Legal Glossary
Acquittal - A release, absolution, or discharge of an obligation or liability. In criminal law the finding of not guilty.
Administrator - 1. One who administers the estate of a person who dies without a will. 2. A court official.
Affidavit - A voluntary, written, or printed declaration of facts, confirmed by oath of the party making it before a person with authority to administer the oath.
Allegation - A statement of the issues in a written document (a pleading), which a person is prepared to prove in court.
American Bar Association - A national association of lawyers whose primary purpose is improvement of lawyers and the administration of justice.
Antitrust acts - Federal and state statutes to protect trade and commerce from unlawful restraints, price discriminations, price fixing, and monopolies.
Appeal - A proceeding brought to a higher court to review a lower court decision.
Attorney-at-Law - An advocate, counsel, or official agent employed in preparing, managing, and trying cases in the courts.
Bequeath - To give property through a will.
Bill of Rights - A section in a constitution establishing the rights and limitations of a governing body, such as the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution.
Breach of Contract - Violation of a contract by failing to perform one's contractual obligations.
Burden of Proof - In litigation, a party's duty to prove a dispute assertion to succeed or move on in a legal proceeding.
Bylaws - Rules adopted by a corporation of internal governance. Bylaws are usually included in the articles of incorporation.
Civil - Relating to private rights and remedies sought by civil actions as contrasted with criminal proceedings.
Civil action - An action brought to enforce or protect private rights.
Claim - A debt owing by a debtor to another person or business. In probate parlance, the term used for debts of the decedent and a procedure that must be followed by a creditor to obtain payment from his estate.
Class action - A lawsuit brought by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group.
Complaint - This is what starts civil litigation; the complaint is the initial pleading that gets the ball rolling, citing the grounds for the lawsuit, the plaintiff's claim, and the relief sought.
Crime - An act in violation of the penal laws of a state or the United States. A positive or negative act in violation of penal law.
Custody - Detaining of a person by lawful process or authority to assure his or her appearance to any hearing; the jailing or imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime.
Deed - A writing signed by a grantor (seller) transferring property from one person to another.
Defendant - The person defending or denying a suit.
Deposition - A person gives his or her deposition when he or she, accompanied by an attorney, answers questions put by the other side's attorney regarding the facts of the case. Depositions are under oath and generally take place in an attorney's office. A court reporter is present and everything that is said is recorded.
Disclaimer - A disclaimer is a statement denouncing or repudiating a legal claim.
Disclosure - To make something known that was previously unknown
Discovery - The process of gathering information in preparation for trial.
Dismissal - The termination of a lawsuit.
Docket - A record of all the proceedings and filings of a court cases noted briefly by a judge or court clerk.
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) - A person is guilty of DUI if he or she drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle and is under the influence of alcoholic beverages or any chemical or controlled substance to the extent that his or her mental faculties are impaired or when his or her blood alcohol level (BAC) is above the legal limit for the state.
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) - Driving while intoxicated is a criminal offense for driving a motor vehicle after consuming enough alcohol to raise the blood alcohol level about the legal limit.
Estate - A person's property.
Estate Tax - Generally, a tax on the privilege of transferring property to others after a person's death. In addition to federal estate taxes, many states have their own estate taxes.
Executor - Also called an administrator, an executor is someone appointed by a testator to administer the testator's estate after his or her death.
Expunge - To destroy or erase, as in erase a debt by bankruptcy.
Fair Housing Act - This law makes it illegal to discriminate in housing sales or rentals or in housing lending and insurance on the basis of race, color, national origin, familial status, disability, sex, and religion.
False Light - A claim that publicity invades a person's privacy by a false statement or representation that places the person in a false light that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
Family Law - Those areas of the law pertaining to families, i.e., marriage, divorce, child custody, juvenile, paternity, etc.
Federal Communications Commission definition (FCC) - The FCC is the federal agency charged with regulating interstate and international communications by television, radio, telephone, and telegraph, as well as broadcasting standards and cable television operations.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC is the federal agency charged with enforcing antitrust laws and prohibitions against false, deceptive, or unfair trade or advertising practices.
