| | Absolute:
Free from conditions, limitations or qualifications, not dependent, or modified or affected by circumstances; that is, without any condition or restrictive provisions.
Absolute Law:
The true and proper law of nature, theoretically unchangeable in the abstract or in principle, but changeable in application; for very often the object, the reason, situation, and other circumstances may vary its exercise and obligation
Acceptance:
An agreement, either by express act or by implication from conduct, to the terms of an offer so that a binding contract is formed. If an acceptance modifies the terms or adds new ones, it generally operates as a counteroffer.
Accounts receivable:
A debt, owed to an enterprise that arises in the normal course of business dealings; a claim against a debtor usually arising from sales or services rendered; not necessarily due or past due.
Accused:
The generic name for the defendant in a criminal case.
Acquittal:
In criminal law, finding the defendant not guilty.
Actus reus:
The “guilty act.” A wrongful deed which renders the actor criminally liable if combined with mens rea. 2. The physical aspect of a crime, whereas the mens rea (guilty mind) involves the intent factor.
Administrative dissolution:
The involuntary termination of a corporation by the state for failure to file reports or pay certain taxes.
Adversary proceeding:
The process of the party seeking relief giving legal notice to the opposing party and giving the opposing party enough time to contest it.
Advertisement:
Notice given in a manner designed to attract public attention. 2. Information communicated to the public, or to an individual concerned, as by handbills, newspaper, television, billboards, radio.
Affidavit:
A voluntary written or printed declaration or statement of facts that is confirmed by the person making it.
Affirmative Action:
The process of helping minorities and women gain access to employment, schooling and other opportunities that had been denied to them in the past.
Age of consent:
The age at which a person can marry without parental approval. Age at which a female is legally capable of agreeing to sexual intercourse and below which age the male commits statutory rape if he has sexual intercourse with her.
Agency:
A relationship between two persons, by agreement or otherwise, where one (the agent) may act on behalf of the other (the principal) and bind the principal by words or actions.
Alford plea:
When the defendant enters a guilty plea to avoid the possibility of the death penalty yet still claims innocence; the Fifth Amendment does not apply to this plea; originated from the Supreme Court case North Carolina v. Alford.
Alien corporation:
A corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country irrespective of where it operates.
Alimony:
Allowances of which husband or wife, by court order, pays the other spouse for maintenance while they are separated, or after they are divorced (permanent alimony), or temporarily, pending a suit for divorce (pendent elite)
Alternative dispute resolution:
Alternative dispute resolution; term refers to procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, mini-trials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, divorce actions, in resolving motor vehicle and medical malpractice tort claims, and in other disputes that would likely otherwise involve court litigation.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR):
Term refers to procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, mini-trials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, divorce actions, in resolving motor vehicle and medical malpractice tort claims and in other disputes that would likely otherwise involve court litigation.
Amendment:
To change or modify for the better. In regards to the Constitution, it is a change and/or addition to the Constitution after its enactment.
Antenuptial Agreement:
An agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage.
Appeal:
Going to a higher court (i.e. appellate court) to review the decision of a lower court (i.e. trial court).
arbitration:
A process of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party (arbitrator) renders a decision after a hearing at which both parties have an opportunity to be heard.
Arraignment:
Procedure whereby the accused is brought before the court to plead to the criminal charge against him in the indictment or information.
Arrest warrant:
A written order of the court which is made on behalf of the state, or United States, and is based upon a complaint issued pursuant to statute and/or court rule and which commands law enforcement officer to arrest a person and bring him before magistrate.
Arrests:
The seizure of a person.
Arson:
At common law, the malicious burning of the house of another. 2. Starting a fire or causing an explosion with the purpose of: (a) destroying a building or occupied structure of another; or (b) destroying or damaging any property, whether his own or another’s, to collect insurance for such loss.
Articles of incorporation:
The basic instrument filed with the appropriate governmental agency on the incorporation of a business.
Articles of organization:
The basic instrument filed with the appropriate governmental agency on the formation of a limited liability company.
Assault:
Any willful attempt or threat to inflict injury upon the person of another, when coupled with an apparent present ability so to do, and any intentional display of force such as would give the victims reason to fear or expect immediate bodily harm, constitutes an assault.
Asset:
Property of all kinds, real and personal, tangible and intangible, including for certain purposes, patents and causes of action which belong to any person including a corporation and the estate of a decedent.
At will:
Employers may hire or fire employees “at will,” or for no reason whatsoever, limit the wages of anyone for any reason and/o refuse to promote a person based on his/her race, sex, gender, etc.
Attempt Crime:
An intent to commit a crime coupled with an act taken toward committing the offense. 2. An effort or endeavor to accomplish a crime, amounting to more than mere preparation or planning for it, which, if not prevented, would have resulted in the full consummation of the act attempted, but which, in fact, does not bring to pass the party’s ultimate design. 3. The requisite elements of an “attempt” to commit a crime are: (1) an intent to commit it, (2) an overt act toward its commission, (3) failure of consummation, and (4) the apparent possibility of commission.
Attempted Murder:
A person is guilty of an attempt to commit murder if, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for commission of murder, he: (a) purposely engages in conduct which would constitute murder if the attendant circumstances were as he believes them to be; or (b) when causing a particular result is an element of murder, does or omits to do anything with the purpose of causing or with the belief that it will cause such result without further conduct on his part; or (c) purposely does or omits to do anything which, under the circumstances as he believes them to be, is an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of murder.
Bail:
Monetary amount for or condition of pretrial release from custody, normally set by a judge at the initial appearance. The purpose of bail is to ensure the return of the accused at subsequent proceedings. If the accused is unable to make bail, or otherwise unable to be released on his or her own recognizance, he or she is detained in custody.
Bailee:
In the law of contracts, one to whom goods are bailed; one to whom goods are entrusted by a bailor; the party to whom personal property is delivered under a contract of bailment; a species of agent to whom something movable is committed in trust for another.
Bailment:
A delivery of goods or personal property, by one person (bailor) to another (bailee), in trust for the execution of a special object upon or in relation to such goods, beneficial either to the bailor or bailee, or both, and upon a contract, express or implied, to perform the trust and carry out such object, and thereupon either to redeliver the goods to the bailor or otherwise dispose of the same in conformity with the purpose of the trust.
Bailor:
The party who bails or delivers goods to another (bailee) in the contract of bailment; the transferor of goods under a bailment.
Balancing Test:
A constitutional doctrine in which the court weighs the right of an individual to certain rights guaranteed by the Constitution with the rights of a state to protect its citizens from the invasion of their rights; used in cases involving freedom of speech and equal protection.
Bargain Element:
The process of exchanging between the parties. This is the other part to consideration.
Battery:
Intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person without his or her consent that entail some injury or offensive touching. 2. Criminal battery, defined as the unlawful application of force to the person of another, may be divided into its three basic elements: (1) the defendant’s conduct (act or omission); (2) his “mental state,” which may be an intent to kill or injure, or criminal negligence, or perhaps the doing of an unlawful act; and (3) the harmful result to the victim, which may be either a bodily injury or an offensive touching.
Beneficiary:
One who benefits from the act of another.
Beyond a reasonable doubt:
In evidence means fully satisfied, entirely convinced, satisfied to a moral certainty; and phrase is the equivalent of the words clear, precise and indubitable. 2. Facts proven must, by virtue of their probative force, establish guilt.
bill:
The first stage of a law; a rough draft of a law before its introduction and during its time in Congress before it is made an official law.
Bill of Rights:
First ten Amendments to U.S. Constitution providing for individual rights, freedoms, and protections.
Bind:
To obligate; to bring or place under definite duties or legal obligations, particularly by a bond or covenant.
Bona fide purchaser:
One who has purchased property for value without any notice of any defects in the title of the seller. One who buys property in good faith and without notice of any defense or claim to the property.
Booking:
Administrative step taken after an arrested person is brought to the police station, which involves entry of the person’s name, the crime for which the arrest was made, and other relevant facts on the police “blotter,” and which may also include photographing, fingerprinting, and the like.
