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Per Se Laws: Laws that declare it illegal
to drive a vehicle above a certain alcohol level, as
measured by a blood or breathe test. In most states,
the per se limit is .08% or greater. Violating the
per se law has nothing to do with one's ability to
drive a car safely; it is based solely on body
chemistry. The only question is whether the driver
was above the legal limit at the time of driving.
The alcohol level at the time of testing may be
higher, lower, or the same, when compared to the
time of driving.
Personal Injury Attorney: A professional
personal injury attorney (sometimes referred to as a
PI attorney) is dedicated to representing clients
who have suffered physical and emotional injuries
resulting from the negligence (or intentional
actions) of other people and/or corporations. Often
times, these attorneys will be hired by a family
member of a deceased person who was killed in a car
accident, died while getting surgery, etc. A
personal injury attorney is hired by an injured
person when both the injured person and the attorney
have signed a Contingent Fee Agreement, which states
the conditions of the attorney's employment by and
representation of the client. In most cases, the
personal injury attorney only receives payment from
the client when the attorney has secured a
settlement, binding arbitration award, or jury
verdict for the client. This allows even clients of
very modest means to hire the very best attorneys
for their cases. A good personal injury attorney
will be experienced in all phases of case work, and
will be able to properly guide the client's case
while it is an insurance claim, and, if necessary,
on through the stages of lawsuit, discovery,
arbitration, mediation, and/or trial.
Physician-Patient Privilege: The records
that a physician has regarding his or her patients,
as well as any communications between the doctor and
patient have a special degree of confidentiality
under the law referred to as the
"patient-physician privilege." When an
injured person files a personal injury lawsuit with
a court to recover for their damages, the injured
person waives this confidentiality, but only to a
certain specific degree. Only medical records
relating legally to the injuries they have suffered
can be released. An experienced personal injury
attorney will carefully guard his client's medical
confidentiality for all medical matters not relating
to the lawsuit. This is very important, because
insurance adjustors and defense attorneys will often
seek access to all of an injured person's medical
histories; an inattentive person handling his or her
own claim may inadvertently give access to more of
their medical records than is necessary.
Plaintiffs and Defendants: When a lawsuit
is filed with a court, it will name the people,
corporations, business organizations, and government
entities involved in the case. The individual who
has suffered injury and is seeking recovery for
damages by filing the lawsuit is referred to as the
"plaintiff." Plaintiffs would be family
members in the event a death occurred from the
applicable injury. If recovery is sought, prior to
the lawsuit, by way of an insurance claim, the
individual is referred to as a "claimant."
The person (or persons) who are alleged to have
caused the injury is named in the lawsuit as
"defendants." For example, in an
automobile accident case, the defendants may include
parties such as the negligent operator of a motor
vehicle, the owner of the vehicle, the driver's
employer (if the driver was on-the-job), a public
entity that may have had responsibility for an
improperly designed roadway or malfunctioning
traffic signal, and so on. It is very important not
to overlook any possible defendants, because if they
are not brought into a lawsuit in a timely manner,
the injured person's right to recover from them may
be forever lost.
Prescription Error: A form of medical
malpractice that occurs when a patient does not
receive the appropriate medication, at the right
dose, at the right time. A prescription error can
often cause harm to a patient, and in some cases,
can even lead to death. A prescription error is
considered medical malpractice when a medical
professional's negligence or mistake led to patient
harm or death. A wrongful death case can often
follow if death occurs.
Pretrial Conference: The first court
appearance after an arraignment. It is a meeting
with the DA, where they usually make a plea offer if
you agree to plead guilty, and other procedural
issues are dealt with, such as court date scheduling
and discovery issues. In some courts, there is a
separate and distinct date for a "pre-trial
hearing", where these procedural issues are
divided up.
Probation: A common element of a
penalty for certain first offenses. A person on
probation may be subject to a one-year unsupervised
probation, where they would have to send their
probation officer a postcard form once a month.
Product Liability: A generic term used to
describe the onus on a producer or others to make
restitution for loss related to personal injury,
property damage or other harm caused by a product or
service. Products liability refers to the legal
liability of manufacturers and sellers to compensate
purchasers for damages, injuries, or death caused by
defects in the products purchased.
Punitive Damages: In rare cases where the
court determines that the defendant engaged in
particularly reckless behavior, the court may assign
to the plaintiff monetary awards over and above
compensation.