Filing Fee - The filing fee is the administrative fee, or cost, of filing a legal claim.
Fraud - A false representation of a matter of fact, which is intended to deceive another.
Gag Order - An order imposed by the court restricting parties or attorneys from commenting about an ongoing case.
Grace Period - The period of time before the borrower must begin or resume repaying a loan or debt.
Grantor - The grantor is the seller of real property.
Guardian - A guardian is one who has been entrusted by the law for the care of another person or for his estate or for both.
Guilty - Guilty means having committed or being responsible for a crime or civil wrong.
Hearing - A judicial session normally open to the public for the purpose of deciding the facts and issues of a case, sometimes with testifying witnesses.
Hearsay - Testimony given by a witness who relates not what he or she heard, saw, or knew personally, but what others have said. In such cases, that knowledge is dependent on the credibility of the other person, and as such, is not admissible in court unless it meets a hearsay exception.
Homicide - The killing of one person by another.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - HUD is a federal agency charged with implementing and enforcing programs and policies that address the housing needs of the country and to develop and improve neighborhoods.
Hung Jury - A hung jury is one that cannot agree on a verdict by the necessary voting margin.
Illegal - Against the law; not legal; can't do it, no sir, it's bad news, will get you in trouble.
Incriminate - To charge with a crime.
Infringement - The authorized use of another's right or privilege, usually an intellectual property right, such as a patent, copyright, or trademark.
Injunction - A prohibitive order or remedy issued by the court at the suit of the complaining party, which forbids the defendant to do some act which he is threatening or attempting to do. Conversely, it may require him to perform an act which he is obligated to perform but refuses to do.
Interrogation - The formal questioning of a person, especially intensive questioning by police of a suspect arrested for allegedly committing a crime.
Interrogatory - Any one of a numbered list of written questions submitted in a legal proceeding to an opposing party to a lawsuit as part of discovery.
Judgment - A court's final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties to a case.
Jurisdiction - The government's authority to exercise authority over all persons and things within its territory.
Jurisprudence - Legal theory or study.
Juror - A juror is a person serving on a jury.
Jury - A certain number of men and women selected according to law and sworn to try a question of fact or indict a person for public offense.
Law Review - A journal containing scholarly articles, essays, and other stuff on legal topics written by legal professors, scholars, students, etc.
Liquid Assets - An asset that can be quickly or readily converted into cash.
Liable - Legally responsible.
Libel - Published defamation that, tends to injure a person's reputation.
Litigation - The process of carrying out a lawsuit, or the lawsuit itself.
Living trust - A trust set up and in effect during the lifetime of the grantor.
Legislation - The act of giving or enacting laws; the power to make laws via legislation in contrast to court-made laws.
Malice - The intent to commit a wrongful act without justification for doing so.
Malpractice - Negligence or incompetence on behalf of an individual, usually applied to professionals.
Mediation - In mediation, a professionally trained mediator helps the parties to work out their own mutually agreeable solution to the dispute.
Medicaid - A program that helps pay for medically necessary medical services for needy and low-income persons. It uses state and federal government money.
Medicare - A federal insurance program for people age 65 and older and certain disabled people. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) operates Medicare. The Medicare program consists of two parts, Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Medicare Part B (supplemental medical insurance).
Minor - Someone who hasn't reached the age of majority, usually 18.
Miranda Warning - A Miranda warning advises people of their constitutional right not to answer questions or to have an attorney present before answer any questions.
Misdemeanor - A minor crime, less than a felony, that is usually punished with a fine or confinement in something other than a prison.
Mistrial - A trial that ends without a verdict on the merits of the case because of some technical error or misconduct during the proceeding.
Motion - A procedure which is used when one wants a judge to make an order.
Negligence - Failure to use care that, a reasonable and prudent person would use under similar circumstances.
Negotiation - The process of submission and consideration of offers until an acceptable offer is made and accepted.
Notary Public - A public officer appointed under authority of state law with power to administer oaths, certify affidavits, take acknowledgments, take depositions or testimony and record notarial protests.
Oath - The calling on a supreme being to witness the truth of what one says or promises.
Opening Statement - The initial statement made by attorneys for each side, outlining the facts each intends to establish during the trial.
