Wrongful Death Legal Glossary L

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

Liability: Just stating that someone caused an injury or death isn’t enough. It has to be proven, and it has to meet the legal requirements to establish liability. This legal conclusion, that someone is formally responsible for injuries, or death, suffered by another, is far more complicated than just reading a traffic collision report to see whom a police officer has concluded was the cause of an accident, for example. It may be necessary to establish liability for many different people, corporations, or government entities involved directly or indirectly in an incident. For example, it might involve proof that one negligent person was driving a vehicle and was responsible for causing the death of another, proof that a second person owned the vehicle and gave the first person permission to use it, proof that a third person or corporation employed the driver and that the driver was in the “course and scope” of his employment, and so on. Establishing liability for injuries is every bit as important as establishing the value of the damages that the injured person has suffered. 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.

Litigation: The process of carrying on a lawsuit.