A-L: Law Dictionary, Legal Dictionary, Legal Definitions, Legal Terms Defined

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Legal Definitions A-L

Administrator (male) or Administratrix (female)

An Administrator/trix is someone appointed by a judge to take charge of the property and debts of a person who has died and has no will. If the person to take charge of the property/debts is appointed in a will, that person is called the executor (male) or executrix (female).

Agreement

An Agreement is another word for contract. See Contract.

Ante litem motam

Ante litem motam means before a person had a motive to distort the truth as in before the lawsuit was brought.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a way to resolve a dispute without going to court. Parties to a contract agree to arbitrate if there's ever a dispute concerning the contract. Arbitration clauses are common because they provide a much faster and sometimes more cost effective way of resolving disputes. An arbitrator or an arbitration panel will hear the parties and then make a final, binding decision. If the arbitrator or arbitration panel misinterpret the law--tough luck! Normally, you can't appeal an arbitrator's decision. Final means final (unless there's fraud in the arbitration procedure). To put it one more way, if you're unhappy with the decision you can't take your complaint to court. Arbitration is popular because, in general, it's fast, less expensive, private (unlike a court case), and the rules of evidence are less stringent. Furthermore, some claim it's not as nasty as court cases. Pay attention to who pays for arbitration under the contract. Arbitration is not mediation. They are two different animals. See Mediation if you have further questions.

Assault

The term assault applies in both the criminal context and the civil context. In other words, you can be prosecuted by the district attorney and sent to jail for assaulting someone and you can be sued for money damages by the person you assaulted. In the criminal context, the term assault is defined
by statute, so you have to look it up state by state to know what it means. In the civil context, it usually means an attempt or threat to inflict injury on another person, with the apparent ability to inflict such injury. If someone threatens you and you fear they're going to hurt you right then and there, you've been assaulted or if someone tries to hit you and misses, you've been assaulted. You don't have to even touch a person to commit assault (something very few people understand). One thing to keep in mind is that the definition of assault in both the civil and crimminal context is
defined by state law. Our examples are just generalizations.

Assets

Assets are any type of property. For example, real estate, stock, copyrights, trademarks, bank accounts, and a car are all assets.

Assign

To assign something is to transfer it. If you assign your rights in a copyright to someone, you've just transferred the copyright to them and they now own it.

Assignment

An assignment is a transfer of property to someone. If I make an assignment of all my royalty rights, someone else now owns those royalty rights.

Attorney

An attorney is an individual who is appointed and authorized to act in the place of another. See Power of Attorney. However, the term is generally used to mean a lawyer.

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Bar

Not a place to get a drink. For lawyers, it has several meanings. It's a state exam the lawyer must take to become licensed to practice in the state (usually two to three days of excruciating pressure). Once a lawyer passes the bar, the lawyer is a member of the state bar association. If you have problems with your attorney, this is one of the resources you can use to resolve your dispute. Many states have what's called "fee arbitration" if you have a complaint about how much you've been charged. In addition, there are many local bar associations and there is a national bar association (the American Bar Association, or ABA).

Basis

Basis is the cost of acquiring property. If you buy a bookshelf for $50, your basis in that bookshelf is $50. Basis is often used to determine how much tax you have to pay on something you sell. For example, if you pay $50 for a bookshelf and you later sell it for $100, you'll pay tax on the $50 profit you made. For tax purposes you subtract the basis from the price at which you sell something to determine your taxable gain. Of course, it can get a bit more complicated.

Beneficiary

A beneficiary is a person who will benefit from the act of another person or the transfer of property from another person.

Bequest

A bequest is a transfer of personal property through a will. If your aunt leaves you a tea set in her will, it's a bequest. The tea set is personal property. If she leaves you her house by will, it's a devise. The house is real property.

Bypass Trust

A Bypass Trust is a trust that is set up to avoid estate tax. Usually, it's created through a will or living trust and goes into effect upon the death of the person who sets it up. There's an amount each person can give a way at death that will not be taxed. The trust is set up to use that amount. Generally, the income from the trust will go to the spouse (if there is one) for life, and to the children or grandchildren (if there are any) after that.

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Charitable Remainder Trust

A Charitable Remainder Trust is a way to donate to charity, increase your in-pocket money, and reduce taxes. Generally, a person will set up a CRT by putting property that has a high value and low basis into the trust. The trust can then sell the property, but it doesn't have to pay tax on the money it makes from the sale. Normally, if the property were sold, the person would have to pay tax on the difference between the selling price and basis (the amount originally paid for the property). The person who sets up the CRT is allowed a certain amount of income from the trust for life and the remainder of the trust goes to the charity at the person's death.

Choice of Law Clause

A choice of law clause designates the state law that will govern a contract. State laws vary greatly, so this clause is important whenever there's a contract dispute.

Choice of Venue Clause

A choice of venue clause designates the court in which you may bring a lawsuit when there's a dispute over a contract. If you live in Florida and the choice of venue is the Los Angeles Superior Court, then you have to litigate your complaint in Los Angeles. If you have a mediation or arbitration clause in your contract, the clause will often state where you have to arbitrate or mediate the complaint as well.

