Glossary of Criminal Law

Attorney-Client Privilege

The law generally considers all communications between an attorney and his/her client to be privileged, in other words: confidential and afforded special protection under the law. As a result, no other party (particularly, opponents in a lawsuit) is entitled to gain access to those communications.

Claim Evaluation

The act of assessing your claim. Factors to be considered by experienced legal counsel are: the likelihood that your claim will prevail on the liability or fault aspect of your case, the extent to which you or a loved one has been injured, and the costs which will likely be incurred in pursuing your claim.

Claim/Claimant

The claimant in a serious injury case is the person(s) that has been injured as a result of the negligence of one or more other parties. If a formal lawsuit is filed, the claimant becomes the plaintiff in the lawsuit and the allegedly negligent party becomes the defendant.

Comparative Negligence

The degree to which the plaintiff is at fault (if at all) when compared to the fault of the defendant.

Complaint

A complaint will outline the circumstances of the incident that forms the basis of the lawsuit. It will also describe, in broad terms, the nature of the damages suffered by the plaintiff. The complaint will specify who the parties to the case are -- the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s). Once the complaint is filed with the court, the attorney will have the complaint served upon the defendant(s) by a process server or certified mail.

Contingent Fee Agreement

An agreement whereby an attorney is being hired on the basis that he or she will only receive a fee from you (the client) contingent upon you receiving compensation from the defendant(s).

The contingent fee agreement may lay out such details as who is responsible for the costs of the case and how any money collected for the client is to be distributed. Some law firms will advance the case costs to the client and will be reimbursed for these costs out of the proceeds of the case. Case costs include such things as court fees, charges for acquiring copies of the client's relevant medical records, witness fees and expert witness fees, deposition fees, travel, et cetera.

Damages

Damages are awarded in various categories:

Compensatory damages, which compensate the plaintiff for actual dollar-value losses (e.g. medical expenses (past and future), lost income, loss of future earning capacity, etc.
General damages, also a form of compensatory damages, which cover more intangible losses, such as pain, suffering, humiliation, the loss of enjoyment of life as well as grief suffered from the loss of a loved one.
Punitive damages (rare) which punish a defendant for egregious behavior and which serve to deter others from similar conduct.

Defendants

People (or corporations) who are alleged to have caused the injury to the plaintiff(s) and are so named in the lawsuit.

Defective Product

A "defective product" is one that causes injury to a person because of some defect in the product (e.g. manufacturing defect, design defect or inadequate warning).

Deposition

A deposition is a form of discovery in which a plaintiff, a defendant, a witness, or an expert witness with relevant information about a lawsuit is formally questioned under oath by the attorneys representing all parties in the lawsuit. The deposition is similar to the giving of oral testimony in a trial, but takes place under less formal circumstances and in advance of a trial. The deposition is typically before a court reporter and the witness is subjected to examination by attorneys for all parties.

Discovery

The use of depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, and demands for independent medical examinations, among others procedures to discover relevant evidence possessed by the other parties or by independent witnesses.

Insurance Defense Attorneys

Defense attorneys are normally paid by insurance companies to represent the defendant.

Insurance Bad Faith

The failure of an insurance company to deal fairly and in good faith with it’s insured.

Insurance Claim

An insurance claim is made when an injured person or his/her attorney informs an insurance company that the injured person will be seeking compensation for damages that have been sustained. The insurance claim is a typical beginning of an injury or death case.

Lawsuit

A lawsuit is a formal legal action made by one party or group of people (the plaintiff(s)) against another person or corporation (the defendant(s)) in which recovery is sought for damages suffered by the plaintiff(s). The lawsuit is formally initiated with the filing of a complaint in the proper court of law.

Liability

The legal conclusion that some person or some corporation is responsible for injuries suffered by the plaintiff(s). An experienced attorney will carefully review all the facts of an incident and apply the law to those facts in order to prove the liability of all responsible parties.

Medical Malpractice

When a person is injured due to the negligence of a health care provider (e.g. doctor or hospital), the injured person may pursue a medical malpractice claim. This type of claim has many additional rules and requirements that are not common to other types of serious injury claims.

Negligence

Negligence generally means that a person’s conduct falls below a legally recognized standard of taking reasonable care under the circumstances. People or corporations do not necessarily intend to cause injury to another person. Instead, liability develops from careless or thoughtless conduct, or a failure to act when a reasonable person under the circumstances would have so acted. Negligence is the basis for liability in the majority of serious injury lawsuits, including automobile accidents and medical malpractice.

Physician-Patient Privilege

The records which a physician holds regarding his/her patients, as well as any communications between the doctor and patient are confidential and remains so under the law.

Plaintiffs

The person or persons who have suffered injury and are seeking recovery for damages by filing a lawsuit.

Product Liability

A person injured as the result of a defective or unreasonably dangerous product is entitled to claim damages against people or corporations responsible for putting the product into the stream of commerce, including manufacturers of some or all of its parts, as well as wholesalers and retailers of the product.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages (which are rare) are meant to punish a defendant for egregious and reprehensible conduct and to deter others from similar conduct.

Qui tam Cases

(Black's Law Dictionary pronunciation: kwàày tææm)
Frequently known as the "Whistle Blower Act." Qui tam is a provision of the Federal Civil False Claims Act that allows private citizens to file a lawsuit in the name of the U.S. Government charging fraud by government contractors who improperly receive or misuse government funds. If the recovery is successful, the whistle blower (also known as the "relator") may share in any money received.

The qui tam provision has had the effect of privatizing government legal remedies by allowing private citizens to act as "private attorneys general" in the effort to prosecute government procurement and program fraud.

Statute of Limitations

An established legal deadline that requires a person who has suffered a serious injury to file a lawsuit within a certain time after the date of injury or lose forever his or her rights to sue for compensation. Exceptions apply from state to state.

Treating Physician

A treating physician is a doctor who has actually provided medical care to an injured person. This is in contrast to a doctor who may be hired as an expert witness or who has not treated the plaintiff.

Wrongful Death

A wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the decedent was killed as a result of the negligence (or other liability) on the part of the defendant(s), and that the surviving dependents or next of kin are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the defendant's conduct.

Richard R. Wier, Jr., Civil and Criminal Attorney in Wilmington, Delaware