Insurance letters use personal injury legal terms without explaining them. Since 1964, Langston & Lott, PLLC has explained these rules to Mississippi families in practice areas including wrongful death, product liability, and car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. Call (662) 728-9733 to talk with our team.
Why Bring Your Personal Injury Case to Our Firm?
Our firm has deep roots in rural Northeast Mississippi and has built a long-standing reputation for handling serious injury and complex litigation. Langston & Lott, PLLC handles cases ranging from single-vehicle wrecks to claims involving many injured people at once.
Our Mississippi personal injury lawyers try cases in the circuit courts of Prentiss, Lee, and Clay counties. If another office passed on your case, ask us to look.
A
Accident Report
An accident report is an officer’s record of a crash. Troopers write many after a car accident on highways.
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written statement sworn before a notary. Lying in one is a crime.
Answer
An answer is the defendant’s written reply to a lawsuit. Mississippi rules generally allow 30 days.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a private hearing where a neutral person decides the case. Some policies require it.
Attorney-Client Privilege
Attorney-client privilege keeps what you tell our lawyers private. Insurers cannot force us to share it.
B
Burden of Proof
The burden of proof is the evidence you need to win. You must show your version is more likely true.
C
Catastrophic Injury
A catastrophic injury permanently changes how you live or work. Severe burns are a primary focus for us.
Causation
Causation links someone’s action to your harm. The primary reason insurers dispute it is that it’s an older injury.
Civil Code
A civil code is a written set of laws for private disputes. Mississippi’s injury rules come from its 1972 Code and court rules.
Comparative Negligence
Comparative negligence splits blame among everyone who caused a wreck, shrinking your award by your share of fault. Specifically, a rider found 25% at fault for a motorcycle accident keeps 75% of the damages. A rider 90% at fault still recovers 10%.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages consist of economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover your financial losses. In contrast, non-economic damages compensate for pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. Mississippi caps pain and suffering at $1 million in most cases.
Complaint
A complaint is the document that starts a lawsuit. It explains what happened and what you want.
Contingency Fee
A contingency fee means you pay our lawyers only if we recover money. Nothing is owed upfront.
D
Defendant
The defendant is the person or company being sued. In a car accident, that usually means the driver. For a dog bite, that typically means the owner.
Deposition
A deposition is sworn questioning outside court, recorded word for word. Those answers can be read at trial.
Discovery
Discovery is when each side shares evidence. Medical records and photos are common requests.
Duty of Care
Duty of care means a person’s or organization’s legal responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent harm they could foresee. Drivers, employers, manufacturers, and property owners all owe this duty.
E
Expert Witness
An expert witness is a professional who explains technical facts at trial. Trucking and burn cases often need several.
I
Interrogatory
An interrogatory is a written question answered under oath. Mississippi rules allow up to 30 per party.
J
Judgment
A judgment is the court’s final ruling, including money owed. It can be collected like a debt.
L
Liability
Liability means legal responsibility for another’s harm. Sometimes, personal injury cases involve multiple parties ‘ liability. For example, after a trucking accident, the driver and carrier can share it.
Litigation
Litigation is resolving a dispute through a lawsuit. We prepare every case for trial from the start.
M
Mass Tort and Multidistrict Litigation
A mass tort groups lawsuits from many people hurt by one product. Multidistrict litigation sends similar federal cases from around the country to one judge for pretrial steps.
Mitigating Circumstances
Mitigating circumstances are facts that can lower what someone owes. Insurers often point to skipped medical care.
N
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to use reasonable care that harms someone. Most injury claims rest on proving it.
No-Fault State
A no-fault state sends injured drivers to their own insurer first. In contrast, Mississippi holds the at-fault driver responsible.
Notice of Claim
A notice of claim is a written warning sent before an MTCA lawsuit. It must go out 90 days ahead.
P
Personal Injury
In law, personal injury means harm to your body or mind caused by another. Wrecks and burns both qualify.
Plaintiff
The plaintiff is the person who files the lawsuit. In an injury case, that is usually you.
Product Liability
Product liability holds makers responsible when dangerous products cause harm. That includes dangerous prescription drugs and defective medical devices.
Proximate Cause
Proximate cause asks whether the harm was a foreseeable result. Running a red light foreseeably causes a collision.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages punish reckless conduct and require clear and convincing proof. The cap does not apply to drunk drivers.
R
Reasonable Care
Reasonable care is what a sensible person would do. Slowing down in Natchez Trace fog is one example of what a driver should do.
S
Settlement
A settlement ends a claim for an agreed amount. The release you sign ends future claims.
Statute of Limitations
A statute of limitations is the deadline to file suit. Most injury claims have a three-year deadline. An injured child’s clock waits until age 21.
Summons
A summons tells a defendant they have been sued. Mississippi rules generally allow 120 days to deliver it.
T
Testimony
Testimony is what a witness says under oath. Jurors weigh it with records and photos.
Tort
A tort is a civil wrong that lets the injured person sue. Car accidents and dog bites are torts.
V
Verdict
A verdict is the jury’s decision after trial. In Mississippi civil cases, nine of 12 jurors must agree.
W
Witness
A witness is anyone who saw what happened. Names taken at the scene help us find them later.
Wrongful Death
A wrongful death claim lets a family recover when negligence takes a loved one. One lawsuit covers every eligible relative, including surviving spouses, children, parents, siblings, and the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate.
FAQs: Mississippi Personal Injury Legal Terms Glossary
Clients often ask about these personal injury legal terms too.
What Is a Demand Letter?
A demand letter asks the insurer to pay a set amount and lists your injuries. It usually goes out after treatment ends.
What Is a Lien on a Settlement?
A lien is a claim by a hospital or health insurer to be repaid from your settlement. Liens are paid before your share.
What Does Loss of Consortium Mean?
Loss of consortium is a spouse’s claim for companionship lost when the other spouse is hurt. It is usually filed with the main case.
What Does “Dismissed With Prejudice” Mean?
A case dismissed with prejudice cannot be refiled. Settled cases usually end this way.
Stuck on a Personal Injury Term Your Adjuster Used?
Families from the Golden Triangle to the Delta bring confusing mail to Langston & Lott, PLLC. Call (662) 728-9733, and our Mississippi personal injury lawyers will explain it.
