, during, and after a collision. Depending on the truck, recorded information can include speed, braking, engine activity, seat-belt status, and other control inputs. The data can help reconstruct events and assess disputed facts.
Also called: Event Data Recorder
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Bodily Injury Liability is a form of auto insurance coverage that may pay for another person's physical injuries when the insured driver caused a covered crash. The coverage can address injury-related losses, subject to the policy's terms, exclusions, and available limit. It does not insure the at-fault driver's own injuries.
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Chain of Custody is a documented record showing how physical or digital evidence moved from collection through storage, review, and presentation. The record identifies each person who handled the evidence, the transfer or access, and the condition of the item. In medical malpractice claims, this process helps establish that evidence remained authentic and unchanged.
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Comparative Negligence is a legal rule that assigns each party a share of fault for an injury. A damaged person’s recovery may be reduced by that person’s own careless conduct. The rule helps courts and insurers assess how the injured person’s actions and another party’s actions contributed to the same harm.
Also called: Comparative Fault
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A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a blow, jolt, or force that disrupts normal brain function. Symptoms may affect thinking, memory, balance, mood, or physical comfort. A concussion can occur with or without loss of consciousness, and symptoms may appear immediately or develop later.
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A contingency fee is a lawyer’s payment collected from a client’s financial recovery, usually after a personal injury claim settles or ends in a judgment. The fee arrangement links payment to the result of the case. The written agreement should explain the fee, case expenses, and how each deduction affects the client’s recovery.
Also called: Contingent Fee
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Damages are the monetary losses and nonfinancial harms that a person or family may seek in a civil injury claim. They can address medical care, lost income, property damage, physical pain, emotional distress, and losses connected to a death. The available categories depend on the facts and governing law.
Also called: Legal Damages
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Demand Letter is a formal written request for compensation sent to an at-fault party or insurer after an injury claim. The letter explains what happened, identifies the injuries and losses, and presents the basis for resolving the claim. A Demand Letter may support settlement discussions before a lawsuit is filed.
Also called: Settlement Demand
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Dram Shop Law is a legal rule that may hold an alcohol seller or provider responsible for injuries caused by an intoxicated person when the provider’s conduct meets the law’s conditions. The rule focuses on the provider’s actions, the drinker’s condition, and the connection between alcohol service and the resulting crash or injury.
Also called: Dram Shop Liability
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Duty of Care is a legal responsibility to act with reasonable caution toward people who could foreseeably face harm. In negligent security claims, the responsibility may apply to property owners or occupiers who control access, lighting, surveillance, or security measures. A breach occurs when unreasonable conduct contributes to a person’s injury.
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Economic Damages are measurable financial losses caused by a death, injury, or other legally recognized harm. In a wrongful death claim, they may include medical and funeral expenses, lost income, lost household support, and lost services. These losses are supported by records, employment information, financial evidence, and other proof tied to the deceased person’s contributions.
Also called: Special Damages
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An Expert Witness is a qualified professional who explains specialized knowledge to help evaluate disputed facts in a legal claim. In medical malpractice cases, an expert may assess whether medical care met accepted practice standards and whether an injury followed. The expert's opinion can support or challenge testimony, records, and causation arguments.
Also called: Expert Testimony
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A herniated disc is a spinal condition that occurs when the soft inner material of a disc pushes through a weakened or torn outer layer. The displaced material may irritate nearby nerves, causing pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the back, neck, arms, or legs.
Also called: Slipped Disc
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Loss of Consortium is a type of noneconomic damage claim for the harm to a close family relationship after a person suffers a serious injury or dies. The claim may address lost companionship, affection, household support, and marital intimacy. In wrongful death cases, eligible surviving family members may seek compensation for these relationship losses.
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Medical Records are written, electronic, or recorded details about a patient’s care, condition, testing, treatment, and recovery. Healthcare providers create these records during diagnosis and treatment. In a medical malpractice claim, the records can show what care occurred, when it occurred, what providers observed, and how the patient’s condition changed.
Also called: Patient Records
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Notice of Claim is a formal written communication that tells a potential defendant or responsible agency about an injury claim. It usually identifies the event, the injured person, the claimed harm, and the basis for responsibility. A notice may support later legal action, but it is not the same as filing a lawsuit.
Also called: Claim Notice
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Pain and Suffering is a category of noneconomic damages in a personal injury claim. It addresses physical discomfort, emotional distress, reduced enjoyment of life, and other personal effects caused by an injury. Unlike medical bills or lost wages, this loss does not come with a fixed invoice or automatic dollar value.
