Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
110 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Capacity
|
Having legal authority or mental ability. Being of sound mind.
|
|
|
Capital Gains Tax
|
Income tax upon financial gain resulting from the sale or exchange of capital assets.
|
|
|
Case Law
|
The entire collection of published legal decisions of the courts that, because of stare decisis, contributes a large part of the legal rules that apply in modern society. if a rule of law cannot be found in written laws, lawyers will often say that it is a rule to be found in "case law." In other words, the rule is not in the statute books but can be found as a principle of law established by a judge in some recorded case. The word "jurisprudence" has become synonymous for case law.
|
|
|
Caveat
|
Latin: let him beware. A formal warning. Caveat emptor means "let the buyer beware," a warning that buyers should examine and check for themselves things that they intend to purchase. They cannot later hold the vendor responsible for the condition of the thing bought.
|
|
|
CD-ROM
|
Compact Disc-Read Only Memory, which means you cannot write to a CD-ROM. CDs can hold up to 12,000 to 15,000 images at 300 dpi. CDs are generally stored in "jukeboxes" to enable sharing among multiple workstations.
|
|
|
Certification
|
1. Written attestation. 2. Authorized declaration verifying that an instrument is true and correct copy of the original.
|
|
|
Certification Marks
|
Marks of a third-party (such as a consumer organization) which certify a quality or characteristic of a product or service. Certification marks are not established by the owner or manufacture.
|
|
|
Certiorari
|
A writ of certiorari is a form of judicial review whereby a court is asked to consider a legal decision of an administrative tribunal, judicial office, or organization such as a government to decide if the decision has been regular and complete or if there has been an error of law. For example, a certiorari may be used to wipe out an administrative tribunal's decision made in violation of a rule.
|
|
|
Challenge for cause
|
Request from a party to a judge that a certain prospective juror not be allowed to be a member of a jury because of specified causes or reasons.
|
|
|
Change of venue
|
Moving a lawsuit or criminal trial to another place for trial.
|
|
|
Charitable Deduction
|
A tax deduction allowed on federal income taxes for contributions or gifts made to tax-exempt charitable organizations, which have been approved by the IRS.
|
|
|
Charitable Remainder Trust
|
A trust which benefits the settlor and/or his or her family for a specified period of time, after which the remainder is distributed to charity.
|
|
|
Charitable Trust
|
Also called a public trust. Trust created for charitable benefit.
|
|
|
Chattel
|
Moveable items of property that are neither land nor permanently attached to land or a building, either directly or vicariously through attachment to real property. A piano is chattel but an apartment building, a tree, or a concrete building foundation are not. The opposite of chattel is real property, which includes lands or buildings. All property that is not real property is said to be chattel. "personal property" or "personalty" are other terms sometimes used to describe the concept of chattel. The word derives from the feudal period when cattle were the most valuable property other than land.
|
|
|
Circumstantial evidence
|
All evidence except eyewitness testimony. One example is physical evidence, such as fingerprints, from which an inference can be drawn.
|
|
|
Citation
|
A writ or order issued by a court commanding the person named therein to appear at the time and place named. Also the written reference to legal authorities, precedents, reported cases, ect., in briefs or other legal documents.
|
|
|
Citators
|
Set of books that provides the subsequent history of reported decision through a form of abbreviations or words.
|
|
|
Cite-checking
|
Process where you verify that the citations in a document are accurate and follow the format of the style manual that your organization is using.
|
|
|
Civil Law
|
Law inspired by old Roman law, the primary feature of which was that laws were written into a collection. Codified law, not determined, as is common law, by judges. The principal of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws that apply to them and that judges must follow.
|
|
|
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 the debtor's estate.
|
|
|
Class action
|
A lawsuit brought by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group.
|
|
|
Class Gift
|
A group of beneficiaries who are designated to receive a gift from the decedent by general reference rather than by their specific names, for example: "my children."
|
|
|
Clean Hands
|
A maxim of the law to the effect that any person, individual or corporate, that wishes to ask or petition a court for judicial action, must be in a position free of fraud or other unfair conduct.
|
|
|
Clear and convincing evidence
|
Standard of proof commonly used in civil lawsuits and in regulatory agency cases. It governs the amount of proof that must be offered in order for the plaintiff to win the case.
