Legal Terms (Part 3)

Question 1

1. The formal written accusation of a crime, affirmed by a grand jury and presented to a court for commencement of criminal proceedings against the accused. 2. The act or process of preparing or bringing forward such a formal written accusation. Cf. information.

Answer 1

indictment

Question 2

1. The act of signing one’ s name on the back of a negotiable instrument in order to transfer it to someone else (esp. in return for the cash or credit value indicated on its face). 2. The signature itself.

Answer 2

indorsement

Question 3

A formal criminal charge filed by a prosecutor without the involvement of a grand jury. The X is used for prosecuting misdemeanors in most states in the U.S. About half the states in the United States allow it in felony prosecutions as well. Cf. indictment.

Answer 3

information

Question 4

A patient’s agreement to medical treatment, made after a physician discloses whatever information a reasonably prudent physician in the medical community would provide to any patient about the risks involved in the treatment.

Answer 4

informed consent

Question 5

[Latin “below”] Later in this text. X is used as a citational signal to refer to a subsequently cited authority. Cf. supra.

Answer 5

infra

Question 6

An act that interferes with another’s right or privilege, esp. an intellectual property right such as a patent, copyright or trademark.

Answer 6

infringement

Question 7

1. To receive (property) from an ancestor under the intestacy laws upon the ancestor’s death. 2. To receive (property) as a gift under a will.

Answer 7

inherit

Question 8

A court order commanding or preventing an action. To get an X, the complainant must show that there is no plain. adequate. and complete remedy at law and that an irreparable injury will result unless the relief is granted

Answer 8

injunction

Question 9

1. The violation of another’s legal right, for which the law provides a remedy; a wrong or injustice. 2. Harm or damage.

Answer 9

injury

Question 10

[Latin “against a person”] Involving or determining the personal rights and interests of the parties. Cf. in rem.

Answer 10

in personam

Question 11

[Latin “in the matter of”] (Of a judicial proceeding) not formally including adverse parties. but rather concerning something (such as an estate). The term is often used in case citations, esp. in uncontested proceedings.

Answer 11

in re

Question 12

In criminal law, an affirmative defense alleging that a mental disorder caused the accused to commit the crime. Most courts accept the insanity defense if the mental disorder prevented the person from knowing either the nature of the criminal act or whether the act was right or wrong. Unlike other defenses, a successful X results not in acquittal but instead in a special guilty verdict (“not guilty by reason of insanity”) that usu. leads to the defendant’s commitment to a mental institution.

Answer 12

insanity defense

Question 13

1. The state of one who cannot pay debts as they fall due or in the usual course of business. 2. The inability to pay debts as they mature. See bankruptcy.

Answer 13

insolvency

Question 14

A formal legal document that entails rights, duties, entitlements. and liabilities, such as a contract, will. promissory note, or share certificate.

Answer 14

instrument

Question 15

1. An agreement by which one party (the insurer) commits to do something of value for another party (the insured) upon the occurrence of some specified contingency: esp. a contract by which the insurer. in exchange for a paid premium, agrees to indemnify or guarantee the insured against a loss caused by a specified event or risk. 2. The sum for which something (as a person or property) is covered by such an agreement.

Answer 15

insurance

Question 16

1. A category of intangible rights comprising primarily copyright. trademark, and patent law. 2. A copyrightable work. a protectable trademark or a patentable invention in which one has such intangible rights.

Answer 16

intellectual property

Question 17

The state of mind accompanying an act. esp. a forbidden act. While motive is the inducement to do some act, X is the mental resolution or determination to do it. When the intent to do an act that violates the law exists, motive becomes immaterial. Cf. motive.

Answer 17

intent

Question 18

A tort committed by someone acting with general or specific intent. Examples are battery, false imprisonment. and trespass. Cf. negligence.

Answer 18

intentional tort

Question 19

1. A legal claim or share in something. 2. The cost paid to a lender in return for the use of borrowed money.

Answer 19

interest

Question 20

A suit to determine a matter of claim or right to property held by a usu. disinterested third party (called a stakeholder) who is in doubt about which claimant should have the property, and who therefore deposits the property with the court while the interested parties litigate over ownership. Typically, a stakeholder initiates an X both to determine which claimant should receive delivery or payment and to avoid multiple liability. Cf. impleader; intervention.

Answer 20

interpleader

Question 21

Any one of a numbered list of written questions submitted in a legal context. usu. to an opposing party in a lawsuit as part of discovery.

Answer 21

interrogatory

Question 22

1. The entry into a lawsuit by a third party who, despite not being named a party to the action, has an interest in the outcome. The intervenor sometimes joins the plaintiff in claiming what is sought, sometimes joins the defendant in resisting what is sought, and sometimes takes a position adverse to both the plaintiff and the defendant. Cf. impleader: interpleader. 2. The legal procedure by which such a third party is allowed to become a party to the litigation.