Bound:
Denotes the condition of being constrained by the obligations of a bond, contract, covenant, or other moral or legal obligation.
Brady Bill:
A gun control law that requires firearms dealers to determine whether potential buyers are prohibited from owning a gun.
Breach:
The breaking or violating of a law, right, obligation, engagement, or duty, either by commission or omission. Exists where one party to contract fails to carry out term, promise, or condition of the contract.
Breach of duty:
In a general sense, any violation or omission of a legal or moral duty.
Brief:
A written statement prepared by the counsel arguing a case in court. It contains a summary of the facts of the case, pertinent laws and an argument of how the law applies to the facts supporting counsel’s position.
Burglary:
At common law, the crime of burglary consisted of a breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony therein. Modern statutory definitions require no breaking and encompass entry at all times of all kinds of structures.
Bylaws:
Regulations, ordinances, rules or laws adopted by an association or corporation or the like for its internal governance. Bylaws define the rights and obligations of various officers, persons or groups within the corporate structure and provide rules for routine matters such as calling meetings and the like. Causation:
When the injury suffered by the plaintiff was directly due to the fact that the defendant had breached his/her duty. Cause in fact and proximate cause must be answered in order for to prove causation.
Cause in fact:
That particular cause which produces an event and without which the event would not have occurred. Courts express this in the form of a rule commonly referred to as the “but for” rule: the injury to an individual would not have happened but for the conduct of the wrongdoer.
cause of action:
The fact or facts which give a person a right to judicial redress or relief against another. A situation or statement of facts which would entitle party to sustain action and give him the right to seek a judicial remedy on his behalf.
Certiorari:
Lat. To be informed of. A writ of common law origin issued by a superior to an inferior court requiring the latter to produce a certified record of a particular case tired therein. The writ is issued in order that the court issuing the writ may inspect the proceedings and determine whether there have been any irregularities. It is most commonly used to refer to the Supreme Court of the United States, which uses the writ of certiorari as a discretionary device to choose the cases it wishes to hear.
Charge:
In criminal law, the specific crime the defendant is accused of committing; accusation of a crime by a formal complaint, information or indictment. In employment law, a written accusation.
Child’s best interest:
A standard that is defined in each state that directs the court to look to specific criteria to determine what would be best for a child in the situation.
Circuit court:
Courts whose jurisdiction extends over several counties or districts, and of which terms are held in the various counties or districts to which their jurisdiction extends.
Civil case/action:
Action brought to enforce, redress, or protect private rights. In general, all types of actions other than criminal proceedings.
Civil justice system:
The area of law in which individuals or entities may seek justice for having been damaged.
Civil Law:
That body of law which every particular nation, commonwealth or city has established peculiarly for itself; more properly called “municipal” law, to distinguish it from the “law of nature,” and from international law. 2. Laws concerned with civil or private rights and remedies, as contrasted with criminal laws.
Civil rights:
Personal, natural rights guaranteed and protected by Constitution. Constitutionally, they are restraints on government.
Clear and present danger doctrine:
Doctrine in constitutional law (first formulated in Schenck v. U.S) providing that governmental restrictions on First Amendment freedoms of speech and press will be upheld if necessary to prevent grave and immediate danger to interests which government may lawfully protect.
Coercion:
Compulsion; constraint; compelling by force or arms or threat. 2. It may be actual, direct, or positive, as where physical force is used to compel act against one’s will, or implied, legal or constructive, as where one party is constrained by subjugation to other to do what his free will would refuse.
Co-habitate/ Cohabitation:
To live together as husband and wife. The mutual assumption of those marital rights, duties and obligations which are usually manifested by married people, including but not necessarily dependent on sexual relations.
Collateral:
Property which is pledged as security for the satisfaction of a debt.
Collective bargaining:
Labor relations statues that allow employees to organize for many purposes including protest of wages, hours or terms of employment. The union representatives negotiate to improve workers’ wages, benefits, or other working conditions.
Commercial speech doctrine:
Speech that was categorized as “commercial” in nature (i.e. speech that advertised a product or service for profit or for business purpose) was formerly not afforded First Amendment freedom of speech protection, and as such could be freely regulated by statutes and ordinances.
Common Law:
All the statutory and case law background of England and the American colonies before the American Revolution. That part of the positive law, juristic theory, and ancient custom of any state or nation which is of general and universal application, thus marking off special or local rules or customs.
Common stock:
Class of corporate stock which represents the residual ownership of the corporation. Holders of common stock have voting powers and can participate in the profits of the corporation by way of dividends (but only after preferred stockholders have been paid their dividends). Such stock is last to share in property of corporation on dissolution.
Community Property:
Property owned in common by husband and wife each having an undivided one-half interest by reason of their marital status.
Compelling state interest:
One which the state is forced or obliged to protect. Term used to uphold state action in the face of attack grounded on Equal Protection or First Amendment rights because of serious need for such state action.
Compensation:
Indemnification; payment of damages; making amends; making whole; giving an equivalent or substitute of equal value. 2. That which is necessary to restore an injured party to his former position.
complaint:
The original or initial pleading by which an action is commenced under codes or Rules of Civil Procedure. The pleading which sets forth a claim for relief.
Concealed weapons:
A handgun or knife that is partially or completely hidden by clothing of the person carrying it.
Concurrence:
A meeting or coming together; agreement or union in action; meeting of minds; union in design; consent.
Concurring opinion:
A separate opinion delivered by one or more judges which agrees with the decision of the majority of the court but offering own reasons for reaching that decision.
Conflict of Interest:
Term used in connection with public officials and fiduciaries and their relationship to matters of private interest or gain to them. 2. Ethical problems connected therewith are covered by statutes in most jurisdictions and by federal statutes on the federal level. 3. A situation in which regard for one duty tends to lead to disregard of another.
Conglomerate:
A corporation that has diversified its operations usually by acquiring unrelated enterprises in widely varied industries. Such individual businesses are normally controlled by a single corporate entity.
Conscription:
Compulsory enrollment and induction into military service; drafted
Consent:
A concurrence of wills. 2. Voluntarily yielding the will to the proposition of another; acquiescence or compliance therewith. 3. An act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, the mind weighing as in a balance the good or evil on each side. 4. The voluntary agreement by a person in the possession and exercise of sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent choice to do something proposed by another.
Consideration:
The inducement to a contract. 2. The cause, motive, price, or impelling influence which induces a contracting party to enter into a contract. 3. Some right, forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility, given, suffered, or undertaken by the other.
Consolidation of corporations:
Occurs when two or more corporations are extinguished, and by the same process a new one is created, taking over the assets and assuming the liabilities of those passing out of existence; a unifying of two or more corporations into a single new corporation having the combined capital, franchises, and powers of all its constituents.
Conspiracy:
A combination of confederacy between two or more persons formed for the purpose of committing, by their joint efforts, some unlawful or criminal act, or some act which is lawful in itself, but becomes unlawful when done by the concerted action of the conspirators, or for the purpose of using criminal or unlawful means to the commission of an act not in itself unlawful.
Constitutional protections:
Those basic protections guaranteed by the Constitution such as due process, equal protection and the fundamental protections of the First Amendment, such as those touching speech, press and religion.
contingency fee:
In a contingent fee arrangement, the lawyer defers his or her fee until the case resolves. If the lawyer is able to obtain money for the client, the lawyer takes a percentage of the award. If the lawyer is unsuccessful, they do not get any money.
Contraband:
In general, any property which is unlawful to produce or possess. Things and objects outlawed and subject to forfeiture and destruction upon seizure.
Contract:
An agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. 2. A promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty. 3. The writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
Conversion:
An unauthorized assumption and exercise of the right of ownership over goods or personal chattels belonging to another, to the alteration of their condition or the exclusion of the owner’s rights.
Copyright:
The right of literary property as recognized and sanctioned by positive law. 2. An intangible, incorporeal right granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic productions, whereby he is invested, for a specified period, with the sole and exclusive privilege of multiplying copies of the same and publishing and selling them. 3. Copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
Copyright owner:
As term is used with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right.
