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Glossary of Personal Injury Law Terms
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Legal Glossaries Main Page
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Habeas Corpus: A writ commanding that a person be
brought before a judge. Most commonly, a writ of habeas
corpus is a legal document that forces law enforcement
authorities to produce a prisoner they are holding and
to legally justify his or her confinement.
Harmless Error: An error committed during a
trial that was corrected or was not serious enough to
affect the outcome of a trial and therefore was not
sufficiently harmful (prejudicial) to be reversed on
appeal.
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): A type of
managed health care system that contracts with medical
facilities, physicians, employers, and sometimes
individuals to provide medical care to a group of people
known as "members." Generally, members of HMOs
don't have any significant "out-of-pocket"
expenses because the medical care is most often paid for
by an employer at a fixed price per patient.
Hearing: A proceeding usually without a jury.
Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not
see or hear the incident in question but heard about it
from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as
evidence in court.
Hemorrhagic Stroke: Occurs when an artery in
the brain tears or bursts, causing blood to spill out.
HMO Negligence: Generally, a type of medical
malpractice that can be defined as the carelessness of
an HMO, acting through its physicians, in making
treatment decisions for a member that results in injury
to that member.
Homeowner's Insurance: Policy that insures
individuals against any, some, or all of the risks of
loss to personal dwellings or the contents of personal
dwellings or the personal liability pertaining to
personal dwellings.
Hostile Witness: A witness whose testimony is
not favorable to the party who calls him or her as a
witness. A hostile witness may be asked leading
questions and may be cross-examined by the party who
calls him or her to the stand.
Hung Jury: A jury whose members cannot agree
upon a verdict.
Hurt on the Job: In order to establish a right
to workers' compensation benefits, there must be an
employment relationship during which an accident or an
injury arises in the course of employment and is related
thereto, and includes aggravation, reactivation,
acceleration or death resulting from the injury.
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