|
|
|
Closely held Corporation
|
Corporation held by a small group of individuals whose stock is not traded on the national securities exchange.
|
|
|
Code of silence
|
Another term for "ethical wall."
|
|
|
Codicil
|
An amendment to an existing will. Does not mean that the till is totally changed, but changed only to the extent of the provisions in the codicil.
|
|
|
Coding
|
The review and extraction into a database of key pieces of information from a document.
|
|
|
Collateral
|
Property that has been committed to guarantee repayment of a loan.
|
|
|
Collateral Descendant
|
A descendant who is not directed, such as a niece or a cousin.
|
|
|
Collateral Relative
|
Person related to the decedent who are not his or her "issue." Siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews are collateral relatives. Descendants of the decedent's parents are "first-line" collateral relatives; descendants of the decedent's grandparents are "second-line" collateral relatives.
|
|
|
Collateral source rule
|
A rule of tort law that holds that the tortfeasor is not allowed to deduct any goods, services or money from the amount he or she is held to pay to the victim of the tort.
|
|
|
Collective Mark
|
Trademark or service mark used by members of a cooperative, an association, or other collective group or organization.
|
|
|
Common Law
|
Judge-made law. Law that exists and applies to a group on the basis of historical legal precedents developed over hundreds of years. Because it is not written by elected politicians but, rather, by judges, it is also referred to as "unwritten" law. Common Law has been referred to as the "common sense of the community, crystallized and formulated by our ancestors."
|
|
|
Community Property
|
Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, except by gift, bequest or inheritance.
|
|
|
Company
|
A legal entity allowed by legislation that permits a group of people to create an organization that can focus on pursuing set objectives. The company structure provides the owners with a right to participate in the profits.
|
|
|
Comparitive Fault
|
A rule in admiralty law where each vessel involved in a collision is required to pay a share of the total damages in proportion to its percentage of fault.
|
|
|
Comparative Negligence
|
The rule under which negligence is meauured by percentage, and damgaes are adminished in proportion to the amoutn of negligence attributable to the person seeking recovery.
|
|
|
Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR)
|
The use of a computer to perform legal research. It has become standard in the legal environment.
|
|
|
Concurring Opinion
|
One or more justices agree that the result reached by the majority or plurality opinion is correct, but wish to add their own thoughts on the reasons for the decision.
|
|
|
Conditionally Privileged Communication
|
A defamatory statement made in good faith by a person with an interest in a subject to someone who also has an interes in the subject, as an employer giving a poor bu accurate job review of a former employee to a potential future employer. The privilege may be lost on a showing of malice or bad faith.
|
|
|
Confidential Communication
|
A communication made with a certain protected relationship -- such as husband-wife, attorney-client, or priest-penitent -- and legally protected from forced disclosure.
|
|
|
Confidentiality Agreement
|
An understanding between two or more parties, usually memorialized in wirting, concerning certain matters that all parties to the agreement, and their employees or agents, understand are to be kept secret from those who are not perties to the agreement. Frequently used as an administrative tool in law practice between law firms and vendors to protect the confidentiality of documents the employees of the vendor will be handling for purposes of photocopying or enlarging for demonstrative evidence.
|
|
|
Conflice Check
|
An administrative review of law firms' records performed before accepting a client for the purpose of ascertaining that the firm has not previously represented parties adverse to the potential client and that no other conflict, or appearence of conflict, exist that would prohibit the firm from accepting the client and vigorously advocating the client's interest.
|
|
|
Conflict of Interest
|
1. A real or seeming incompatibility between one's private intrest and one's public or fiduciary duties. 2. A real or seeming incompatibility between the interest of two of a lawyer's clients, such that the lawyer is disqualified from representing both clients if the dual representation adversely affects either client or if the clients do not consent.
|
|
|
Consanguineous Relationship
|
A biological or blood relationship.
|
|
|
Consent
|
Agreement, approval, or permission as to some act or purpose, especially given voluntarily by a competent person. consent is an affirmative defense to assault, battery and related torts, as well as such torts as defamation, invasion of privacy, conversion, and trespass.
|
|
|
Conservator
|
A person granted authority by the court to oversee the property of an incompetent person.
