Glossary Terms Flashcards
What is acceptance?
An agreement to an offer resulting in a contract.
What is accord and satisfaction?
An agreement made and executed in satisfaction of the rights one has from a previous contract.
What is an agent?
The party appointed by the principal to enter into a contract with a third party on behalf of the principal.
What is an alien corporation?
One that is incorporated in a foreign country.
What is an answer?
Official document detailing a defendant’s defense.
What is antitrust?
Laws which seek to promote competition among businesses.
What is apparent authority?
The authority an agent is believed by third parties to have because of the behavior of the principal.
What is an appeal?
Request to a higher court to review a lower court’s decision.
What are appellate courts?
Courts hearing cases appealed from a lower court.
What is arraignment?
Charging a person with a crime and asking for that person’s plea.
What does arrest mean?
To take into police custody.
What is an assignee?
The party to whom the assignment is made.
What is an assignment?
A means whereby one party in a contract conveys rights to another person, who is not a party to the original contract.
What is an assignor?
The party making the assignment.
What is authority?
Power to act for someone else.
What is a bailee?
The party who acquires possession, but not the title, of personal property by one party to another, under agreement.
What is bailment?
The transfer of possession, but not the title of personal property by one party to another, under agreement.
What is a bailor?
The party who gives up possession, but not the title, of personal property in a bailment.
What is a bearer?
A person in possession of an instrument.
What is bearer paper?
Commercial paper payable to bearer, i.e. to the person having possession of such.
What is a beneficiary?
Recipient of the proceeds of a life insurance policy: one who inherits property as specified in a will.
What is a bilateral contract?
A contract which consists of mutual promises to perform some future acts.
What is a bill of lading?
The contract existing between the consignor and the carrier.
What is a bill of sale?
A document of conveyance which provides written evidence of one’s title to tangible personal property.
What is a blank endorsement?
Having no words other than the signature of the endorser.
What is a board of directors?
A body of persons elected by the stockholders to define and establish corporate policy.
What is booking?
Administrative step taken after an arrested person is brought to 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.’
What is breach of contract?
A situation in which one of the parties to a contract fails or otherwise refuses to perform the obligations established in that contract.
What is business law?
Those rules of conduct prescribed by government and its agencies in regulating business transactions.
What is a cashier’s check?
A check drawn on a bank’s own funds and signed by a responsible bank official.
What is a certificate of deposit?
The acknowledgment by a bank of a receipt of money with an agreement of repayment.
What is a certified check?
A check for which the bank assures that the drawer has sufficient funds to make payment.
What is a check?
An order by a depositor on the bank to pay a sum of money to a payee.
What is civil law?
The body of law concerned with private or purely personal rights.
What is a close corporation?
A designation which applies to a corporation in which outstanding shares of stock and managerial control are held by a limited number of people.
What is commercial paper?
A writing drawn in a special form which can be transferred from person to person as a substitute for money or as an instrument of credit.
What is common law?
Customs which have become recognized by the courts as binding on the community.
What are compensatory damages?
An award paid to the injured party to cover the exact amount of their loss, but no more.
What is a complaint?
The written request which initiates a civil lawsuit.
What is consideration?
That which the promisor demands and receives as the price for a promise.
What is a consignee?
One to whom goods are shipped by common carrier.
What is a consignor?
One who ships goods by common carrier.
What is a contract?
An agreement between two or more competent persons which is enforceable by law.
What is a contract to sell?
A seller agrees to transfer title to goods for a consideration (price) at a future time.
What is contractual capacity?
The necessity that the parties desiring to enter into contracts meet all requirements.
What is a corporation?
A business entity created by statutory law and owned by individuals known as stockholders.
What is a counteroffer?
An intended acceptance which changes or qualifies an original offer and in effect, rejects that offer and becomes a new offer.
What is a creditor beneficiary?
A person who is not a party to a contract to whom the promisor of a contract owes an obligation or duty.
What is a crime?
An offense which is injurious to society as a whole.
What is criminal law?
Laws dealing with crimes and the punishment of wrongdoers.
What is a deed?
Writing conveying title to real property.
What is a deed of trust?
Deed that transfers property to trustee for benefit of creditor.
What is a defendant?
The person against whom legal action is brought.
What is disaffirmance?
The repudiation of, or election to avoid, a voidable contract.
What is discharge?
Termination of a contract by performance, agreement, impossibility, acceptance of breach, or operation of law.
What is discovery?
Pretrial steps taken to learn the details of the case.
What is a domestic corporation?
Operates in the state that granted the charter.
What is a donee beneficiary?
A third-party beneficiary to whom no legal duty is owed, and performance is a gift.
What is a draft?
A written order signed by one person requiring the person to whom addressed to pay a particular sum of money, to order or to bearer, on demand or at a certain time.
What is a drawee?
The person, company or financial institution ordered to pay a draft.
What is a drawer?
The person who executes any draft.
What is duress?
A means of removing one’s free will, obtaining consent by means of a threat to do harm to the person, his family, his property, or his earning power.
What is an employee?
The person hired to perform work and who is obligated both as to the work to be done and as to the manner in which it is to be done.
What is an employer?
The party who employs employees to do certain work.
What is an endorsee?