Copyright protection:
Laws providing the creator’s protection for his/her “method of expressing” an idea/information/facts.
Corporate officers:
Those persons who fill the offices which are provided for in the corporate charter such as president, treasurer, etc., though in a broader sense the term includes vice presidents, general manager and other officials of the corporation.
Corporation:
An artificial person or legal entity created by or under the authority of the laws of a state.
Costs advanced:
Additional costs involved in processing a tort case including (1) the costs of obtaining records; (2) the costs of experts; (3) the costs of court reporters to transcribe depositions; and (4) the costs of producing courtroom exhibits, etc.
Counteroffer:
Statement made by the offeree to the offeror relating to the same matter as the original offer and proposing a substituted bargain differing from that proposed by the original offer. 2. A statement by the offeree which has the legal effect of rejecting the offer and of proposing a new offer to the offeror.
Course of dealing:
An established pattern of conduct between the parties to a particular transaction.
Course of performance:
A sequence of previous performance by either party after an agreement has been entered into, when a contract involves repeated occasions for performance and both parties know the nature of the performance and have an opportunity to object to it.
Court martial:
An ad hoc military court, convened under authority of government and the Uniform Code of Military Justice for trying and punishing an offense in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice committed by persons subject to the Code, particularly members of the armed forces. Court-martiasl are courts of law and courts of justice although they are not part of the federal judiciary established under Article III of the Constitution.
Criminal justice system:
The area of law in which the government, through city, county, state or federal officials, charges an individual with violating a criminal law (a crime against society). The law which for the purpose of preventing harm to society.
Criminal laws (penal laws):
State and federal statues that define criminal offenses and specify corresponding fines and punishment. 2. Statues imposing a penalty, fine, or punishment for certain offenses of a public nature or wrongs committed against the state.
Criminal Liability:
When one is responsible for committing a crime, even if it is merely an attempt to commit the crime.
Criminal Negligence (Criminal Gross Negligence):
Gross negligence is culpable or criminal when accompanied by acts of commission or omission of a wanton or willful nature, showing a reckless or indifferent disregard of the rights of others, under circumstances reasonably calculated to produce injury, or which make it not improbable that injury will be occasioned, and the offender knows or is charged with knowledge of the probably result of his acts; “culpable” meaning deserving of blame or censure.
Criminal Proceeding:
One instituted and conducted for the purpose either of preventing the commission of crime, or for fixing the guilt of a crime already committed and punishing the offender; as distinguished from a civil proceeding, which is for the redress of a private injury. 2. Some step taken before a court against some person or persons charged with some violation of the criminal law.
Criminal recklessness:
The act of when one knowingly put others at risk of being injured.
Culpable Intent or conduct:
Blamable; censurable; criminal; at fault; involving the breach of a legal duty or the commission of a fault. 2. That which is deserving of moral blame; guilty.
Curtilage:
Any land or building immediately adjacent to a dwelling, and usually it is enclosed some way by a fence or shrubs. 2. Outbuildings which are directly and intimately connected with the habitation and in proximity thereto and the land or grounds surrounding the dwelling, which are necessary and convenient and habitually used for family purposes and carrying on domestic employment.
Custody:
The care and control of a thing or person. The keeping, guarding, care, watch, inspection, preservation or security of a thing, carrying with it the idea of the thing being within the immediate personal care and control of the person to whose custody it is subjected.
Custody (of children):
The care control and maintenance of a child which may be awarded by a court to one of the parents as in a divorce or separation proceeding.
Custody statutes:
Those statutes that direct the courts to look to specific criteria when making a determination about what is in the child’s best interest. Damage:
Compensation in money for a loss or damage.
Deadly force:
The degree of force that may result in the death of the person against whom the force is applied. 2. Force likely or intended to cause death or great bodily harm; may be reasonable or unreasonable, depending on the circumstances.
Defendant:
The wrongdoer in a court case.
Defense:
Evidence offered by the accused to defeat a criminal charge.
Depraved heart murder:
Killing of a human being accomplished by extreme atrocity; malice is inferred from the act of atrocity. Extremely negligent conduct, which creates what a reasonable man would realize to be not only an unjustifiable but also a very high degree of risk of death or serious bodily injury to another or to others—though unaccompanied by any intent to kill or do serious bodily injury—and which actually causes the death of another, may constitute murder.
Disclosure:
Revelation; the impartation of that which is secret or not fully understood.
Dismissal:
An order or judgment finally disposing of an action, suit, motion, etc., without trial of the issues involved.
Dissenting opinion:
The explicit disagreement of one or more judges of a court with the decision passed by the majority upon a case before them.
District court:
Each state is comprised of one or more federal judicial districts, and in each district there is a district court. The United States district courts are the trial courts with general Federal jurisdiction over cases involving federal laws or offenses and actions between citizens of different states.
Disturbance of peace:
Interruption of the peace, quiet, and good order of a neighborhood or community, particularly by unnecessary and distracting noises.
Dividends:
The distribution of current or accumulated earnings to the shareholders of a corporation pro rata based on the number of shares owned. Dividends are usually issued in cash; however, they may be issued in the form of stock or property.
Domestic corporation:
When a corporation is organized and chartered in a particular state, it is considered a domestic corporation of that state. Term is used in contrast to a foreign corporation which has been incorporated in another state, territory or country.
Domestic Relations:
That branch or discipline of the law which deals with matters of the household or family, including divorce, separation, custody, support and adoption.
Dominion:
Perfect control in right of ownership. The word implies both title and and possession and appears to require a complete retention of control over disposition.
Due Process Clause:
Two such clauses are found in the U.S. Constitution, one in the 5th Amendment pertaining to the federal government, the other in the 14th Amendment which protects persons from state actions. 2. There are two aspects: procedural, in which a person is guaranteed fair procedures, and substantive, which protects a person’s property from unfair governmental interference or taking.
Duress:
An unlawful threat or coercion used by a person to induce another to act in a manner he or she otherwise would not. In criminal law, a defense to a criminal act because the act was not voluntary and thus there is no liability or responsibility attached to the crime.
Duties:
In its most usual signification this word is the synonym of imposts or customs; i.e. tax on imports; but it is sometimes used in a broader sense, as including all manner of taxes, charges or governmental impositions.
Duty:
A human action which is exactly conformable to the laws which require us to obey them.
duty of care:
The behavior expected of various types of people in different situations. Economic damages:
The legal compensation, based on a loss of money, that is usually made up of the plaintiff’s medical expenses, lost wages, and other valid expenses relating directly to the injury.
Emotional distress:
An emotionally upsetting feeling.
Employee:
A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed.
Employer:
One who employs the services of others; one for whom employees work and who pays their wages or salaries.
Employment at will:
Absent express agreement to the contrary, either employer or employee may terminate their relationship at any time, for any reason
Employment contract:
An agreement or contract between employer and employee in which the terms and conditions of one’s employment are provided.
Enforceable contract:
Loosely, to compel a person to pay damages for not complying with (a contract).
Entrapment:
The act of officers or agents of the government in inducing a person to commit a crime not contemplated by him, for the purposes of instituting a criminal prosecution against him.
Equitable Distribution:
No-fault divorce statutes in certain states grant courts the power to distribute equitably upon divorce all property legally and beneficially acquired during marriage by husband and wife, or either of them, whether legal title lies in their joint or individual names.
Essential/fundamental terms:
A contractual provision that must be included for a contract to exist, a contractual provision that specifies an essential purpose of the contract, so that a breach of the provision through inadequate performance makes the performance not only defective but essentially different from what had been promised.
Establishment clause:
That provision of the First Amendment to U.S. Constitution which provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Such language prohibits a state or the federal government from setting up a church, or passing law which aid one, or al, religions, or giving preference to one religion, or forcing belief or disbelief in any religion.
Estate:
The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property.
Euthanasia:
The act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from incurable and distressing disease as an act of mercy.
eviction:
A landlord’s most common remedy for the tenant not fulfilling any one or more of his/her duties. Most likely the causes for breach are failure to pay rent, keeping animals, or making excessive noise, among other possibilities.