|
|
|
Conservatorship
|
Legal Right given to a person to manage the property and financial affairs of a person deemed incapable of doing that for himself or herself.
|
|
|
Consideration
|
Under common law, there can be no binding contract without consideration, which was defined in an 1875 English decision as "some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbarance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered or undertaken by the other." common law did not want to allow gratuitous offers, those made without anythign offered in exchange, such as gifts, to be given the protection of contract law, so they added the cirteria of consideration. Consideration is not required in contacts made in civil law systems, and many common law states have adopted laws that remove consideration as a prerequisite of a valid contract.
|
|
|
Consign
|
To leave an item of property in the custody of another. An item can be consigned to a transporation company, for example, for the purpose of transporting it from one place to another. The consignee is the person to receive the property, and the consignor is the person who ships the property to the consignee.
|
|
|
Constitution
|
Written for the United States of America and for each state individually, a constitution is the foundation document that established the authority for federal and state government.
|
|
|
Construction
|
The legal process of interpreting a phrase or document; of trying to find its meaning. Whether it be found in a contract or a statute, a phrase may be unclear of open to several meanings. Then lawyers or judges must attempt to interpret or "construct" the probable aim and purpose of the phrase by extrapolating from other parts of the document or, in the case of a statute, referring to an interpretation law that gives legal construction guidlines. Generally, there are two types of construction methods: Literal (strict) or Liberal.
|
|
|
Contingency fee
|
Attorney fee arrangment where a percentage of what the client is awarded as a result of the lawyer's work, is paid to the lawyer as his/her fee.
|
|
|
Contract
|
An agreement between persons that obliges each party to do or not to do a certain thing. Technically, a valid contract requires an offer and an acceptance of that offer, and, in common law countries, consideration.
|
|
|
Conversion
|
The action of conversion in a common law legal proceeding for damages by an owner of property against a defendant who came across the perperty wnad who, rather that return the property, coverted that property to his or her own use or retained possession of the property or other interfered with the property. The innocence of the defendant who took the property is not an issue. It is the conversion that gives rise to the cause of action.
|
|
|
Conveyance
|
A written document that transfers property from one person to another. In real-estate law, the conveyance usually refers to the actual document that transfers ownership, between living person (as opposed to transfer by the will of a deceased person) or that charges the land with another's intrest, such as a mortgate.
|
|
|
Cooperative
|
A non-profit organization formed by individuals to maket products.
|
|
|
Copyright
|
Original works fixed in a tangible medium, such as literary, musical and artistic works. Copyright protection begins at the time the work is created in fixed form and lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Publication isnot a requirement for copyright protection.
|
|
|
Corporation
|
A legal entity, allowed by legislation, that permits a group of people, as shareholders (for-profit corporations) or members (non-profit corporations) to create an organization that can focus on pursuing set objectives. A corporation is enpowered with legal rights that are usually only reserved for individuals, such as to sue and to be sued, own property, hire employees or loan and borrow money. The primary advantage of for-profit corporations is that it provides its shareholders with a right to participate in the profits (by dividends) without any personal liability because the corporation absorbs the entire liability of the organization.
|
|
|
Corpus
|
Latin meaning "the body"; the capital of a trust or an estate, the principal and not the interest or income.
|
|
|
Corroborating evidence
|
Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.
|
|
|
Counterclaim
|
A claim made by the defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff. In essence, a counter lawsuit within a lawsuit.
|
|
|
Court rules of procedure
|
Rules of the United States Supreme Court and state supreme courts that define the requirements for bringing civil and criminal cases to a trial court and appealing the case to the next level. Court rules also define evidence and trial procedures.
|
|
|
Covenant
|
A written document in which signatories either commit themselves to do or not do a certain thing or in which they agree on a certain set of facts. Covenants are very common in real property dealings and are used to restrict land use, such as among shopping mall tenants or for the purpose of preserving heritage property.
|
|
|
Creditor's Claim
|
Creditors are required to file a "claim" in an estate requesting that they be paid from the assets of the estate within the course of the probate process.
|
|
|
Cross-claim
|
A pleading that asserts a claim arising out of the same subject action as the original complaint against a co-party. For example, one co-dfendant cross claims against another co-defendant for contriubtion for any damages assessed against the first co-defendant.
