Personal Injury Terms and Definitions

Eggshell skull A hypothetical medical condition used to illustrate the idea that if you are at fault when you injure someone, you are responsible for all the consequences, whether you could have foreseen them or not. Cerebral edema Accumulation of excessive fluid in the substance of the brain. The brain is especially susceptible to injury from edema, because it is located within a confined space and cannot expand. Amicus curiae (Latin: "friend of the court.") Person or organization that files a legal brief with the court expressing its views on a case involving other parties because it has a strong interest in the subject matter of the action. Managed care Any system that manages healthcare delivery with the aim of controlling costs. Managed care systems typically rely on a primary care physician who acts as a gatekeeper through whom the patient has to go to obtain other health services such as specialty medical care, surgery, or physical therapy. Punitive damages Also called exemplary damages, which are designed to punish a defendant whose behavior in causing the plaintiff's injuries was especially egregious. 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. Traumatic Brain Injury A blow or jolt to the head can result in a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can disrupt the function of the brain. Concussions, also called “closed head injuries,” are a type of TBI. Defective product injury When a product malfunctions due to a defect and causes serious personal injury, the law requires the manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer of the product to bear the losses caused by the defect in the product. Compensatory damages Which measure actual dollar-value losses for such things as medical expenses, lost income, loss of future earning capacity, etc. 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.

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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.