A person who becomes the holder of a negotiable instrument by endorsement which names him or her as the person to whom the instrument is negotiated.
What is an endorsement?
The signature or statement of purpose by the owner on the back of a negotiable instrument, which indicates the future control of the instrument.
What is an endorser?
Person who writes his or her name on back of an instrument.
What is an executed contract?
Those contracts in which the terms have been fulfilled.
What is execution?
The carrying out or completion of some task.
What is an executory contract?
Those contracts in which the terms have not been completely executed or fulfilled by the parties.
What are existing goods?
Those goods which are, at the time of the contract, in existence and owned by the seller.
What is express authority?
The authority of an agent, stated in the document or agreement creating the agency.
What is an express contract?
A contract in which the parties express their intentions, either orally or in writing, at the time of the agreement.
What are express warranties?
The actual and definite statement of a seller, either orally or in writing, at the time of the sale.
What is a fee simple estate?
Largest, most complete right in property.
What is a felony?
A more serious criminal offense that is punishable by death or by imprisonment in a penitentiary for more than one year.
What is a fiduciary?
A relationship of trust and confidence, such as that which exists between partners in a partnership.
What is a foreign corporation?
Designation that applies when a corporation operates in any state other than where it is chartered.
What is a formal contract?
Those contracts which must be in special form or produced in a certain way, such as under seal.
What is fraud?
The intentional or reckless false statement of a material fact, upon which the injured party relied, which induced the injured party to enter into a contract, to his or her detriment.
What are future goods?
Those goods selected which are not in existence at the time in which the contract was created.
What is a general agent?
One who is authorized to execute the principal’s business of a particular kind, or all the principal’s business at a particular place, if not all of one kind.
What is a general partner?
Those individuals actively and openly engaged in the business and held to everyone as a partner.
What are goods?
Movable tangible personal property.
What is a holder?
One in possession of commercial paper.
What are identified goods?
The goods specified by the buyer and seller.
What is implied authority?
An agent’s authority to do things not specifically authorized in order to carry out express authority.
What is an implied contract?
One in which the terms of the contract are implied by acts or conduct of the parties.
What are implied warranties?
Warranties imposed by law, arising automatically because the sale has been made.
What is an independent contractor?
One who contracts to perform certain tasks for a set fee, but who is independent of the control of the contracting party as to a means by which the contract is executed, except for specifications established in the contract.
What is an injunction?
A permanent judicial order or decree forbidding the performance of a certain act.
What is intangible personal property?
Evidence of ownership of personal property, such as stock of corporations, checks and copyrights.
What is a judgment?
A decision of a court of law.
What is law?
Those rules of conduct commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
What is a life estate?
Estate for duration of a person’s life.
What is a limited liability company?
Newest form of business ownership recognized in the U.S.; combines features of both the corporation and partnership.
What is a limited partner?
Partners who have their liability for the firm’s debts limited to the amount of their investment.
What are liquidated damages?
The amount of the damages stipulated in a contract to be paid in the event one party breaches the contract.
What is a maker?
The person who executes a promissory note.
What is malpractice?
A breach of contract by a professional person; failure to perform a professional service with the ability and care generally exercised by others in the profession.
What is a merchant?
A person who deals in goods of the kind or otherwise by occupation purports to have knowledge or skill peculiar to the practices or goods involved in the transaction.
What is a minor?
Those persons under legal age; by most states (but not all), the standard is under the age of eighteen.
What is a misdemeanor?
A less serious criminal offense, generally punishable by fine and/or imprisonment of less than one year.
What is misrepresentation?
Stating an untrue fact.
What are necessaries?
Items, required or proper and useful, for sustaining a human being at an appropriate living standard (i.e. food, clothing and shelter).
What is negligence?
Failure to exercise ordinary care; omission to do something which a reasonable prudent person would do under ordinary circumstances or the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent would not do.
What is a negotiable instrument?
A writing drawn in a special form which can be transferred from person to person as a substitute for money or as an instrument of credit.
What is negotiation?
The act of transferring ownership of a negotiable instrument to another party.
What are nominal damages?
A token award to symbolize vindication of the wrong done to the plaintiff, generally the award is $1.00.
What is novation?
The substitution of a new party for one of the original parties to a contract, such that the prior contract terminates and a new one substitutes for it.
What is an offer?
A proposal to make a contract.
What is an offeree?
The person to whom an offer is made.
What is an offeror?
The party who initiates or makes an offer.
What is order paper?
Commercial paper made payable to the order of some named party; the word order or its equivalent must be used.
What is an ordinance?
Law enacted by a municipality.
What is a partnership?
The voluntary association of two or more people who have combined their resources to carry on as co-owners of a lawful enterprise for their joint profit.
What is a payee?
The party to whom any negotiable instrument is made payable.
What is personal property?
All property which is not real property.
What is a petition?
A written request initiating a civil suit.
What is a plaintiff?
The individual who initiates a civil action.
What is price?
The consideration stipulated by contract, generally expressed in money or money-worth.
What is a principal?
A party who appoints a second party to serve as an agent.
What is a private corporation?
A corporation formed by individuals to carry out some non-governmental function.
What is process?
A notice given to a defendant, attaching the complaint and stating a time frame in which an answer must be filed or an appearance made.