North Carolina Injuries Glossary

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

Wondering what doctors, rehab staff, or insurance adjusters mean when they ask about "activities of daily living"? They mean the basic tasks a person needs to handle to get...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

assistive device

Like a ladder, a brace, or a pair of work gloves, some tools are not optional extras - they make it possible to do a job safely or do it at all. An assistive device is...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

attendant care

Insurance companies and defense lawyers often try to shrink this down to "ordinary help" from a spouse, parent, or adult child so they can argue it should be unpaid, limited,...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-02

Delta-V

Misunderstanding this can lead someone to overstate or understate how severe a crash was, which can weaken negotiations with an insurer or distort an expert's opinion about...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

disability rating

How disabled am I, at least on paper, and who decides that? A disability rating is a medical-legal measurement of how much an injury, illness, or lasting condition has reduced...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

discovery

Not a dramatic moment when someone "finds the smoking gun" at the last minute, discovery is the structured pretrial process where each side in a lawsuit gets information from...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

Fourteenth Amendment

You just got a letter that says the government denied your claim, suspended a benefit, or took action against you without a real hearing, and now somebody mentions the...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-02

functional capacity evaluation

Like a road test for your body, this is a structured exam that measures what you can actually do after an injury - not what you say you can do, and not what a doctor guesses...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

home modification

Like adding a ramp to a front step after an ice storm makes a house usable again, changing a living space after an injury is about making daily life safer and possible. In...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

impairment rating

A medical percentage that measures permanent loss of bodily function. "Medical" matters because the rating is usually assigned by a doctor after treatment has stabilized, often...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

life care plan

A well-supported damages claim can rise or fall on future cost proof, and this document is often the roadmap for those numbers. A life care plan is a detailed, expert-based...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

occupational therapy

The part that trips people up most is that "occupational" does not just mean work or job duties. It means the everyday activities that occupy a person's life - getting dressed,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

pain management program

Like a dashboard in a car, a good recovery plan should show more than one warning light. Pain is real, but treating it usually takes more than pills alone. A pain management...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

permanent impairment

You may see this in a doctor's report, a workers' compensation letter, or a settlement discussion: an injury has left a "permanent impairment," often with a percentage...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-01

requests for admissions

Missing one of these can cost real money or seriously weaken a case. A request for admission is a written tool used in a lawsuit to make the other side admit or deny specific...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

resident rights

Recent federal and state enforcement changes have put more focus on how nursing homes handle staffing, complaints, and discharges. Think of it like living in an apartment: even...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

residual functional capacity

Miss this term, and a doctor, insurance adjuster, or disability decision-maker may end up deciding you can do more than your body actually allows. Residual functional capacity...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

separation of powers

Not a complete wall between branches of government, and not a rule that keeps them from interacting at all. The idea is that government power is divided among separate branches...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-02

transferable skills analysis

A transferable skills analysis is a review of a person's work history, education, training, and physical or mental limits to decide what skills can carry over to other jobs. It...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-01

vocational rehabilitation

Miss this after a serious injury, and a person can end up cleared to leave treatment but still unable to earn a living, unsure what work is safe, and under pressure to take a...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-24