Evidence:
Any species of proof, or probative matter, legally presented at the trial of an issue, by the act of the parties and through the medium of witnesses, records, documents, exhibits, concrete objects, etc., for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of the court or jury as to their contention.
Executive branch:
The offices and departments responsible for conducting the “business” of the government and advising the president. As distinguished from the legislative and judicial departments (i.e. branches) of government, the executive department is that which is charged with the detail of carrying the laws into effect and securing their due observance.
Exigent Circumstances:
Situations that demand unusual or immediate action. 2. Those situations in which law enforcement agents will be unable or unlikely to effectuate an arrest, search or seizure for which probable cause exists unless they act swiftly and without seeking prior judicial authorization. 3. Exception to rule requiring search warrant is presence of exigent or emergency-like circumstances as for example presence of weapons in a motor vehicle stopped on highway and such exigent circumstances permit warrantless search and seizure.
Existing fact:
A piece of information or detail that is present at the time (of the contract).
False imprisonment:
The nonconsensual, intentional confinement of a person, without lawful privilege, for an appreciable length of time, however short. Fault:
Negligence; an error or defect of judgment or of conduct; any deviation from prudence, duty, or rectitude; any shortcoming, or neglect of care or performance resulting from inattention, incapacity, or perversity; a wrong tendency, course, or act; bad faith or mismanagement; neglect of duty. Federal court judges:
Judges appointed by the President for life terms.This is a very prestigious honor and candidates are carefully chosen and go through an intensive interview process.
Federal courts:
The courts of the United States (as distinguished from state, county, or city courts) as created either by Art. III of U.S. Const., or by Congress.
Federal Privacy Act of 1974:
Provides for making known to the public the existence and characteristics of all personal information systems kept by every Federal agency. The Act permits an individual to have access to records containing personal information on that individual and allows the individual to control the transfer of that information to other Federal agencies for nonroutine uses.
Felony:
A crime of a graver or more serious nature than those designated as misdemeanors; e.g., aggravated assault (felony) as contrasted with simple assault (misdemeanor).
Fighting words doctrine:
The First Amendment doctrine that holds that certain utterances are not constitutionally protected as free speech if they are inherently likely to provoke a violent response from the audience.
Fine:
A pecuniary punishment or penalty imposed by lawful tribunal upon person convicted of crime or misdemeanor. v. To sentence a person convicted of an offense to pay a penalty in money.
First degree murder:
Murder committed with deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, or with extreme atrocity or cruelty, or in the commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life, is murder in the first degree.
First Sale Rule:
Under this doctrine, a copyright holder who conveys title to a particular copy of a copyrighted work relinquishes exclusive right to vend that particular copy; although holder’s other rights remain intact, vendee holds right to distribute the transferred copy in whatever manner vendee chooses.
Fixed in tangible form:
A work that at some point can be touched (i.e. if it is written down or published in a book or on a CD, etc). This is the other criteria for qualification of copyright protection.
Force:
Power, violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted upon or against a person or thing.
Forcible compulsion:
Forcible inducement to the commission of an act. The act of compelling or the state of being compelled; the act of driving or urging by force or by physical or moral constraint; subjection to force.
Foreign corporation:
A corporation doing business in one state though chartered or incorporated in another state is a foreign corporation as to the first state, and, as such, is required to consent to certain conditions and restrictions in order to do business in such first state.
Forfeiture:
A comprehensive term which means divestiture or specific property without compensation; it imposes a loss by the taking away of some preexisting value right without compensation. 2. A deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the nonperformance of some obligation or condition. 3. Loss of some right or property as a penalty for some illegal act.
forseeability:
The term used to explain whether or not the defendant could have been able to anticipate an injury at the time of his/her actions.
Framers:
Delegates appointed by the original states, excluding Rhode Island, who attended the Constitutional Convention and created the United States Constitution.
Free exercise clause:
First Amendment to U.S. Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Freedom of assembly:
Right to gather together peaceably to exercise the right to free speech.
Freedom of religion:
Freedom to individually believe and to practice or exercise one’s belief. This First Amendment protection embraces the concept of freedom to believe and freedom to act, the first of which is absolute, but the second of which remains subject to regulation for protection of society. Such freedom means not only that civil authorities may not intervene in affairs of church; it also prevents church from exercising its authority through state.
Freedom of speech:
Right guaranteed by First Amendment of U.S. Constitution to express one’s thoughts and views through all forms of verbal, non-verbal and symbolic communication without governmental restrictions.
Freedom of the press:
Right to publish and distribute one’s thoughts and views without governmental restriction as guaranteed by First Amendment of U.S. Constitution. Such right includes freedom from prior restraint of publication.
Fruit of poisonous tree doctrine:
Evidence which is spawned by or directly derived from an illegal search or illegal interrogation is generally inadmissible against the defendant because of its original taint, though knowledge of facts gained independently of the original and tainted search is admissible. 2. An unlawful search taints not only evidence obtained at the search, but facts discovered by process initiated by the unlawful search.
Furnishings:
Whatever must be supplied to a house, room, place of business, or public building or the like, to make it habitable, convenient, or agreeable. General partnership:
A partnership in which the parties carry on all their trade and business, whatever it may be, for the joint benefit and profit of all the parties concerned, whether the capital stock be limited or not, or the contributions thereto be equal or unequal. One in which all the partners share the profits and losses as well as the management equally, though their capital contributions may vary.
Gerrymandering:
The process of attempting to alter the lines of a voting district to reflect a particular group.
Goodwill:
The custom of patronage of any established trade or business; the benefit or advantage of having established a business and secured its patronage by the public. It is an intangible asset of a company.
Grand jury:
A jury of inquiry who are summoned and returned by the sheriff to each session of the criminal courts, and whose duty is to receive complaints and accusations in criminal cases, hear the evidence adduced on the part of the state, and find bills of indictment in cases where they are satisfied a trial ought to be had.
Guardian ad litem:
A special guardian appointed by the court in which a particular litigation is pending to represent an infant, ward or unborn person in that particular litigation, and the status of guardian ad litem exists only in that specific litigation in which the appointment occurs.
Guilty plea:
Formal admission in court as to guilt of having committed criminal act charged which a defendant may make if he or she does so intelligently and voluntary. Hate speech:
Speech motivated by bigotry or prejudice
Hearsay:
A term applied to a testimony given by a witness who relates, not what he knows personally, but what others have told him or what he has heard said by others.
Heat of passion:
A term used by the common law to refer to the condition of a defendant who can assert provocation as a basis for mitigating murder to manslaughter. Refers to passion or anger suddenly aroused at the time by some immediate and reasonable provocation, by words or acts of one at the time.
Homicide:
The killing of one human being by the act, procurement, or omission of another. A person is guilty of criminal homicide if he purposely, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another human being.
Hostile Environment:
A work environment that is offensive both objectively (to a reasonable person) and subjectively (to the actual employee complaining).
House:
A structure that serves as living quarters for one or more persons or families.
House of Representatives:
The House of Representatives of Congress comprises 435 representatives. The number representing each State is determined by population but every State is entitled to at least one representative. Members are elected by the people by district for 2-year terms, all terms running for the same period. Representatives must be at least 25 years of age, citizens of United States for at least seven years, and live in the state they represent.
Housing codes:
Laws, ordinances, or government regulations concerning fitness for habitation setting forth standards and requirements for the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of buildings, premises, and dwelling units. Imprisonment:
The detention of a person contrary to his will. 2. The act of putting or confining a person in prison. 3. The restraint of a person’s personal liberty; coercion exercised upon a person to prevent the free exercise of his powers of locomotion.
Incite:
To arouse; urge; provoke; encourage; spur on; goad; stir up; instigate.
Indecent liberties:
In the statutory offense of “taking indecent liberties with the person of a female child,” this phrase means such liberties as the common sense of society would regard as indecent and improper. According to some authorities, it involves an assault or attempt at sexual intercourse, but according to others, it is not necessary that the liberties or familiarities should have related to the private parts of the child.