|
|
|
Crummey Trust
|
Type of trust named as set forth in Crummy v. Commissioner, (1978) 397 F2d. 82, Considered an Irrevocable Trust. Contributions made to the trust qualify for annyal exclusions.
|
|
|
Custody
|
Detaining a person by lawfur process or authority to assure his or her appearance to any hearing; the jailing or imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime.
|
|
|
Cyberlegalethics
|
A term coined by the NFPA Ethice Board in 1996 to identify the emerging field of proper ethical conduct by legal professionals who use cyberspace divices such as the Internet, chat groups, or listservs.
|
|
|
Cybersquatting
|
Buying a domain name that reflects the name of a business or famous person with the intent of selling the name back to the business or celebrity for a profit. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 authorizes a cybersquatting victim to file a federal lawsuit to regain a domain name or sue for financial compensation. Under the act, registering, selling, or using a domain name with the intent to profit form someone else's good name is considered cybersquatting. Victims of cybersquatting can also use the provisions of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy adopted by ICANN, an international tribunal administering domain names. This international policy results in arbitration of the dispute, not litigationl
|
|
|
Damages
|
A cash compenstion ordered by a court to offset losses or suffering caused by another's fault or negligence. Damages are typically requested of a court when persons sue for breach of contract or tort.
|
|
|
De novo
|
Latin: New. This term is used to refer to a trial that starts over, that wipes the slate clean and begins all over again, as if any previous partial or complete hearing had not occurred.
|
|
|
Debenture
|
A type of bond (an interest-beaing document that serves as evidence of a debt) that does not require security in the form of a mortgage or lien on a specifit piece of property. Repayment of a debentuer is guaranteed only by the general credit of the issure. For example, a corporation may issue a secured bond that gives the bondholder a lien on the corporation's factory. But if it issues a debenture, the laon is not secured by any property at all. When a corporation issues debentures, the holders are considered creditors of the corporation and are entitled to payment before shareholders if the business folds.
|
|
|
Debetor
|
Person who owes money, goods or services to another referred to as the creditor.
|
|
|
Decedent
|
Legal term for a person who as died.
|
|
|
Declaration under penalty of perjury
|
A signed statement, sworn to be true by the signer, that will make the signer guilty of the crime of perjury if the statement is shown to be materially false, that is, the lie is relevant and significant to the case.
|
|
|
Declaration of Trust
|
The creation of a trust by a settlor. The settlor declares him or herself to be the trustee, gives themselves fiduciary powers and responsibilities and transfers the property to the trust which will convey the property to the trust's beneficiaries.
|
|
|
Declaration judgment
|
A court decision in a civil case that tells the parties what their rights and responsibilities are without awarding damages or ordering them to do anything. Unlike most court cases, where the plaintiff asks for damages or other court orders, the plaintiff a declaratory judgment case simply wants the court to resolve an uncertainty so it can avoid serious legal trouble in the future.
|
|
|
Deed
|
A written, signed document that sets forth things that have to be done or recognition of the parties towards a certain object. Under older common law, a deed had to be sealed; that is, accompanied not only by a signature by with an impression on wax onto the document. The word "deed" is most commonly used in the context of real estate because these transactions must usually be signed and in writing.
|
|
|
Defamation
|
An attack on the good reputation of a person, by slander or libel.
|
|
|
Descendent
|
One who drives existence and support from another.
|
|
|
Design Patents
|
Are granted to new, original and ornamental designs for useful manufactured goods. Examples include picture puzzles, clothing, kitchenware, baby diapers, and product packaging. Note the primary purpose of a design patent is ornamental (i.e., form), not functional.
|
|
|
Devise
|
The transfer or conveyance of real property by will.
|
|
|
Dicta or Dictum
|
Latin: an observation by a judge on a matter not specifically before court or not necessary in determining the issue before the court; a side opinion that does not form part of the judgment for the purposes of stare decisis. May also be called "obiter dictum."
|
|
|
Digest
|
An index or compilation of abstracts of repoted cases into one, set forth under proper law topic headings or titles usually in alphabetical arrangements.
|
|
|
Directed verdict
|
In case in which the plaintiff has failed to present on the facts of its case proper evidence for jury consideration, the trial judge may order the entry of a verdict without allowing the jury to deliberate.
