Pennsylvania Car Accident Glossary of Terms

Joint

A point of connection between movable parts, such as the bones.

Joint and several liability

Refers to a plaintiff's ability to sue one or more defendants separately or all together at his or her option. Permits a group of defendants to be held both individually and collectively liable for all damages suffered by the plaintiff. The plaintiff can recover the entire amount of damages from one defendant, even if all of the defendants are liable.

For incidents arising after August 17, 2002: Due to a new Pennsylvania law, joint and several liability has been changed so that a plaintiff may no longer be able to collect all his damages from one defendant, even if more than one defendant is found responsible. A percentage of fault will be assessed against each defendant and, unless a defendant's negligence is 60% or greater, an at fault defendant will be responsible for only its percentage of fault.

Judge

An officer appointed or elected to preside over a court and administer the law.

Judgment

Official decision of a court resolving the issues in a legal action or stating the rights and obligations of the parties. See also decree, order.

Judicial

Pertaining to a judge.

Judicial notice

The procedure by which a judge recognizes the existence of the truth of a certain fact having bearing on the case without the production of evidence because such fact is established by common notoriety. For example, if the accident happened on Thanksgiving, the judge can take judicial notice that the accident happened on a Thursday.

Jurisdiction

The legal right by which judges exercise their authority.

Jury

or trial jury. A certain number of people selected according to law and sworn to try and determine by verdict a question of fact during the trial of a given case.

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