Indictment:
An accusation in writing found and presented by a grand jury, legally convoked and sworn, to the court in which it is impaneled, charging that a person therein named has done some act, or been guilty of some omission, which by law is a public offense, punishable on indictment. 2. A charge which must be proved at trial beyond a reasonable doubt before defendant may be convicted.
Infancy:
At common law, children under the age of seven are conclusively presumed to be without criminal capacity, those who have reached the age of fourteen are treated as fully responsible, while as to those between the ages of seven and fourteen there is a rebuttable presumption of criminal incapacity.
Information:
An accusation exhibited against a person for some criminal offense, without an indictment. 2. And accusation in the nature of an indictment, from which it differs only in being presented by a competent public officer on his oath of office, instead of a grand jury on their oath.
Infringement:
A breaking into; a trespass or encroachment upon; a violation of a law, regulation, contract, or right. 2. Used especially of invasions of the rights secured by patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
Infringement of Copyright:
Unauthorized use of copyrighted material; i.e. use without permission of copyright holder.
Initiative:
An electoral process whereby designated percentages pf electorate may initiate legislative or constitutional changes through the filing of formal petitions to be acted on by the legislature or the total electorate. The power of people to propose bills and laws, and to enact or reject them at the polls, independent of legislative assembly.
Injunction:
A court order prohibiting someone from doing some specified act or commanding someone to undo some wrong or injury. Generally, it is a preventive and protective remedy, aimed at future acts, and is not intended to redress past wrongs.
Innocent owner defense:
When a property owner can claim that he/she had no knowledge of the criminal acts occurring on his/her property, resulting in an allowance to keep the property rather than it seized from the state.
Insanity:
Indicates a condition which renders the affected person unfit to enjoy liberty of action because of the unreliability of his behavior with the accompanying danger to himself and others; denotes the degree of mental illness which negates the individual’s legal responsibility or capacity.
Insubordination:
Refusal to obey some order which a superior officer is entitled to give. Insurance:
A contract whereby stipulated consideration, one party undertakes to compensate the other for loss on a specified subject by specified perils. The party agreeing to make the compensation is usually called the “insurer” or “underwriter;” the other, “insured” or “assured;” the agreed consideration, the “premium;” the written contract, a “policy;” the events insured against, “risks” or “perils;” and the subject, right, or interest to be protected, the “insurable interest.”
Insurance adjuster:
One undertaking to ascertain and report the actual loss to the subject-matter of insurance due to the peril insured against. The adjuster also settles claims against the insurer.
Intangible property:
Property that is a “right” such as a patent, copyright, trademark, etc., or one which is lacking physical existence, such as goodwill.
Intellectual Property:
An intangible product produced by someone’s creative ability or labor.
intentional torts:
A category of tort law where damages cannot be pursued. They include battery, assault, trespass, infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and conversion.
Interrogation:
In criminal law, the process of questions propounded by police to person arrested or suspected to seek solution of crime. Such person is entitled to be informed of his rights, including right to have counsel present, and the consequences of his answers. If the police fail or neglect to give these warnings, the questions and answers are not admissible in evidence at the trial or hearing of the arrested person.
Intoxication:
A disturbance of mental or physical capacities resulting from the introduction of substances into the body.
Invention:
The act or operation of finding out something new; the process of contriving and producing something not previously known or existing, by the exercise of independent investigation and experiment.
Invidious discrimination:
Term “invidious” in context of claim that difference in treatment amounts to “invidious” discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, means arbitrary, irrational and not reasonably related to a legitimate purpose.
Invitee:
A person is an “invitee” on land of another if (1) he enters by invitation, express or implied, (2) his entry is connected with the owner’s business or with an activity the owner conducts or permits to be conducted on his land (3) there is mutuality of benefit or benefit to the owner.
Involuntary Manslaughter:
The unlawful killing of a human being n the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to felony, or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection. 2. An unlawful homicide, unintentionally caused by an act which constitutes such disregard of probably harmful consequences to another as to constitute wanton or reckless conduct. Jail:
A prison. A building designated by law, or regularly used, for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody.
Joint Custody:
Both parents share responsibility and authority with respect to the children. 2. Such includes physical sharing of child in addition to both parents participating in decisions affecting child’s life, e.g., education, medical problems, recreation, etc.
judicial branch:
The branch of government that both interprets the laws enacted by the legislature and establishes rules and legal principles.
Judicial dissolution:
An involuntary termination of a corporation by attorney general for abuse of corporate authority, by shareholders because of deadlock in managements, or by unpaid creditors.
Judicial system:
Entire network of courts in a particular jurisdiction. The federal judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and specialized courts such as thee Court of Claims, Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, etc.
Landlord:
He of whom lands or tenements are holden. The owner of an estate in land, or a rental property, who has leased it to another person, called the “tenant.” Also called “lessor.”
Larceny:
Felonious stealing, taking and carrying, leading, riding, or driving away another’s personal property, with intent to convert it or to deprive owner thereof. 2. The unlawful taking and carrying away of property of another with intent to appropriate it to use inconsistent with latter’s rights. Legal Detriment:
Legal detriment to promise means that promisee changed his legal position, or assumed duties or liabilities not theretofore imposed on him on reliance of actions of promisor. 2. Giving up something which immediately prior thereto the promise was privileged to retain, or doing or refraining from doing something which he was then privileged not to do, or not to refrain from doing. Legal precedent:
An adjudged case or decision of a court, considered as furnishing an example or authority for an identical or similar case afterwards arising or a similar question of law. Courts attempt to decide cases on the basis of principles established in prior cases. Legislative:
Making or giving laws; pertaining to the function of law-making or to the process of enactment of laws. Actions which relate to subjects of permanent or general character are “legislative”.
legislative branch:
Comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives and responsible for enacting laws that protect the public and the changing needs of society.
Levies:
The rate or amount of taxation that qualified electors can vote on.
Lewd:
Obscene, lustful, indecent, lascivious, lecherous.
liability:
One person’s duty to another person/persons.
Libel:
A method of defamation expressed by print, writing, pictures, or signs. In its most general sense, any publication that is injurious to the reputation of another. A maliciously written or printed publication which tends to blacken a person’s reputation or to expose him to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to injure him in his business or profession.
Licensee:
A person who has privilege to enter upon land arising from the permission or consent, express or implied, of the landowner but goes on the land for his own purpose rather than for any purpose or interest of the landowner.
Limited liability:
Losses constricted (limited) to the amount invested.
Limited liability company:
A business organization that combines the corporate advantages of limited liability with the partnership advantage of single taxation.
Limited partnership:
Type of partnership comprised of one or more general partners who manage business and who are personally liable for partnership debts, and on or more limited partners who contribute capital and share in profits but who take no part in running business and incur no liability with respect to partnership obligations beyond contribution.
Litigant:
A party to a lawsuit (i.e. plaintiff or defendant); one engaged in litigation.
Litigation:
A lawsuit. 2. Legal action, including all proceedings therein. 3. Contest in a court of law for the purpose of enforcing a right or seeking a remedy. 4. A judicial contest, a judicial controversy, a suit at law.
Lobbying:
All attempts including personal solicitation to induce legislators to vote in a certain way or to introduce legislation. It includes scrutiny of all pending bills which affect one’s interest or the interests of one’s clients, with a view towards influencing the passage or defeat of such legislation.
Lobbyists:
Individuals who represent industries or special interest groups to attempt to induce legislators to vote in a certain way or to introduce legislation. Maintenance:
Sustenance; support; assistance; aid. 2. The furnishing by one person to another, for his or her support, of the means of living, or food, clothing, shelter, etc., particularly where the legal relation of the parties is such that one is bound to support the other, as between father and child, or husband and wife.
Malice:
The intentional doing of a wrongful act without just cause or excuse, with an intent to inflict an injury or under circumstances that the law will imply an evil intent.
Manslaughter:
The unjustifiable, inexcusable and intentional killing of a human being without deliberation, premeditation and malice. 2. The unlawful killing of a human without any deliberation, which may be involuntary, in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection. 3. Criminal homicide constituted manslaughter when: (a) it is committed recklessly; or (b) a homicide which would otherwise be murder is committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse.