Answer 22

intervention

Question 23

[Latin “between the living”] Of or relating “
le living”] Of or relating to property conveyed not by will or in contemplation of an imminent death, but during the conveyor’s lifetime.

Answer 23

inter vivos

Question 24

The fact or condition of a person’s having died without without a valid will. Each state has X laws providing for the distribution of a decedent’s to surviving relatives. Cf. testacy.

Answer 24

intestacy

Question 25

One who has permission to enter or use another’s premises, either as a business visitor or as a member of the public to whom the premises are held open. The occupier has a duty to inspect the premises and to warn the invitees of nonobvious dangerous conditions. Cf. licensee.

Answer 25

invitee

Question 26

Homicide in which there is no intention to kill or do grievous bodily harm, but that is committed with criminal negligence or during the commission of a misdemeanor or a felony not included within the felony-murder rule.

Answer 26

involuntary manslaughter

Question 27

Persistent and unresolvable disagreements between spouses.

Answer 27

irreconcilable differences

Question 28

Not tending to prove or disprove a matter in issue; inapplicable. Cf. immaterial.

Answer 28

irrelevant

Question 29

Unalterable; committed beyond recall.

Answer 29

irrevocable

Question 30

1. A material point in dispute. 2. Lineal descendants; offspring.

Answer 30

issue

Question 31

A judgment entered for one party even though a jury verdict has been rendered for the opposing party. Also termed judgment non obstante veredicto.

Answer 31

JNOV: judgment notwithstanding the verdict

Question 32

The uniting of parties or claims in a single lawsuit.

Answer 32

joinder

Question 33

Liability that may be apportioned either among two or more parties or to only one or a few select members of the group, at the adversary’s discretion. Thus, each liable party is individually responsible for the entire obligation, but a paying party has rights of contribution and indemnity against nonpaying parties.

Answer 33

joint and several liability

Question 34

A tenancy with two or more co-owners who take identical interests simultaneously by the same instrument and with the same right of possession. A X differs from a tenancy in common because joint right of survivorship to the other’s share. Cf. tenancy in common.

Answer 34

joint tenancy

Question 35

A business undertaking by two or more persons engaged in a single defined project, the necessary elements being: (1) an express or implied agreement, (2) a common purpose that the group intends to carry out, (3) shared profits and losses, and (4) each member’s equal voice in controlling the project. Cf. partnership.

Answer 35

joint venture

Question 36

A court’s final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties in a case.

Answer 36

judgment

Question 37

(Of an actual or potential judgment debtor) unable to satisfy a judgment for money damages because the person has no property, does not own enough property within the court’s jurisdiction, or claims the benefit of statutorily exempt property.

Answer 37

judgment-proof

Question 38

A court’s acceptance, for purposes of convenience and without requiring a party’s proof, of a well-known and indisputable fact; the court’s power to accept such a fact.

Answer 38

judicial notice

Question 39

1. A court’s power to review the actions of other branches or levels of government; esp. the court’s power to invalidate legislative and executive actions as being unconstitutional. 2. A court’s review of a lower court’s or an administrative body’s factual findings or legal conclusions.

Answer 39

judicial review

Question 40

1. A government’s general power to exercise authority over all persons and things within its territory. 2. A court’s power to decide a case or issue a decree. 3. A geographic area within which political or judicial authority may be exercised. 4. A political or judicial subdivision within such an area. Cf. venue.

Answer 40

jurisdiction

Question 41

1. The study of the general or fundamental elements of a legal system, as opposed to its practical and concrete details; the philosophy of law. 2. A system, body, or division of law. 3. A body of judicial opinions; judicial precedents considered collectively.

Answer 41

jurisprudence

Question 42

A group of persons selected according to law and given the power to decide questions of fact and return a verdict in the case submitted to them.

Answer 42

jury

Question 43

A trial in which the factual issues are determined by a jury, not by the judge.

Answer 43

jury trial

Question 44

1. The fair and proper administration of laws. 2. A judge, usu. an appellate judge. Abbr. J. (and, in plural, JJ.).

Answer 44

justice

Question 45

A legally sufficient reason for an act or omission that would otherwise be criminal or tortious; a showing of why a defendant did what the prosecution or plaintiff charges the defendant to answer for. Cf. excuse.

Answer 45

justification

Question 46

Antisocial behavior by a minor; esp. behavior that would be criminally punishable if the actor were an adult, but instead is usu. punished by special laws pertaining only to minors.

Answer 46

juvenile delinquency

Question 47

(Law French “remissness; slackness”] 1. Unreasonable delay or negligence in pursuing a right or claim - almost always an equitable one - in a way that prejudices the party against whom relief is sought. 2. The equitable doctrine by which courts deny relief to a claimant who has unreasonably delayed or been negligent in asserting the claim, when that delay or negligence has prejudiced the party against whom relief is sought.

Answer 47

laches

Question 48

One who leases real property to another.

