Connecticut Accidents Glossary

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

Why would one case go to trial first when hundreds of similar lawsuits are pending? A bellwether trial is a test case chosen from a larger group of related lawsuits so the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

class action

It can change the value, speed, and leverage of a case because one lawsuit may resolve many similar claims at once instead of forcing each injured person to sue separately. A...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

consumer expectation test

Like a ladder rung that snaps under normal weight or a power tool guard that fails during ordinary use, some product failures are so basic that an average buyer would say the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

copyright registration

Money often turns on whether a creative work was formally registered before a dispute began. For an artist, photographer, writer, software developer, or business owner, that...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

crashworthiness doctrine

A manufacturer may be liable when a product does not cause the initial accident but is defectively designed so that it makes the resulting injuries worse than they should have...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

Daubert challenge

Like a referee checking whether a measuring tool is reliable before letting it decide the score, a court may screen an expert's methods before the expert is allowed to...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

design defect

A built-in safety problem in a product's design. "Built-in" matters because the problem exists before the product is made, sold, or used. The blueprint, layout, shape,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

enhanced injury

Insurance companies and defense lawyers often use this phrase to suggest a person is blaming a product for harm that was really caused by the original accident. That framing...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

failure to warn

You might see this phrase in a denial letter, an insurance claim, or a lawyer's note saying a product "lacked adequate warnings or instructions." Plainly put, it means a...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

Form 36

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-296, a workers' comp insurer in Connecticut is supposed to file a Form 36 before cutting off or reducing your weekly checks - and carriers use it...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

general causation

You'll usually see this in an expert report, a denial letter, or a lawyer's email saying something like, "The plaintiff has not established general causation." What they mean...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

involuntary discharge

A transfer is usually a temporary move to a hospital or another setting for treatment or safety, but this is the nursing home's attempt to end the resident's stay there - and...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

likelihood of confusion test

People often mix this up with actual confusion, and bad advice usually starts there. Actual confusion means real buyers were genuinely misled in the marketplace. The likelihood...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

manufacturing defect

You'll usually see it in a denial letter, an insurance claim, a lawyer's demand, or a recall notice: "The product may have contained a manufacturing defect." Strip away the...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-01

multidistrict litigation

Why is my case being grouped with hundreds or thousands of others? Multidistrict litigation is a federal court process that transfers civil lawsuits with similar factual issues...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

preponderance of evidence

The greater weight of the evidence. "Greater weight" means more convincing, more probable, and more likely true than not true. In a civil case, the party with the burden of...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-04

product recall

Like pulling a bad batch of food off the shelf before more people get sick, a product recall is a manufacturer's or government agency's move to get a dangerous or defective...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-29

risk-utility test

A way courts and experts judge whether a product's design is unreasonably dangerous by weighing its risks against its usefulness and the feasibility of a safer design. That...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

specific causation

Miss this issue, and a claim can fail even when a product was clearly dangerous and the injury is severe. Specific causation is the proof that a particular exposure, defect, or...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

statute of limitations for wrongful death

After a fatal crash on I-95 in New Haven or a pileup on the Merritt Parkway during freezing rain, families usually get hit with hospital calls, funeral plans, and insurance...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

strict product liability

You just got a letter that says the manufacturer denies fault, but your lawyer says the case may involve strict product liability. That means a company that makes, sells, or...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

utility patent vs design patent

Insurance companies or defense lawyers may point to a patent and imply a product was "approved," safer, or legally protected in every possible way. That is a stretch. The real...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-22

verdict

Like the final score posted after a game, a verdict is the formal decision that ends the fact-finding phase of a case. In law, it is the decision reached by a jury - and in...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-03