Agent: a person requested or permitted by another person to act for him or her, a person entrusted with another's business
Assign: to bring a defendant before a judge to hear the charges and to enter a plea (guilty, not guilty, etc)
Assault: an intentional show of force or a movement that could reasonably make the person approached feel in danger or harmful physical contact
Bailment: a temporary delivery of property by the owner to another person, for example, by loan, for storage, or for repair
Battery: an intentional unlawful unprovoked harmful physical contact by one person (or an object controlled by the person) with another person
Beyond a reasonable doubt: the level of proof required to convict a person of a crime. For a jury to be convinced "beyond a reasonable doubt" must be fully satisfied that the person is guilty. This does not mean "convinced 100%" but it comes close to that meaning
Bill of rights: The first ten amendments (changes or additions) to the u.s. constitution that provide for the following:
- Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and to petition the government
- The right to keep weapons
- Freedom from being forced to give room and board to soldiers
- Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and the requirement that warrants be supported by probable cause
- The freedom against double jeopardy, the freedom from being a witness against oneself in a criminal trial, and the requirement that no rights or property be taken away without due process of law and just compensation.
- The right to a speedy criminal trial, an impartial jury, knowledge of the charges, confrontation of adverse witnesses, and the help of a lawyer
- The right to a jury trial in most civil cases
- The prohibition against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment
- The fact that some rights are spelled out in the constitution does not mean that these are all the rights the people have
- Any power not kept solely for the united states belongs to the states and the people
Chapter eleven: a re organization of an insolvent (broke) corporation under federal bankruptcy law in which ownership is transferred to a new corporation made up of old owners and creditors
Chapter seven: a regular bankruptcy for individuals
Chapter thirteen: A provision under federal bankruptcy law for an individual or small business in financial trouble to pay off only a proportion of its debts (called composition), get extra time to pay them (called an extension), or both. This process is called rehabilitation
Chattel: personal property or animals, any property other than land
Clear and convincing proof: stronger evidence than simply better than fifty-fifty (what is required in normal civil cases)but not necessarily as strong as beyond a reasonable doubt (what is required in criminal cases)
Declaratory judgment: a judicial action that states the rights of the parties or answer s a legal question without awarding any damages or ordering that anything be done
Easement: an easement on a piece of land is the right of a specific non-owner, such as a neighbor, the government, or the general public, to use part of the land in a particular way
Equity of redemption: the right of a person who has lost property through a mortgage foreclosure to get it back by paying all money owed plus interest and costs within a state specified time period
Estoppel: a person's being stopped from proving something (even if true) in court because of something that person said before that shows the opposite (even if false)
Felony 1. A serious crime 2. A crime with a sentence of one year or more
Habeas corpus: (latin)"you have the body" a judicial order to someone holding a person to bring that person to court, for example, to a warden who may be holding a prisoner illegally or to a parent holding a child when the other parent claims custody
Indictment: a formal accusation of a crime, made against a person by a grand jury upon the request of a prosecutor
In limine: (latin) preliminary a "motion in limine" is often a pretrial protective order
Lien: a claim, charge or liability against property that is allowed by law, rather than one that is part of a contract or agreement, for example, a "mechanics lien" is the right of a worker to hold property worked on until paid for the services
Litigation: a lawsuit
Miranda warning: the warning that must be given to a person arrested or taken into custody by a policeman or other official. It includes the fact that what you say may be held against you and the rights to remain silent and to have a free lawyer if the person arrested is poor
Negligence: the failure to exercise a reasonable amount of care in a situation, that causes harm to someone or something it can involve doing something carelessly or failing to do something that should have been done. Negligence can vary in seriousness from "criminal" (so extreme that it turns noncriminal conduct into a crime) to "gross" (recklessness or willfulness), and from "ordinary" (failing to act as a reasonably careful person would) to "slight"
Nuisance: anything that annoys or disturbs unreasonably, hurts a person s use of his or her property, or violates the public health, safety or decency. Nuisance may be subject to a private lawsuit or a public prosecution
Perjury: lying under oath
Personal injury: any harm done to a person s rights, except for property rights, often meaning negligence suits, such as for auto accidents
\Plea bargaining: discussions between a prosecutor and a criminal defendant s lawyer in which the defense lawyer generally offers to have the defendant plead guilty in exchange for the prosecutor s agreeing to accept a "plea" to a less serious charge, to request a heavy sentence from the judge
Preponderance of evidence: greater weight of evidence, not as to quantity (number of witnesses or facts), but as to quality (believability and greater weight of important facts proved). This "standard of proof" is generally used in civil lawsuits
Probable cause: the fact that it is more likely than not that a crime has been committed by the person whom a law enforcement officer seeks to arrest (or that the object sought by the officer will be found in the place to be searched). An officer s "probable cause" to conduct an arrest (or a search) depends on what the officer knew "before" taking action
Remainder: an interest or estate in land or trust property that takes effect only when another interest in land or trust property ends. For example, if mary s will says "i leave my house to joe for ten years and then to jane." jane s interest is a remainder
Service: the delivery or its legal equivalent, such as publication in a newspaper in some cases, of a legal paper by an officially authorized person in a way that meets all formal requirements. It is the way to notify a person of a lawsuit
Subpoena: a court's (or administrative agency's) order to a person that he or she appear to testify (give evidence) in a case. A subpoena "duces tecum" commands a person to come and bring certain documents
Testamentary: having to do with a will, for example, "testamentary capacity" is the mental ability to make a valid will
Tort: a legal wrong done to another person. A civil (as opposed to criminal) wrong that is not based on an obligation under a contract. For an act to be a tort, there must be a legal duty owed by one person to another, a breach (breaking) of that duty, and harm done. As a direct result of this action. Examples of torts are negligence, battery and libel
Venire man: a juror
Venue: the local area where a case may be tried
Voir dire: (french)"look-speak". The examination of a possible juror by the lawyers and the judge to decide whether he or she is acceptable to decide the case. Voir dire is also the preliminary examination of a witness to decide whether that person should testify
Writ: a judge's order requiring that something be done outside the courtroom or authorizing it to be done
(Definitions are from the law dictionary for non-lawyers by Daniel Oran, J.D. both this soft-cover and a more comprehensive Hard Cover legal dictionary, both are available from west publishing co.)