Glossary

Frequently Used Personal Injury Legal Terms

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): A method of dealing with a dispute through mediation or conciliation, instead of the courts.
Claimant: The party bringing the proceedings.
Common Law: A system of law based on earlier decided cases.
Counterclaim: A claim brought by a Defendant in response to the claim in which a remedy is sought against the Claimant in the same proceedings as the main claim.
Cross-Examination: Questioning the other side’s witnesses to try and ascertain whether they are telling the truth with a view to the questioner advancing his side of the case.
Damages: Financial compensation awarded by the court.
Defendant: The party against whom proceedings are brought.
Detailed Assessment of Costs: The process by which the costs in most multi-track cases are assessed. It will occur after trial and involves a detailed procedure taking several months. It used to be called “taxation”.
Disclosure: Each party lets the other know what documents they have in their control which are material to the dispute.
Enforcement: The procedure in the County and High Court for compelling an unsuccessful Defendant to comply with the terms of a judgment against him.
Examination-in-Chief: Questions put to a witness at trial by the party calling the witness.
Fast Track: Case Management track for most claims between £5,000 and £15,000 (except personal injury claims where the limit is between £1,000 and £15,000).
Filing: Lodging documents with the court office.
Letter of Claim: Letter before court proceedings are commenced warning the potential Defendant that a claim is being made and asking for proposals for settlement.
Minor: A person aged under 18.
Mitigation: Taking steps to reduce one’s loss as far as is reasonable.
Multi-Track: Case management track for most claims over £15,000.
Particulars of Claim: The statement of case in which the Claimant sets out the basis of the claim against the Defendant.
Part 36 Payment: The Defendant can make a formal offer to settle by paying a sum of money into court, which puts the Claimant at risk in respect of costs if the amount recovered at trial is not greater than the sum paid into court.
Part 36 Offer: A procedure whereby a party makes a formal offer to settle on terms that the offer is without prejudice save as to costs, with similar costs consequences to a payment in.
Pre-action Protocol: Written statements of good practice for steps to be taken before proceedings are issued.
Small Claims: Case management track for most claims worth less than £5,000 (or £1,000 in personal injury claims).
Statement of Case: The document which sets out the allegations by the parties. For example, Particulars of Claim, Defence, Reply and Counterclaim.
Stay: An order imposing a halt on proceedings.
Summary Assessment: This procedure assesses the winning party’s costs immediately after the hearing and is used in short applications and most fast track trials.
Tort: A civil wrong for which the law provides remedies, Eg. Negligence, libel.
Without Prejudice: Applies to communications between negotiating parties and means that neither of them can rely on those communications in court without the joint consent of both negotiating parties.
Witness Statement: A written, signed statement of evidence by a witness.
Witness Summons: A document issued by the court and served on a witness to compel him to come to court to give evidence.