Ohio Personal Injury Claim Glossary Part II: More Common Terms
Ohio Personal Injury Claim Glossary Part II: More Common Terms
If you are thinking about filing an Ohio personal injury claim, you might be overwhelmed with the process. There is a reason that lawyers have to go to school for years and that their education is so tough. The legal process is complex and difficult to understand even for the smartest people. Working with a lawyer that knows how to communicate effectively and keep you in the loop is critical to your case and satisfaction. To help make the process easier to jump into, here are 11 common Ohio personal injury claims terms to know before your start.
Ohio Personal Injury Claim Terms:
Plaintiff
The plaintiff is the person or group that is filing the Ohio personal injury claim or lawsuit. If you were in an accident that resulted in serious physical, emotional, or financial damages and you wanted to pursue legal action, you would be considered the plaintiff in that case. The plaintiff is the person who is looking to hold another party accountable for their actions or negligence.
Defendant
The defendant is the person or party that the plaintiff is filing the Ohio personal injury claim against. If a driver was in a semi-truck accident where the truck driver caused an accident by breaking truck driving laws, then the driver could file an Ohio personal injury claim against that driver or the company they work for. The defendant is the truck driver or the company that employs them in this example.
Negligence
There is a difference between knowingly doing something wrong or acting negligently. Negligence implies thoughtlessness or carelessness that directly causes damages in a legal case. For example, if a truck driver knows a part of their truck needs attention but decides to continue driving despite that fact thinking “I will get to it later” and that action causes an accident, then the truck driver acted negligently or carelessly and that resulted in an accident. Several things need to be considered in order for a negligent Ohio personal injury claim to work. The first being duty or obligation to the plaintiff, the defendant breached that obligation, that breach led to damages, and the fourth is that the damages are proven.
Knowing these terms will hopefully enable you to better understand them in the context of your own case. If you need to be connected with an Ohio personal injury lawyer, click here.