|
|
|
Directive to Physician
|
Also called the Advance Directive or Living Will.
|
|
|
Direct Skip
|
Transfer which skips a generation; used to calculate taxes imposed in the transfer.
|
|
|
Disclaimer
|
The right to refuse the acceptance of property.
|
|
|
Discovery
|
The pre-trial procedure by which one party gains information held by another party.
|
|
|
Discretionary Trust
|
A trust in which the settlor has given the trustee full discretion to decide which (and when) members of a group of beneficiaries is to receive either the income or the capital of the trust.
|
|
|
Dissenting Opinion
|
An appellate court opinion setting forth the minority view and outlining the disagreement of one or more judges with the decision of the majority.
|
|
|
Dissenting Opinion
|
One or more justices opine that the case should be decided in a way other than the one chosen by the majority.
|
|
|
Dissolution
|
The act of ending, terminating or winding-up a company or state of affairs. For example, when the life of a company is ended by normal legal means, it is said to be "dissolved." The same is said of marriage or partnership that, by dissolution, ends the legal relationship between those parsons formally joined by the marriage or partnership.
|
|
|
Diversity Jurisdiction
|
The power of the federal courts to decide a dispute between citizens of different states, provided the amount the plaintiff seeks in damages or exceeds $75,000.
|
|
|
Dividend
|
A portion of profits distributed by a corporation to its shareholders based on the type of stock and number of shares owned.
|
|
|
Docket number
|
The number the case is given when it is filed before a particular court.
|
|
|
Doctrine
|
A rule or principle or the law established through the repeated application of legal precedents.
|
|
|
Domain name
|
A combination of letters and numbers that identifies a specific computer or website on the Internet. A domain name usually consists of three parts: a generic "top-legal" domain such as ".com" or ".gov" that identifies the type of organization; a second level domain such as nolo or yahoo that identifies the organization, site or individual; and a third level domain such as "www" that is used to identify a particular host server. Domains names have various function. They can serve as an address, as a trademark, or as an expression of free speech.
|
|
|
Domestic Corporation
|
A way to categorize a corporation as to where it was formed, and where the Articles of Incorporation are filed.
|
|
|
Domicile
|
The permanent residence of a person; a place to which, even if he or she were temporarily absent, he or she intends to return. In law, it is said that a person may have many residence by only one domicile.
|
|
|
Donee
|
Another word to describe the beneficiary of a trust. Also used to describe the person who is the recipient of a power of attorney; the person who would have to exercise the power of attorney.
|
|
|
Donor
|
The person who donates property to the benefit of another, usually through the legal mechanism of a trust. The law books of some countries refer to the trust donor as a settlor. Also used to describe the person who signs a power of attorney.
|
|
|
Dower and curtesy
|
A surviving spouse's right to receive a set portion of the deceased spouses estate, usually one-third to one-half. Dower (not to be confused with a "dowry") refers to the portion to which a surviving wife is entitled, while curtsey refers to what a man may claim. Until recently, these amounts differed in number of states. Because discrimination on the basis of sex is now illegal in most cases, most states have abolished dower and courtesy and generally provide the same benefits regardless of sex.
|
|
|
Dpi
|
Stands for "dots per inch," which is a technical description of the resolution at which images are scanned.
|
|
|
Duces tecum
|
Latin: bring with you. Used most frequently for a species of subpoena, as in "subpoena duces tecum," that seeks not so much the appearance of a person before a court of law, but the surrender of a thing, a document or someone other evidence, by its holder to the court, to serve as evidence in a trial .
|
|
|
Due process
|
A term of U.S. law that refers to fundamental procedural legal safeguards of which every citizen has an absolute right when a state or court purports to take a decision that court affect any right of that citizen. the most basic rights protected under the due process doctrine is the right to be given notice and an opportunity to be heard. The term is now used in other countries to refer to basic fundamental legal rights such as the right to be heard.
|
|
|
Durable Power of Attorney
|
Document that allows an agent to act on behalf of the principal; continues even if the principal is incapacitated.
|
|
|
Duress
|
Where a person is prevented from acting (or not acting) according to his or her free will, by threats or force of another. Contracts signed under duress are voidable.
|