Marital Property:
Term used to describe property of spouses subject to equitable distribution upon termination of marriage. 2. Property purchased or otherwise accumulated by spouses while married to each other and which, in most jurisdictions, on dissolution of the marriage is divided in proportions as the court deems fit.
Marriage:
The act, ceremony, or formal proceeding by which persons take each other for husband and wife. Marriage contract:
A contract with rights and responsibilities of the parties defined by the state that the husband and wife (the parties involved) consent to by signing.
Marshalling of assets:
The arrangement or ranking of assets in a certain order towards the payment of debts.
mediation:
Private, informal dispute resolution process in which a neutral third person, the mediator, helps disputing parties to reach an agreement. The mediator has no power to impose a decision on the parties.
Meeting of Minds:
An essential element of contract, is mutual agreement and assent of parties to contract to substance and terms. 2. It is an agreement reached by the parties to a contract and expressed therein, or as the equivalent of mutual assent or mutual obligation.
Mens reus:
As an element of criminal responsibility: a guilty mind; a guilty or wrongful purpose; a criminal intent. 2. Guilty knowledge and willfulness. Merchant:
One who is engaged in the sale or purchase of goods; one who operates a retail business.
Merger:
The absorption of one company by another, the former losing its legal identity, and latter retaining its own name and identity and acquiring assets, liabilities, franchises, and powers of former, and absorbed company ceasing to exist as a separate business entity. Miranda Rights:
Prior to any custodial interrogation (that is, questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom in any significant way) the person must be warned: 1. That he has a right to remain silent; 2. That any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him; 3. That he has a right to the presence of an attorney; 4. That if he cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires.
Mirror image rule:
The doctrine that the acceptance of a contractual offer must be positive, unconditional, unequivocal, and unambiguous, and must not change, add to, or qualify the terns of the offer; the common-law principle that for a contract to be formed, the terms of an acceptance must correspond exactly with those of the offer. Mitigation of Damages:
Sometimes called doctrine of avoidable consequences, it imposes on party injured by breach of contract or tort duty to exercise reasonable diligence and ordinary care in attempting to minimize his damages, or avoid aggravating the injury, after breach or injury has been inflicted and care and diligence required of him is the same as that which would be used by man of ordinary prudence under like circumstances.
Modica circumstantial facti jus mutat:
A small circumstance attending an act may change the law.
Money Damages:
A monetary compensation which may be recovered in the courts by any person who has suffered loss, detriment, or injury, whether to his person, property, or rights, through the unlawful act or omission pr negligence of another.
More probable than not:
The burden of proof in a civil case; it means that it is more likely than not that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s damages. The measure “more likely than not” means anything greater than fifty percent.
Motion for temporary orders:
When one party initiates the process for a temporary parenting plan.
Murder:
The unlawful killing of a human being by another with malice aforethought either expressed or implied.
Mutual Mistake:
Where the parties have a common intention, but it is induced by a common or mutual mistake. Negligence:
The failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances; it is the doing of some act which a person of ordinary prudence would not have done under similar circumstances or failure to do what a person ordinary prudence would have done under similar circumstances. In tort law, the category that defines the standards of care (responsibility of people to behave in a certain manner) that people and institutions can expect in our society.
Negligent Homicide:
The criminal offense committed by one whose negligence is the direct and proximate cause of another’s death. 2. Killing of a human being by criminal negligence, although an intentional act is required, it is not necessary, unlike the crime of involuntary manslaughter, that a defendant realize the risk of death involved in his conduct.
Negotiate:
To transact business; to bargain with another respecting a transaction; to conduct communications or conferences with a view to reaching a settlement or agreement. 2. It is that which passes between parties or their agents in the course of or incident to the making of a contract and is also conversation in arranging terms of contract. 3. To discuss or arrange a sale of bargain; to arrange the preliminaries of a business transaction.
Negotiation:
The process of submission and consideration of offers until acceptable offer is made and accepted. The deliberation, discussion, or conference upon the terms of a proposed agreement; the act of settling or arranging the terms and conditions of a bargain, sale, or other business transaction.
Nolo contedere:
Latin phrase meaning “I will not contest it”; a plea in a criminal case which has a similar legal effect as pleading guilty. non-economic damages:
The legal compensation, usually in a monetary form, based on the pain, suffering, and a loss of enjoyment of life that the plaintiff has incurred due to the negligence of the defendant.
normal wear and tear:
In regards to the reasonable person standard, normal wear and tear is the condition of objects after its constant use; and should be acceptable to the landlord as in reasonable condition.
Notice:
Information, an advice, or written warning, in more or less formal shape, intended to apprise a person of some proceeding in which his interests are involved, or informing him of some fact which it is his right to know and the duty of notifying party to communicate.
notice of termination:
The time of notice is usually equal to the length of the rental period, with the only exception being a year to year lease, in which the time requirement is 6 months. The notice must specify the last day of the period as the date of termination. Objective standard (reasonable person standard):
The standard which one must observe to avoid liability for negligence is the standard of the reasonable man under all the circumstances, including the foreseeability of harm to one such as the plaintiff.
Objective theory of contracts:
The doctrine that a contract is not an agreement in the sense of a subjective meeting of the minds but is instead a series of external acts giving the objective semblance of agreement.
obscene speech:
Speech that is objectionable or offensive to accepted standards of decency. Material is adjudicated for obscenity according to the three-tiered test outlined in Miller v. California (1973).
Obscenity test:
A test to determine material as obscene according to three steps decided by the Supreme Court. The steps are (1) Whether “the average person applying contemporary community” standards find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests; (2) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law; (3) whether the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Occupant:
One that occupies a place or position; a resident.
Offensive Language:
Language adapted to give offense; displeasing or annoying language.
Offer:
The act or an instance of presenting something for acceptance.
Offer of Performance:
Contracts. One party’s reasonable assurance to the other, through words or conduct, of a present ability to fulfill contractual obligations.
Offeree:
In contracts, the person to whom an offer is made by the offeror.
Open fields doctrine:
This doctrine permits police officers to enter and search a field without warrant. The term “open fields” may include any unoccupied or undeveloped area outside of the curtilage.
Open offer:
An offer that contains no time period.
Open-ended questions:
Questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or a “no.” Operating agreement:
An agreement, similar to a corporation’s bylaws, among LLC members which govern the operations of the LLC and the rights of its members.
Opinion:
The statement by a judge or court of the decision reached in regard to a cause tried or argued before them, explaining the law as applied to the case, and detailing the reasons upon which the judgment is based.
Original:
A work that the creator has put a minimal amount of intellectual effort into and is minimally creative. This is one of the criteria for qualification of copyright protection.
Parenting plan:
The schedule that sets out how much time the children spend with each parent. Partnership:
A business owned by two or more persons that is not organized as a corporation; an association of two or more persons to carry on, as co-owners, a business for profit.
Performance:
The fulfillment or accomplishment of a promise, contract, or other obligation according to its terms, relieving such person of all further obligation or liability thereunder.
Person:
A human being, though by statute term may include labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees, in bankruptcy, or receivers.
Personal property:
In broad and general sense, everything that is the subject of ownership, not coming under denomination of real estate; generally, all property other than real estate, including intangible property.
Personal/Private right:
Those rights which appertain to a particular individual or individuals, and relate either to the person, or to personal or real property.
Plaintiff:
A person who brings an action; the party who sues in a civil action and is so named on the record. The injured party (the one who complains) in a tort case.
Plain-view doctrine:
In search and seizure context, objects falling in plain view of officer who has the right to be in position to have that view are subject to seizure without a warrant and may be introduced in evidence.
Plea:
In criminal law, the response to a criminal charge (guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere).
Plea bargaining:
The process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. It usually involves the defendant’s pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver charge.
Policy limits:
The amount of money that the insurance company will pay out in damages in any particular case.
Possession (of stolen property):
Having control over a thing with the intent to have and to exercise such control. 2. The detention and control, or the manual or ideal custody, of anything which may be the subject of property, for one’s use and enjoyment, either as owner or as the proprietor of a qualified right in it, and either held personally or by another who exercises it in one’s place and name.
