Legal Glossary
Understanding legal terminology is the first step toward protecting your rights. This glossary explains common terms used in personal injury, maritime law, and wrongful death cases.
Maritime Law
Jones Act
A federal law (46 U.S.C. § 30104) that allows seamen injured in the course of their employment to sue their employers for negligence. Unlike workers' compensation, the Jones Act provides the right to a jury trial and recovery for pain and suffering.
Learn about maritime injury claimsMaintenance and Cure
A maritime doctrine requiring employers to pay injured seamen's living expenses (maintenance) and medical expenses (cure) until they reach maximum medical improvement, regardless of fault.
Read full article on maintenance and cureSeaman
Under maritime law, a worker who spends approximately 30% or more of their working time aboard a vessel in navigation and contributes to the vessel's function or mission. Seamen are entitled to special protections under the Jones Act.
Maritime injury informationUnseaworthiness
A maritime legal doctrine holding vessel owners strictly liable when a vessel or its equipment is not reasonably fit for its intended purpose, causing injury to a seaman. No proof of negligence is required.
Learn about unseaworthiness claimsLongshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA)
A federal law providing compensation benefits to maritime workers (other than seamen) who are injured on navigable waters or adjoining areas like docks and terminals.
Maritime worker protectionsPersonal Injury
Statute of Limitations
The legal deadline by which a lawsuit must be filed. In Washington State, most personal injury claims must be filed within 3 years of the injury date (RCW 4.16.080). Missing this deadline typically bars recovery.
Washington statute of limitations guideContingency Fee
A payment arrangement where the attorney's fee is a percentage of the recovery, paid only if the case is successful. This means no upfront costs to the client and the attorney shares the risk.
View pricing informationNegligence
The failure to exercise reasonable care that a prudent person would use under similar circumstances, resulting in harm to another. Proving negligence requires showing duty, breach, causation, and damages.
FAQs about injury casesComparative Negligence
Washington follows 'pure comparative negligence' (RCW 4.22), meaning your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. Even if you're 99% at fault, you can recover 1% of damages.
Learn more in our FAQsRes Ipsa Loquitur
Latin for 'the thing speaks for itself.' A legal doctrine that allows negligence to be inferred when an accident is of a type that ordinarily would not occur without negligence — for example, a surgical instrument left inside a patient. Washington courts apply this doctrine in appropriate medical malpractice and premises liability cases.
See how this applied in a real caseProduct Liability
The legal responsibility of manufacturers, distributors, and sellers for injuries caused by defective products. A defective product may share responsibility for an injury alongside the person or business that used it — including when a defective surgical instrument breaks during a procedure.
Case results involving product defectsRetained Surgical Object
Any instrument, sponge, needle, or fragment of an instrument left inside a patient after surgery. Even when a surgical count is reported as correct, a broken piece of an instrument that remains inside can still support a negligence claim.
Learn about medical malpractice casesDamages
Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party. Includes economic damages (medical bills, lost wages) and non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress).
Estimate your compensationPain and Suffering
Non-economic damages compensating for physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish caused by an injury. These are not covered by workers' compensation.
Calculate potential compensationMaximum Medical Improvement (MMI)
The point at which an injured person's condition has stabilized and is unlikely to improve further with additional treatment. Important for calculating future medical needs and settling claims.
Frequently asked questionsPremises Liability
Constructive Notice
A legal concept that a business is treated as knowing about a hazard if the hazard existed long enough that the business, exercising reasonable care, should have discovered it. Constructive notice can support a premises liability claim even when the business did not have actual knowledge of the dangerous condition.
Learn about slip and fall casesPremises Liability
The legal responsibility of property owners and occupiers to maintain safe conditions for visitors. If a hazardous condition causes injury, the owner may be liable for negligence.
Slip and fall claimsDuty of Care
The legal obligation to act with reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm. Property owners owe varying duties depending on whether visitors are invitees, licensees, or trespassers.
Premises liability informationFirst Responder
Third-Party Claim
A civil lawsuit against someone other than your employer (such as a negligent driver or criminal) for injuries sustained on the job. First responders can pursue these claims in addition to workers' compensation.
First responder injury rightsWorkers' Compensation
A no-fault insurance system providing medical care and wage replacement for workers injured on the job. Benefits are limited and don't include pain and suffering, which is why third-party claims are important.
Beyond workers' compWrongful Death
Wrongful Death
A civil claim brought when someone dies due to another's negligence or intentional act. In Washington (RCW 4.20.010), the personal representative of the estate files on behalf of beneficiaries.
Wrongful death claimsPersonal Representative
The person appointed to manage a deceased person's estate and file legal claims on behalf of beneficiaries. Often named in a will or appointed by the court.
Who can file a wrongful death claimSurvival Action
A claim for damages the deceased person suffered before death, such as pain and suffering or medical expenses. This is separate from a wrongful death claim for the beneficiaries' losses.
Wrongful death vs. survival actionsRelated Resources
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