Also called: Non-Economic Damages
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Paralysis is a loss of voluntary muscle movement caused by disruption to the brain, spinal cord, or nerves. The condition may affect one body part, one side, or much of the body. Paralysis can be temporary or permanent, and its legal significance depends on the injury, treatment, prognosis, and effect on daily life.
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Personal Injury Protection is an auto insurance coverage that can pay medical expenses and certain related losses after a covered crash, regardless of who caused it. The coverage applies according to the policy’s terms, limits, exclusions, and applicable law. It may protect the insured driver, passengers, or other covered people listed in the policy.
Also called: PIP
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Premises Liability is a legal claim that may arise when unsafe conditions on property cause someone to suffer an injury. The claim examines whether a property owner or occupier knew, or should have known, about the hazard and failed to address it or provide a reasonable warning. The facts depend on the location, condition, notice, and injury.
Also called: Property Liability
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Pressure Sore is a localized injury to skin and underlying tissue caused by sustained pressure, friction, or shear. These injuries often develop over areas where bone lies close to the skin, such as the hips, heels, or tailbone. In nursing home claims, a pressure sore may raise questions about care, monitoring, treatment, and prevention.
Also called: Bedsore, Pressure Ulcer
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A Product Recall is a manufacturer’s or seller’s action to remove, repair, replace, or warn about a product that may create an unreasonable risk of injury or property damage. A recall may cover a specific model, batch, or design. It can provide evidence that a product defect was recognized after distribution.
Also called: Safety Recall
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Proximate Cause is the legal connection between a person’s conduct and an injury that makes the conduct a sufficiently direct cause of the harm. In a car accident claim, the connection must show that the defendant’s act or failure to act led to the injury in a reasonably foreseeable way, without an unrelated event breaking the chain.
Also called: Legal Cause
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Scaffold Collapse is the sudden failure of a temporary elevated work structure, causing part or all of the scaffold to fall, shift, or overturn. The failure may result from defective components, poor assembly, unstable ground, excessive loading, missing safeguards, or outside forces. Workers, pedestrians, and nearby property may suffer resulting harm.
Also called: Scaffolding Collapse
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Settlement is a negotiated agreement that resolves a personal injury claim without a trial. The injured person receives an agreed payment, and the responsible party or insurer receives a release of specified claims. The agreement usually addresses compensation, disputed facts, liability, and the legal rights that end when the settlement is accepted.
Also called: Settlement Agreement
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Shoulder Dystocia is a childbirth complication in which a baby’s shoulder becomes lodged behind the birthing parent’s pelvic bone after the head delivers. The obstruction can delay delivery and may require specific medical maneuvers. The event can cause injuries to the baby or birthing parent, depending on the circumstances and care provided.
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Statute of Limitations is a legal time limit for starting a civil lawsuit. The deadline usually begins when an injury occurs or when the injured person discovers the harm. If a claimant files after the applicable period ends, the court may dismiss the claim, even when another party caused the injury.
Also called: Filing Deadline
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Subrogation is a legal process that allows an insurer or another payer to seek repayment from the person or insurer responsible for a loss after covering related expenses. In an uninsured motorist claim, subrogation may involve recovering payments from an at-fault driver or another available source of liability coverage.
Also called: Subrogation Claim
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A surgical error is a preventable mistake or failure during a surgical procedure that causes harm, worsens a patient’s condition, or requires additional treatment. The term may involve the wrong procedure, an avoidable injury, retained surgical material, or a failure to respond properly to a known complication.
Also called: Wrong-Site Surgery
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Vicarious Liability is a legal doctrine that can hold one party responsible for another person’s wrongful conduct because of their relationship. In injury claims, the doctrine often concerns an employer’s responsibility for an employee’s actions within the job. Whether it applies depends on facts such as control, employment status, and the person’s work-related conduct.
Also called: Imputed Liability
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Whiplash is a soft-tissue neck injury caused by the head moving suddenly backward and forward during a collision. The injury may affect muscles, ligaments, joints, and nerves in the neck. Symptoms can include neck pain, stiffness, headaches, shoulder discomfort, and reduced movement, even when imaging does not show a fracture.
Also called: Neck Sprain
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The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and may not reflect current law in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Every situation is different; consult a licensed attorney about your specific matter. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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