Answer 48

landlord

Question 49

1. The termination of a right or privilege because of neglect to exercise it within some time limit or because a contingency has not occurred. 2. The failure of a gift in a will, esp. when the beneficiary dies before the testator dies.

Answer 49

lapse

Question 50

The unlawful taking and carrying away of someone else’s personal property with the intent to deprive the owner of it permanently.

Answer 50

larceny

Question 51

A journal containing scholarly articles, essays, and other commentary on legal topics by professors, judges, and practitioners.

Answer 51

law review

Question 52

A witness who does not testify as an expert and who therefore may only give opinions or make inferences that are based on firsthand knowledge and helpful in understanding the testimony or in determining facts. Cf. expert witness.

Answer 52

lay witness

Question 53

1. A judicial decision that first definitively settled an important legal rule or principle and that has since been often and consistently followed. An example is Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) (creating the exclusionary rule for evidence improperly obtained from a suspect being interrogated while in police custody). 2. An important, often the most important, judicial precedent on a particular legal issue.

Answer 53

leading case

Question 54

A question that suggests the answer to the person being asked; esp. a question that may be answered by a mere “yes” or “no.”

Answer 54

leading question

Question 55

1. A temporary conveyance of the right to use and occupy real property, usu, in exchange for rent. The X term can be for life, for a fixed period, or for a period terminable at will - but always for less time than the lessor has a right to. 2. The written instrument memorializing the conveyance and its covenants. 3. A temporary conveyance of personal property in exchange for consideration.

Answer 55

lease

Question 56

Judicial permission to follow a nonroutine procedure. shortened to leave.

Answer 56

leave of court

Question 57

Free or inexpensive legal services provided to those who cannot afford private counsel.

Answer 57

legal aid

Question 58

Title that evidences apparent ownership but does not necessarily signify full and complete title or a beneficial interest. Cf. equitable title.

Answer 58

legal title

Question 59

1. A statute designed to protect consumers who buy substandard automobiles, usu. by requiring the manufacturer or dealer either to replace the vehicle or to refund the full purchase price. 2. Broadly, a statute designed to protect consumers who buy any products of inferior quality.

Answer 59

lemon law

Question 60

An instrument under which the issuer (usu. a bank), at a customer’s request, agrees to honor a draft or other demand for payment made by a third party beneficiary, as long as the draft or demand complies with specified conditions, and regardless of whether any underlying agreement between the customer and the beneficiary is satisfied.

Answer 60

letter of credit

Question 61

1. The quality or state of being legally obligated or responsible; the position of one who, by actual or threatened wrongdoing, is subjected to legal proceedings, whether criminal or civil in nature. 2. A pecuniary obligation; a debt.

Answer 61

liability

Question 62

A defamatory statement expressed in a tangible medium, esp. writing but also pictures, signs, or electronic broadcasts. See defamation. Cf. slander.

Answer 62

libel

Question 63

1. A revocable permission to commit some act that would otherwise be unlawful. 2. The certificate or document evidencing such permission.

Answer 63

license

Question 64

A legal right or interest that a creditor has in another’s property, lasting usu. until a debt or duty that it secures is satisfied. Typically, the creditor does not take possession of the property on which the X has been obtained. Cf. pledge.

Answer 64

lien

Question 65

An estate held only for the duration of a specified person’s life, usu. the possessor’s. Most life X - created, for example, by a grant “to A for life” - are beneficial interests under trusts, the corpus being personal property, not real property.

Answer 65

life estate

Question 66

A partnership in which a partner is not liable for a negligent act committed by another partner or by an employee not under the partner’s supervision. Almost half the states in the United States have enacted statutes that allow a business (typically a law firm or accounting firm) to register as this type of partnership.

Answer 66

L.L.P.: limited liability partnership

Question 67

An amount contractually stipulated as a reasonable estimation of actual damages to be recovered by one party if the other party breaches.

Answer 67

liquidated damages

Question 68

1. The act of determining by agreement or by litigation the exact amount of something (as a debt or damages) that before was uncertain. 2. The act of settling a debt by payment or other satisfaction. 3. The act of converting assets into cash, esp. for the purpose of settling debts. 4. In bankruptcy law, the process - under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code - of collecting a debtor’s nonexempt property, converting that property to cash, and distributing the cash to the various creditors.

Answer 68

liquidation

Question 69

(Latin “a pending lawsuit”) 1. A pending litigation. 2. The jurisdiction, power, or control acquired by a court over property during the pendency of a legal action. 3. A notice required in some states in the United States to warn all persons that certain property is the subject matter of litigation, and that any interests acquired during the pendency of the suit are subject to the outcome of the litigation.

Answer 69

lis pendens

Question 70

A party to a lawsuit.

Answer 70

litigant

Question 71

1. The process of carrying on a lawsuit. 2. A lawsuit itself.

Answer 71

litigation