Personal Injury Terms and Definitions

Trauma Any injury, whether physically or emotionally inflicted. "Trauma" has both a medical and a psychiatric definition. Medically, "trauma" refers to a serious or critical bodily injury, wound, or shock. Soft Tissue Injury Injury to the ligaments, tendons and fibers of the body that connect the skeletal bones. Burden of proof A party's job of convincing the decisionmaker in a trial that the party's version of the facts is true. In a civil trial, it means that the plaintiff must convince the judge or jury "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the plaintiff's version is true -- that is, over 50% of the believable evidence is in the plaintiff's favor. Bodily Injury A cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement; physical pain, illness, impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary. Contributory negligence Broadly, carelessness on the plaintiff's part. More precisely, conduct which falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of one's self against unreasonable risk of harm. Mental Anguish Mental suffering. It is different from a physical injury, but may be considered in awarding damages. In some cases damages for mental anguish can be awarded even if no physical injury occured. Disfigurement A technical term in workers' compensation cases for a serious and permanent scar to the head, neck, or face. Compensation Compensation is defined as a recompense for loss. If you suffer an injury, either physical or psychological as the result of an accident that was not your fault, then you may be able to claim a financial award to cover any loss of income, the cost of medical bills, or any other costs that you have incurred as a result of the injury or accident that you would not normally have incurred. Cervical Pain Neck pain can come from disorders and diseases of any structure in the neck. There are seven vertebrae that are the bony building blocks of the spine in the neck (the cervical vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord and canal. Traumatic Brain Injury Serious injury to the head often resulting in severe and permanent damage to the brain. A bone may break or fracture when the force applied against it is greater than the strength of the bone itself.

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	Did You Know?
	There are four general types of slip and fall accidents Trip-and-fall accidents, where there is a foreign object in the walking path. Stump-and-fall accidents, where there is an impediment in the walking surface. Step-and-fall accidents, where there is an unexpected failure or hole in the walking surface Slip-and-fall accidents, in which the interface of the shoe and the floor fails Both the property owner as well as the injured person can be held to varying degrees of responsibility for an injury.