Common Law Firm Terminologies

Legal terms and legal concepts have to be painstakingly researched and studied to hone your craft as a lawmaker. Really, it's not an easy job. But with your desire to make a name in the field of law, it may not be such a very difficult task, after all. What you have to do is exhaust all your efforts to get familiarized with such words and therefore not get baffled when another lawyer converses with you while using such jargons. Here are some common legal terms with their corresponding meanings to make law life easier for you:

Appeals: A proceeding undertaken to have a court or judge's decision reconsidered by bringing it to a higher authority, so that there may be a review to instigate a possible reversal in the court's decision.

Arbitration: A method of resolving disputes involving one or more neutral third parties who are usually agreed to by the disputing parties and whose decision is binding.

Assumption of risk: A voluntary acceptance of a known reasonable or probable risk of damage or loss under circumstances; meaning, you are aware that there are risks of danger or accidents and that the other party is not liable for accidents that may happen.

Catastrophic injury: It is a severe injury wherein the injured person has lost the use of a bodily function and is not expected to fully recover. The injured person may require multiple surgeries, rehabilitation, and full-time nursing care. It includes traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, loss of limbs, amputations, and paralysis or paraplegia or quadriplegia.

Gross negligence: Negligence with a conscious or willful indifference to the consequences.

Liability: Legal responsibility for an accident of a person. Made by paying for injuries and damages that the accident caused.

Proximate cause: Anything that, in natural sequence, produces an injury to a person.

Punitive damages: Damages a party is asked to pay for committing a wrongful act instead of compensating the injured party for actual damages or exemplary damages.

Subrogation: The right of an injured party's health insurance company, which has paid benefits to an injured party as a result of a third party's wrongful action, to be reimbursed by the injured party upon the injured party's acceptance of any compensation from the responsible party.

Use of legal terms

Now these terms are appropriately used when in court or when working at a law firm. By using the right terms, you'll be able to communicate yourself effectively. However, the use of such terms is not advisable when writing a personal statement law school. If you use these terms in your personal statement law school, you'll sound like an arrogant know-it-all. Having knowledge of these terms can be a plus but don't show off by filling your essay with these difficult terms.

Legal terms and legal concepts can sometimes be really difficult, especially for a newbie lawyer working in a law firm. Remember, always research difficult terms to understand legal phrases and words, and you will surely make it to your dream of becoming a fine, if not an exemplary, lawyer in whatever legal setting you choose to be in.


About the author:

Nancy Haverford has been a member of the board of admissions of a university. She recommends looking at a personal statement law school before applicants write their own. She mentions that using a well-written personal statement law school as a guide is especially crucial in coming up with an admissions essay that works.