Possessory Interest:
Right to exert control over specific land to exclusion of others. 2. Right to possess property by virtue of an interest created in the property though it need not be accompanied by title; e.g. right of a tenant for years.
Post (bail):
To procure release of one charged with an offense by insuring his future attendance in court and compelling him to remain within jurisdiction of court.
Practice style:
The way in which an attorney renders his/her services requiring the knowledge and the application of legal principles and technique to serve the interests of another with his consent.
Precedent:
A rule of law established for the first time by a court for a particular type of case and thereafter referred to in deciding similar cases.
Preferred stock:
Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders.
Preliminary hearing:
The hearing by a judge to determine whether a person charged with a crime should be held for trial.
Premeditation:
The act of meditating in advance; deliberation upon a contemplated act; plotting or contriving; a design formed to do something before it is done. Decision or plan to commit a crime, such as murder, before committing it.
Prenuptial Agreement:
One entered into by prospective spouses prior to marriage but in contemplation and in consideration thereof; by it, the property or other financial rights of one or both of the prospective spouses are determined or are secured to one or both of them or their children.
Primary residential parent:
The parent that takes primary responsibility of a child and with which the child primarily resides.
Prior restraint:
A system of “prior restraint” is any scheme which gives public officials the power to deny use of a forum in advance of its actual expression.
Privilege:
A particular and peculiar benefit or advantage enjoyed by a person, company, or class, beyond the common advantages of other citizens. An exceptional or extraordinary power or exemption.
Probable Cause:
Reasonable cause; having more evidence for than against. 2. A reasonable ground for belief in certain alleged facts. 3. A set of probabilities grounded in the factual and practical considerations which govern the decisions of reasonable and prudent persons and is more than mere suspicion but less than the quantum of evidence required for conviction. 4. An apparent state of facts found to exist upon reasonable inquiry (that is, such inquiry as the given case renders convenient and proper), which would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent man to believe, in a criminal case, that the accused person had committed the crime charged, or, in a civil case, that a cause of action existed.
Product:
With reference to property, term refers to proceeds; yield; income; receipts; return. 2. Goods produced or manufactured, either by natural means by hand, or with tools, machinery, chemicals, or the like. 3. Something produced by physical labor or intellectual effort or something produced naturally or as result of natural process as by generation or growth.
Profanity:
Irreverence towards sacred things; particularly, in irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of God.
Property:
That which is peculiar or proper to any person; that which belongs exclusively to one. In the strict legal sense, an aggregate of rights which are guaranteed and protected by the government.
Property Right:
A generic term which refers to any type of right to specific property whether it is personal or real property, tangible or intangible; e.g. professional baseball player has valuable property right in his name, photograph and image, and such right may be saleable by him.
Proscribed classification:
A distinction made by an employer to discriminate against a worker. Proscribed classifications include sex, gender, religion, race, etc.
Prosecuting attorney:
The name of the public officer who is appointed or elected in each judicial district, circuit, or county, to conduct criminal prosecutions on behalf of the State or people.
Prosecutor:
One who carries an action or other judicial proceeding for a crime in the name of the government.
Provocation/Reasonable Provocation:
The act of inciting another to do a particular deed. That which arouses, moves, calls forth, causes , or occasions.
Prurient interest:
An obsessive interest in nudity or sex; one of the criteria of obscenity.
Public servant:
A public official or candidate in public office who works for the best interests of society.
Purchase Order:
Document authorizing a seller to deliver goods with payment to be made later. 2. A written authorization calling on a vendor or supplier to furnish goods to the person ordering such.
Purport:
To convey, imply or profess outwardly; to have the appearance of being, intending, claiming, etc. Quid Pro Quo:
“This for that” applies when an employee is denied a tangible employment benefit on the basis of their status as a member of a protected class
quiet enjoyment:
Every tenant has the right to enjoy peace and quiet in his/her home. Rape:
Unlawful sexual intercourse with a female without her consent. 2. The unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man forcibly and against her will. 3. The act of sexual intercourse committed by a man with a woman not his wife and without her consent, committed when the woman’s resistance is overcome by force or fear, or under other prohibitive conditions.
Ratify:
In regards to the Constitution, approval, as by legislatures or conventions, of a constitutional amendment proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress; approval by the electorate of a proposed State constitutional amendment.
Real property:
Land, and generally whatever is erected or growing upon or affixed to land.
Reasonable Clause:
The clause in the fourth amendment that defines who and what is protected and what they are protected against.
Reasonable Person Standard:
The standard which one must observe to avoid liability for negligence is the reasonable person standard under all the circumstances, including the foreseeability of harm to one such as the plaintiff.
Reasonable Time Period:
Such time as is necessary conveniently to do what a contract requires to be done, and as soon as circumstances will permit. 2. In determining what is a “reasonable time” for performance, court should consider such factors as relationships between parties, subject matter of contract, and time that a person of ordinary diligence and prudence would use under similar circumstances.
Reasonably prudent person:
A regular person with average intelligence.
Reckless disregard:
To show actual malice in publication where there exists sufficient evidence to permit conclusion that the defendant in fact entertains serious doubts as to truth of his publication or where there are obvious reasons to doubt veracity of informant or accuracy of his reports.
Recklessness:
Rashness; heedlessness; wanton conduct. 2. The state of mind accompanying an act, which either pays no regard to its probably or possibly injurious consequences, or which, though foreseeing such consequences, persists in spite of such knowledge
Recourse:
The right of a holder of a negotiable instrument to recover against a party secondarily liable.
Redress:
Satisfaction for an injury or damages sustained. Referendum:
The process of referring to the electorate for approval a proposed new state constitution or amendment or of a law passed by the legislature. The right constitutionally reserved to people of state, or local subdivision thereof, to have submitted for their approval or rejection, under prescribed conditions, any law or part of law passed by lawmaking body.
Release on a personal recognizance:
Pre-trial release based on the person’s own promise that he will show up for trial (no bond required). Rent:
Consideration paid for use or occupation of property. In a broader sense, it is the compensation or fee paid, usually periodically, for the use of any rental property, land, buildings, equipment, etc.
Rescission of contract (rescind):
To abrogate, annul, avoid, or cancel a contract; particularly, nullifying a contract by the act of a party. 2. To declare a contract void in its inception and to put an end to it as though it never were. 3. A repudiation of the contract and a refusal of the moving party to be further bound by it.
Resisting arrest:
The crime of obstructing or opposing a police officer making an arrest.
responsibility:
The duty of one citizen to another citizen’s right(s). The state of being answerable for an obligation and includes judgment, skill, ability and capacity.
Revocation:
Withdrawal of an offer by the offeror.
right:
Something due to one by law, custom or nature; a custom. Justice , ethical correctness or consonance with the rules of law or the principles of morals.
Search Warrant:
An order in writing, issued by a justice or other magistrate, in the name of the state, directed to a sheriff, constable, or other officer, authorizing him to search for and seize any property that constitutes evidence of the commission of a crime, contraband, the fruits of crime, or things otherwise criminally possessed; or, property designed or intended for use or which is or has been used as the means of committing a crime.
Second degree crime:
A crime of lesser gravity than a first degree crime.
Second degree murder:
The unlawful taking of human life with malice, but without the other aggravating elements of first degree murder; i.e. without deliberation or premeditation. Security deposit:
Money deposited by tenant with landlord as security for full and faithful performance by tenant of terms of lease, including damages to premises. It is refundable unless the tenant has caused damage or injury to the property or has breached the terms of the tenancy or the laws governing the tenancy.
Segregated:
The separation of people because of race. Self-Defense:
The protection of one’s person or property against some injury attempted by another. 2. The right of such protection. 3. An excuse for the use of force in resisting an attack on the person.
Sentencing:
The post-conviction stage of the criminal justice process in which the defendant is brought before the court for imposition of sentence. Usually a trial judge imposes sentence, but in some jurisdictions sentencing is performed by jury or by sentencing councils.
