Legal Dictionary
Important legal terms for founders and businesses.
Ab Initio
From the beginning; often used to indicate that a document or act was void from its inception.
Acquittal
A formal legal determination that an accused criminal is not guilty of the offense charged.
Actus Reus
The guilty act or wrongful deed that comprises the physical component of a crime.
Ad Hominem
An argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue.
Ad Litem
For the suit; a person appointed to act in a lawsuit on behalf of a child or incapacitated person.
Adjudication
The legal process of resolving a dispute or deciding a case.
Affidavit
A written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court.
Affirm
To confirm, ratify, or otherwise approve a lower court's decision on appeal.
Alibi
A claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when an act, typically a criminal one, is alleged to have taken place.
Allegation
A claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof.
Amicus Curiae
Friend of the court; a person or group who is not a party to an action, but has a strong interest in the matter.
Appeal
A legal proceeding by which a case is brought before a higher court for review of the decision of a lower court.
Appellant
The party who appeals a lower court's decision, usually seeking reversal of that decision.
Appellee
The party against whom an appeal is filed.
Arbitration
A method of dispute resolution involving one or more neutral third parties who are usually agreed to by the disputing parties and whose decision is binding.
Arraignment
A criminal proceeding at which the defendant is officially called before a court of competent jurisdiction, informed of the offense charged, and asked to enter a plea.
Assault
An intentional act that creates a reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.
Battery
The intentional offensive or harmful touching of another person without their consent.
Bench Trial
A trial without a jury, in which the judge serves as the fact-finder.
Beneficiary
A person who derives advantage from something, especially a trust, will, or life insurance policy.
Brief
A written legal argument, usually in a format prescribed by the courts, stating the legal reasons for the suit.
Burden of Proof
The duty placed upon a party to prove or disprove a disputed fact.
Case Law
The law as established by the outcome of former cases.
Caveat Emptor
Let the buyer beware; the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.
Certiorari
A writ or order by which a higher court reviews a decision of a lower court.
Chambers
A judge's office.
Chattel
An item of property other than real estate.
Circumstantial Evidence
Evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact.
Class Action
A lawsuit filed or defended by an individual or small group acting on behalf of a large group.
Common Law
The body of law derived from judicial decisions of courts and similar tribunals.
Complaint
The first document filed with the court by a person or entity claiming legal rights against another.
Concurrent Sentences
Sentences for more than one crime that are to be served at the same time, rather than one after the other.
Consecutive Sentences
Sentences for more than one crime that are to be served one after the other.
Consideration
Something of value given by both parties to a contract that induces them to enter into the agreement.
Contempt of Court
The offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful of a court of law and its officers.
Contract
A written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.
Conviction
A formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offense.
Corpus Delicti
The body of the crime; the concrete evidence of a crime, such as a corpse.
Counterclaim
A claim made to rebut a previous claim.
Cross-Examination
The questioning of a witness or party during a trial, hearing, or deposition by the party opposing the one who asked the person to testify.
Damages
Money ordered by a court to be paid for injuries or losses suffered.
De Facto
In fact, or in effect, whether by right or not.
De Jure
According to rightful entitlement or claim; by right.
Declaratory Judgment
A judgment of a court which determines the rights of parties without ordering anything be done or awarding damages.
Default Judgment
A binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party.
Defendant
An individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law.
Deposition
The process of giving sworn evidence.
Discovery
The pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the opposing party.
Docket
A calendar or list of cases for trial or people having cases pending.
Double Jeopardy
The prosecution of a person twice for the same offense.
Due Process
Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement.
Easement
A right to cross or otherwise use someone else's land for a specified purpose.
Embezzlement
Theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer.
Eminent Domain
The right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
En Banc
A session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (rather than by a panel selected from them).
Equity
The quality of being fair and impartial; specific branch of law distinct from common law.
Escrow
A bond, deed, or other document kept in the custody of a third party and taking effect only when a specified condition has been fulfilled.
Estate
All the money and property owned by a particular person, especially at death.
Estoppel
The principle that precludes a person from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or statement.
Evidence
The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
Ex Parte
With respect to or in the interests of one side only or of an interested outside party.
Ex Post Facto
With retroactive effect or force.
Expungement
A legal process that results in the removal of a conviction from a person's criminal record.
Felony
A crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death.
Fiduciary
Involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary.
Grand Jury
A jury, normally of twenty-three jurors, selected to examine the validity of an accusation before trial.
Guardian Ad Litem
A person the court appoints to investigate what solutions would be in the "best interests of a child".
Habeas Corpus
A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.
Hearsay
Information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor.
Hung Jury
A judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority.
Impeachment
The action of calling into question the integrity or validity of something.
In Camera
In private, in particular taking place in the private chambers of a judge, with the press and public excluded.
In Forma Pauperis
In the manner of a pauper; allowing a poor person to bring suit without liability for the costs of the suit.
Indictment
A formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.
Injunction
A judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another.
Interrogatories
A written question that is formally put to one party in a case by another party and that must be answered.
Jurisdiction
The official power to make legal decisions and judgments.
Jurisprudence
The theory or philosophy of law.
Jury
A body of people (typically twelve in number) sworn to give a verdict in a legal case on the basis of evidence submitted to them in court.
Larceny
Theft of personal property.
Liability
The state of being responsible for something, especially by law.
Libel
A published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.
Lien
A right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged.
Litigation
The process of taking legal action.
Malfeasance
Wrongdoing, especially by a public official.
Mandamus
A judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty.
Manslaughter
The crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder.
Mens Rea
The intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused.
Misdemeanor
A minor wrongdoing.
Mistrial
A trial rendered invalid through an error in the proceedings.