Opinion - A judge's written explanation of a decision of the court or of a majority of judges. A dissenting opinion disagrees with the majority opinion because of the reasoning and/or the principles of law on which the decision is based. A concurring opinion agrees with the decision of the court but offers further comment. (A per curium opinion is an unsigned opinion "of the court.")
Oral Argument - Presentation of a case before a court by spoken argument, usually with respect to a presentation of a case to an appellate court where a time limit might be set for oral argument.
Order - A mandate, command, or direction authoritatively given. Direction of a court or judge made in writing.
Petition - A formal written request presented to a court or other official or governmental body.
Plaintiff - A person who brings an action; the party who complains or sues in a civil action. (See complainant.)
Plea - The first pleading by a criminal defendant, the defendant's declaration in open court that he or she is guilty or not guilty. The defendant's answer to the charges made in the indictment or information.
Plea Bargaining - Process where the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a satisfactory disposition of the case, usually by the accused agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser offense. Such bargains are not binding on the court. Also referred to as plea negotiating.
Power of Attorney - A formal instrument authorizing another to act as one's agent or attorney.
Probate - The process that transfers legal title of property from the estate of the person who has died.
Product Liability - Legal responsibility of manufacturers and sellers to buyers, users, and bystanders for damages or injuries suffered because of defects in goods.
Prosecuting Attorney - A legal official designated to represent the government in criminal actions in a particular jurisdiction.
Public Defender - An attorney licensed by a state who is appointed by the court to represent people who are financially unable to afford to hire an attorney.
Quitclaim Deed - A deed that transfers the owner's interest to a buyer but does not guarantee that there are no other claims against the property.
Restraining Order - An order made by a court to protect an adult from physical pain or injury, or from being threatened with pain or injury.
Retainer - Some lawyers will not represent a client unless the client pays an upfront fee to the lawyer before the lawyer begins doing any work. The fee is called a retainer, which retains the lawyer's services. When the attorney works on the client's case, the lawyer subtracts from the retainer the hourly billing rate until the retainer is used up.
Ruling - The outcome of a court's decision, either on a particular issue or on the litigation as a whole.
Search Warrant - An order issued by a judge that authorizes police officers to conduct a search of a specific location.
Self-Incrimination - When a person explicitly or implicitly admits that he or she was involved in a crime.
Settlement - An agreement between the parties disposing of a lawsuit.
Slander - Spoken defamation, which tends to injure a person's reputation.
Statute of Limitations - A statute which limits the right of a plaintiff to file an action unless it is done within a specified time period after the occurrence which gives rise to the right to sue.
Summary Judgment - A judgment given on the basis of pleadings, affidavits, and exhibits presented for the record without any need for a trial. It is used when there is no dispute as to the facts of the case and one party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Supremacy Clause - The Supremacy Clause is a provision in the United States Constitution that provides for situations in which state and federal law is in conflict; in such cases where the two overlap, federal law trumps.
Title - Legal ownership of property, usually real property or automobiles.
Tort - A private or civil wrong or injury for which the court provides a remedy through an action for damages.
Trial - A judicial examination of issues between parties to an action.
Trust - A legal device used to manage real or personal property, established by one person (grantor or settlor) for the benefit of another (beneficiary).
Trustee - A party who is given legal responsibility to hold property in the best interest of or for the benefit of another.
Unlawful Detainer - An unlawful detainer lawsuit, also called an eviction, is a suit brought by a landlord to obtain possession of rented property and receive payment of back rent.
Venue - The place where a trial takes place because that place generally has some connection to the events that led to the lawsuit in the first place.
Verdict - A conclusion, as to fact or law, which forms the basis for the court's judgment.
Warranty deed - A deed that guarantees that the title conveyed is good and its transfer rightful.
Warrant - A court order directing a law enforcement officer to make an arrest, a search, or a seizure.
Will - A legal declaration that disposes of a person's property when that person dies.
Witness - Someone who sees, knows, or vouches for something and gives testimony under oath during a legal proceeding.
Yellow-Dog Contract - A yellow dog contract is an employment contract that forbids membership into a labor union; yellow dog contracts are illegal.