Separate but equal:
The decision made by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson that African-Americans could have separate but equal status. The Supreme Court argued that the law does not imply inferiority of one race and the state has an interest in maintaining peace and order. This law was eradicated with the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.
settlement:
The choice of action to resolve the matter at hand that avoids the involvement of a lawsuit. This is the least expensive and quickest way for a resolution.
Shareholders (stockholders):
A person who owns shares of stock in a corporation or joint-stock company.
Slander:
The speaking of base and defamatory words tending to prejudice another in his reputation, community standing, office, trade, business, or means of livelihood.
Slippery slope:
when behavior begins innocently as good natured joking around, and then at some point become offensive.
Sole proprietorship:
A form of business in which one person owns all the assets of the business in contrast to a partnership, trust or corporation. The sole proprietor is solely liable for all the debts of the business.
Specific Performance:
The remedy of requiring exact performance of a contract in the specific form in which it was made, or according to the precise terms agreed upon. 2. The doctrine of specific performance is that, where money damages would be an inadequate compensation for the breach of an agreement, the contractor or vendor will be compelled to perform specifically what he has agreed to do.
specific tenant rights:
These specific rights vary between states and most cities. If these rights are violated then the tenant can remedy the situation by speaking to the landlord, and then taking legal action if the landlord does not comply.
State:
The organization of social life which exercises sovereign power in behalf of the people. A territorial unit with a distinct general body of law.
State courts:
Those courts which constitute the state judicial system in contrast to federal courts. City and county courts may or may not be part of the state system of courts, depending upon the jurisdiction.
State legislature:
The department, assembly, or body of persons that makes statutory laws for a state. In most states, the legislature is bicameral in structure, usually consisting of two branches; i.e. upper house (Senate) and lower house (House of Representatives or Assembly).
Statute of Frauds:
No suit or action shall be maintained on certain classes of contracts or engagements unless there shall be a note or memorandum thereof in writing signed by the party to be charged or by his authorized agent (e.g., contracts for the sale of goods priced at $500 or more; contracts for the sale of land; contracts which cannot, by their terms, be performed within a year; and contracts to guaranty the debt of another). 2. A contract for the sale of goods for the price of $500 or more is not enforceable by way of action or defense unless there is some writing sufficient to indicate that a contract for sale has been made between the parties and signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought or by his authorized agent or broker.
Statute of limitations:
Statutes of the federal government and various states setting maximum time periods during which certain actions can be brought or rights enforced. After the time period set out in the applicable statue of limitations has run, no legal action can be brought regardless of whether any cause of action ever existed.
Statutes:
A formal written enactment of a legislative body, whether federal, state, city or county. 2. An act of the legislature declaring, commanding or prohibiting something, a particular law enacted and established by the will of the legislative department of government; the written will of the legislature, solemnly expressed according to the forms necessary to constitute it the law of the state. 3. A single act of a legislature or a body of acts which are collected and arranged according to a scheme or for a session of a legislative or parliament.
Statutory Law:
That body of law created by acts of the legislature in contrast to constitutional law and law generated by decisions of courts and administrative bodies.
Statutory Rape:
Modern statues, which often materially change the common-law definition, create an offense commonly known as “statutory rape,” where the offense consists in having sexual intercourse with a female or male under statutory age. The offense may be either with or without the victim’s consent; and mistake as to the victim’s age is usually no defense.
strict liability:
A category of tort law (less common than negligence) that addresses the responsibility of a manufacturer of a product for defects in either the product itself or in the manufacturer’s warning about the proper use of the product. It is not necessary for the plaintiff to show that the defendant acted unreasonably.
Strike:
The act of quitting work by a body of workers for the purpose of coercing their employer to accede to some demand they have made upon him, and which he has refused.
Subjective intent/meaning:
The meaning that one party to a legal document attributes to it when the document is written, executed, or otherwise adopted.
Substantial Step:
When one commits an overt act in furtherance of a crime.
survival action:
When an individual has died as the result of the action of another and the damages are provided on behalf of the person who died. Damages include the losses the deceased person would have been able to seek if he/she hadn’t died as a result of the defendant’s negligence. The money is then distributed according to the deceased’s will or the laws of the state.
Symbolic speech:
A person’s conduct which expresses opinions or thoughts about a subject and which may or may not be protected by the First Amendment.
Tangible:
Having or possessing physical form. 2. Capable of being touched and seen; perceptible to the touch; tactile; palpable; capable of being possessed or realized; readily apprehensible by the mind; real; substantial.
Temporary parenting plan:
A residential schedule for a family to follow until the court or settlement has made the final arrangement for the custody of the children and parents involved.
tenancy for years:
Most common type of tenancy where a tenant leases the property for a fixed period of time with a start date and an end date. This period of time may be less than a year even though the name of it is tenancy for years.
Tenant:
In the broadest sense, one who holds or possesses lands or tenements by any kind of right or title, whether in fee, for life, for years, at will, or otherwise.
Term policy:
In life insurance, a policy which gives protection for a specified period of time but no cash or reserve value is created in the policy.
Title of record:
Evidence that real property is in the lawful possession of owner. Such title is acquired through a deed, a will, adverse possession, or eminent domain.
Trespasser:
One who has committed trespass. One who intentionally and without consent or privilege enters another’s property.
Trial:
A judicial examination and determination of issues between parties to action, whether they be issues of law or of fact, before a court that has jurisdiction.
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC):
One of the Uniform Laws drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the American Law Institute governing commercial transactions (including sales and leasing of goods, transfer of funds, commercial paper, bank deposits and collections, letters of credit, bulk transfers, warehouse receipts, bills of lading, investment securities, and secured transactions).
Unilateral Mistake:
A mistake by only one party to an agreement and generally not a basis for relief by rescission or reformation.
United States Constitution:
The Supreme Law of the Land. The organic and fundamental law of the United States, establishing the character and conception of its government, laying the basic principles to which its internal life is to be conformed, organizing the government, and regulating, distributing, and limiting the functions of its different departments, and prescribing the extent and manner of the exercise of sovereign powers. Usage of trade:
A practice or method of dealing having such regularity of observance in a region, vocation, or trade that it justifies an expectation that it will be observed in a given transaction; a customary practice or set of practices relied on by persons conversant in, or connected with, a trade or business.
Utility:
A public service providing such things as water, electricity and sewage. Vandalism:
Such willful or malicious acts as are intended to damage or destroy property.
Vehicular Homicide:
Homicide caused by the unlawful and negligent operation of a motor vehicle
Verbal Contract:
An oral, nonwritten agreement; a parol contract.
Viable:
capable of living as a fetus arriving at a stage of development that will allow it to live and develop under normal conditions.
Voluntary manslaughter:
Manslaughter committed voluntarily upon a sudden heat of the passions; as if, upon a sudden quarrel, two persons fight, and one of them kills the other. It is the unlawful taking of human life without malice and under circumstances falling short of willful, premeditated, or deliberate intent to kill and approaching too near thereto to be justifiable homicide.
Warrant Clause:
A state of facts that would lead a government official to believe and conscientiously entertain honest and strong suspicion that the person sought to be arrested is guilty of committing a crime.
Warrantless searches:
A search without a warrant but incidental to an arrest is permitted if it does not extend beyond the person of the accused and the area into which the accused might reach in order to grab a weapon or other evidentiary items.
warranty of habitability:
Implicit duties a landlord needs to abide by, including, keeping the temperature of the unit not below 68 degrees F during the hours of 7 am and 11 pm, providing water heated to a temperature of 120 degrees F, maintaining kitchen appliances in working order and maintaining the grounds in a safe and sanitary condition.
Wasting assets:
An abuse or destructive use of property (i.e. money) by one in rightful possession.
Whistle blower:
An employee who refuses to engage in and/or reports illegal or wrongful activities of his employer or fellow employees.
Writ of Attachment:
An order to seize a debtor’s property so as to secure the claim of a creditor. A writ employed to enforce obedience to an order or judgment of the court.
wrongful death:
When an individual has died as the result of the action of another and the damages are provided to the loved ones of the person who died. Damages include the loss of support, companionship and consortium suffered by those left behind. | |
