
You could hear many unfamiliar terms if your personal injury claim reaches litigation. These terms are often used only in the legal community and come from archaic words and legal phrases, such as “passing the bar” or “esquire.”
Two such terms are “plaintiff” and “defendant,” which refer to the two main parties to the claim. Learning the names of these and other parties will help you make sense of what’s happening during litigation.
Definition Of “Defendant”
A defendant is a party to a lawsuit who responds to a complaint. In other words, the defendant must “defend” themselves from the plaintiff’s assertions. If they fail to do so, the plaintiff will receive relief under the law.
In a personal injury case, the plaintiff is the injured victim, while the defendant is the person or business allegedly at fault for the injury.
The identity of the defendant depends on the nature of the claim. The following examples illustrate some possible defendants in your personal injury case:
- A careless driver may be the defendant after a car accident.
- A negligent doctor may be the defendant after medical malpractice.
- A pet owner may be the defendant after a dog bite.
- A property manager may be the defendant after a slip and fall.
In some situations, the plaintiff can narrow down the defendants. In these situations, their attorney often advises them to pick defendants with the most resources. For example, after a truck accident, the defendant might be the trucking company rather than the driver. In a clergy sexual abuse case, the defendant might be the church instead of the priest.
When you choose a defendant, your theory of the case must match their role. Thus, you can sue a church for clergy sexual abuse if you have evidence that the institution’s actions negligently, recklessly, or intentionally exposed you to the risk of abuse.
Third-Party Defendants
There’s one additional interested party in personal injury cases. Liability insurers are contractually obligated to pay any settlement or jury award that falls under the applicable policy. Thus, the insurer has a financial interest in the outcome of the case.
Additionally, most liability policies also require the insurer to defend a covered party in litigation. The insurer therefore participates indirectly by paying for the defendant’s legal team.
Sometimes, however, the insurer will participate directly by joining the litigation as a party. Under Louisiana’s Rules of Civil Procedure, an insurer can join a lawsuit in two primary ways.
First, the insurer can intervene in a case. Intervenors can join the plaintiff’s or defendant’s side of the case, becoming a co-plaintiff or co-defendant, respectively. They can also oppose the plaintiff or the defendant. Since the insurer’s interests align with the defendant’s interests, it will likely join as a co-defendant.
Alternatively, a defendant can bring the insurer in as a third-party defendant. This is usually a more appropriate method for joining a lawsuit because the accused party might have a claim against the third-party defendant/insurance company. Confusingly, some court papers may call the defendant the “third-party plaintiff” and the insurer the “third-party defendant.”
Counterclaims
Another situation that may complicate the titles of the litigants involves the defendant asserting that the plaintiff is liable for their own injuries and filing a counterclaim against them. If the plaintiff loses, they won’t recover any compensation and may have to pay the defendant for their losses.
In these cases, the court will instruct the jury to consider the claim and counterclaim separately. While dealing with the claim, the court may use the terms “plaintiff” and “defendant” according to the original filings. When dealing with the counterclaim, however, it may refer to the original defendant as the “counter-plaintiff” and the original plaintiff as the “counter-defendant.”
For example, the plaintiff in a car accident case might assert that the defendant turned left across their path at an intersection, causing the collision. The defendant, in turn, might argue that the plaintiff sped up when the light turned yellow and ran a red light, making the crash unavoidable.
The jury will determine whether the defendant is liable for the plaintiff’s injuries based on the plaintiff’s evidence and the defendant’s arguments. It will also determine whether the plaintiff (or counter-defendant) is liable for the defendant’s (or counter-plaintiff’s) injuries based on the inverse evidence.
Under Louisiana’s pure comparative negligence law, the jury will assign each party a percentage of the blame. This percentage determines the amount of compensation they must pay.
For instance, if the defendant was 40% at fault and the plaintiff was 60% at fault, the defendant must pay 40% of the plaintiff’s losses, and the plaintiff must pay 60% of the defendant’s losses.
Keeping The Parties Straight
The defendant in your case will probably be the party you accuse of injuring you. However, your case could get significantly more complicated if other parties or claims come into play. Consider consulting a personal injury attorney at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers at (888) 601-0127 to help you deal with all the relevant parties in your case.