Vocab Flashcards
Acceptance
The offeree’s notification to the offer or that he agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of the offer
Accommodation
Adjustment or settlement
Adjudicate
Have a court make a decision or decide a dispute
Affirmed
To affirm a judgement, decree, or order is to declare that it is valid and right, and must stand as rendered by the lower court
Affidavit
A written statement or declaration of facts sworn to be the maker, taken before a person officially permitted by law to administer oaths
Amicus Curiae
Friend of the court; a third party who presents a brief to a court on behalf of one of the parties in a case
Annotations
Statutory: brief summaries of the law and facts or cases interpreting statutes passed by congress or state legislatures that are included in codes
Textual: expository essays of varying length on significant legal topics chosen from selected cases published with the essays
Appeal
A request from the losing party in a case that a higher court review the decision. Acceptance of the request and issuance by a writ of appeal is mandatory for the higher court
Appellant
The party who appeals a decision from a lower court to a higher court
Appellate court
Court of appellate jurisdiction
Arraignment
The appearance of a defendant to a criminal charge before a judge for the purpose of pleading guilty or not guilty to the indictment
Boba fide
Real, true, and actual
Brief
In American law practice, a written statement prepared by the counsel arguing a case in court. It contains a summary of the facts of the case, the pertinent laws, and argument of how the law applies to the facts supporting the counsels position
Burden of proof
The necessity or duty of positively proving a fact or facts in a dispute on an issue raised between parties
Collusion
A secret agreement between two or more persons for a fraudulent, unlawful or deceitful purpose. This occurs in professional sports when teams secretly agree not to hire one another’s players, secretly agree not to spend more than a certain amount of money on players, and/or secretly share info that they are forbidden to share under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement
Cross-examination
The examination of a witness in a trial or hearing, or in taking a deposition, by the party opposed to the one who produced the witness
Damages
Monetary compensation awarded by a court for an injury caused by the act of another
Damages may be actual or compensatory (equal to the amount of loss shown), exemplary or punitive (in excess of the actual loss and awarded to punish the person for the malicious conduct that caused the injury), or nominal (less than the actual loss)
Defendant
The party against whom legal action is taken; particularly, a person accused or convicted of a criminal offense
Deposition
The testimony of a witness, taken out of court before a court reporter and under oath
Disclosure
An argument that certain information possessed by associations, or meetings held by organizations, should be a matter of public record, and therefore, open to the public. The general meaning of disclosure is “to reveal facts”
Discovery
A method by which opposing parties may obtain information from each other, to prepare for trial and to narrow the issues to be presented at trial
Equal rights amendment
A proposed amendment to the U.S. constitution to guarantee equal rights to women that was not ratified in the early 1980’s but that certain states have adopted
Evidence
Any form of proof presented at trial through the use of eyewitness testimony, records, documents, and concrete objects, and used to assist the trier of fact in making this determination of the case
Felony
A serious criminal offense, as distinct from a misdemeanor. Typically, crimes for which the punishment may exceed one year in jail.
Holding
The declaration or the conclusion of law reached by the court regarding the legal effect of the facts of the case
In loco parentis
Placed in the position of the parents of the child, such as the coach or teacher given this status within a relationship with the student-athlete
Instrument
Usually a document, such as a contract
Laches
Wrongful or unwarranted delay
Liability
The condition of being responsible either for damages resulting from an injurious act or for discharging an obligation or debt
Libel
Written defamation of a persons character
Misdemeanor
Offense lower than felony and generally punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to one year
Modified
Changed; a decision altered by the introduction of new elements or the cancellation of existing elements
Motion
A formal request made to a judge pertaining to any issue arising while a lawsuit is pending
Negotiation
The deliberation, settling, or arranging of the terms and conditions of a possible transaction
Obligation
Debt or duty
Offer
An act by one person giving another person the legal power to create the obligation called a contract
Offeree
One to whom a contract offer is made
Offer or
One who makes a contract offer
Plaintiff
The party who brings in action; the complainant
Precedent
A case that furnishes an example or authority of deciding subsequent cases in which identical or similar facts are present
Proximate cause
The act that is the natural and reasonably foreseeable cause of the harm or agent that injures the plaintiff
Punitive damages
Compensation in excess of actual or consequential damages. They are awarded to punish the wrongdoer, but only in cases involving willful or malicious misconduct
Quid pro pro
This for that. Something given in exchange for something else
Relinquish
To give up, surrender, or turn over
Slander
Oral defamation of a person’s character
Specific performance
An equitable remedy whereby the court orders one of the parties to a contract to perform his or her duties under the contract. Usually granted when money damages would be an inadequate remedy
Standing
The qualifications needed to bring legal action. The qualifications relate to the existence of a controversy in which the plaintiff has suffered or is about to suffer an injury or infringement upon a legally protected right that a court is competent to redress
Stare decisis
To stand on what has been decided; to adhere to the decision of previous cases. It is a rule, sometimes departed from, that a point settled in a previous case becomes a precedent that should be followed in subsequent cases decided by the same court.
Statutes
Acts of legislature. Depending upon its context in usage, a statue may mean a single act of a legislature or a body of acts that are collected and arranged according to a scheme or for a session of a legislature or parliament
Statutes of limitations
Laws setting time periods during which disputes may be taken to court
Subpoena
A court order compelling a witness to appear and testify in a certain proceeding
Tangible asset
Something that can be touched. Examples of tangible assets are sports equipment and team apparel
Trial court
The court before which issues of fact and law are tried and first determined as distinguished from an appellate court
Vacated
Annulled, set aside, canceled, or rescinded, the canceling or rescinding of an entry or record or of a judgement
Venue
The geographical area where a court with jurisdiction may try a case
Waiver
The voluntary relinquishment of a known right
Writ of appeal
A suit or action brought before the court that holds a federal act to be unconstitutional or a state action to be constitutional, or that involves a lower federal court deciding against the United States in a criminal case
A suit brought by the U.S. under the Interstate Commerce Act
A federal district court hearing a suit involving a restraint on enforcement of a state or federal statue on the grounds that it is unconstitutional