Civil Law

Roughly, civil law is all law that is not criminal, international, military, and canon law. Civil law is generally concerned with private rights of citizens as opposed to the rights of society as a whole. Criminal law, on the other hand, is concerned with the rights of society as a whole. For example, if you smack someone, the district attorney can bring a case against you for battery and you can go to jail. In addition, under the civil statutes of your state, the person you smacked can bring a civil case for battery against you and collect money from you, called "damages. " To make things more confusing, civil law is also a term used to describe the system of laws that use a civil code such as France and Spain and Louisiana! The U.S. system on the other hand and all state legal systems except Louisiana are common law systems. Common law countries rely on the decisions of judges as the final word on the law. We have statutes, but the decision the judge makes interpreting the law becomes the actual law. See Law. Civil law countries rely on codes as law and judges are viewed as merely interpreting the codes. The decisions of civil law judges do not become law.

Civil Rights

Civil rights are commonly known as rights guaranteed by the federal constitution such as freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. However, what's often misunderstood is that these rights protect people from violation by the government. This means that if you're on a soap box expressing your opinion and someone tells you to shut up, they have not violated your constitutional or civil rights. Furthermore, your civil rights are not absolute. The government can put reasonable restraints on your rights. You're free to state your opinion in a public park, but the government may require that you only do so from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or that you need a permit. Often state laws expand civil rights. What state law may not do is curb federal civil rights.

Common Law

Common law is case law. Every time a judge interprets the law through a case, the judge's decision becomes the law. For example, the law may state that you can't trespass on your neighbor's property. But, what does that mean? If you trip and fall on the neighbors lawn, have you trespassed? If you're the postal deliver person, can you walk up the path to the mailbox? Can the meter reader walk into the side yard to read the meter? Thus, the statute has to be interpreted. When someone actually tries to sue the meter reader for trespass, a judge will state the intent of the legislature and how the law must be interpreted. His or her interpretation becomes the law. Of course, the trial judge is not the final word. The case can be appealed to the appeals court, then the state supreme court, and if the law deals in some way with federal laws or rights, to the Supreme Court of the United States. Usually, the state supreme court is the last word on the law unless the legislature repeals it. Common law is also ancient usage and customs, but this is a history lesson unto itself.

Company

A company can be a person or group of people that carry on a commercial or industrial enterprise. A company is often formed as a partnership, a corporation, a limited liability company, or an association. .

Common Sense

In great demand and short supply. Common sense is how you should approach every legal situation. The worst decisions are made when emotions are running high. If you feel cheated, always take time to calmly think the situation through, research your options, and get good advice before acting.

Community Property

Community property is the term used to describe the ownership of property between married couples in nine states (California, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Wisconsin). The concept is based on the philosophy that marriage is a partnership, each spouse contributing to the greater good of the whole. Therefore, each spouse owns an undivided one half interest in all property acquired after marriage (except property acquired by gift or inheritance). The rest of the states are separate property states where each spouse owns whatever he or she earns (however, if the couple divorces, it becomes complicated).

Complaint

The initial papers filed in a lawsuit. The person brining the lawsuit states the facts surrounding the lawsuit and the law that allows that person to bring the lawsuit.

Consideration

Consideration is the reason you enter into a contract. It's whatever induces you to sign on the dotted line. Often consideration is money.

Contract

A contract is an agreement between two or more individuals, creating an obligation to do, or not to do, something. It can be written or verbal, depending on the situation. Generally, an offer, an acceptance, and consideration will form a contract.

Copyright

Corporation

A corporation is an entity created by state statutes. If a state doesn't have a corporations statute, you couldn't form a corporation in that state. All fifty states have corporate statutes. We like to think of a corporation as a house. It shelters you from certain hazards of doing business. Shareholders, the people who own the company, can't be sued for things the corporation does, with some exceptions. The idea is that this is an incentive for people to invest in businesses. If your sister goes into the chemical business and asks you to fund the venture and in return you'll receive part of the profit, you might hesitate thinking there's a risk that a customer might get hurt and sue you. By being a shareholder in the company you don't have to worry about being sued. Note that if you're also an officer of the corporation, you can be sued. The biggest disadvantage to forming a corporation is that it's an entity that gets taxed. The corporation gets taxed and then any profit that goes to the shareholders gets taxed again. This is called double taxation. People get around double taxation by forming s-corporations (if you qualify) which just taxes the shareholders and not the corporation. See S-corp and C-corp.

Corpus

Corpus means body. It's one of those Latin legalease terms lawyers love to bat around. It's often used to mean the principal of a trust.

Counsel

Counsel is legal advice. It's also a term used to mean "lawyer" as in corporate counsel.

Counsellor

A counsellor is a lawyer. Judges often call lawyers "counsellor. "

Cross complaint

Get a piece of paper out and map this out. I'm not kidding. A cross-complaint is when a defendant (or if the defendant's already filed a cross-complaint, the plaintiff--who's now called the cross-defendant).files a cause of action (a lawsuit) against either a person who's already part of the lawsuit or a new party (as long as the cross-complaint has something to
do with the original lawsuit). For example, if I sue my neighbor for destruction of property, he may file a cross-complaint saying it was really his property that was destroyed and I'm responsible.

Normally, when a lawsuit is filed, the defendant files an answer accepting or denying the accusations in the complaint (the complaint is the piece of paper the person who brings the lawsuit files). The difference between filing an answer and filing a cross-complaint is that in a cross-complaint
you're bringing a lawsuit yourself. You're asking the court for relief based on a right that's been violated not simply answering the accusations of the other party. It puts the original plaintiff (the person who files the lawsuit) on the defense.

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Decedent

A decedent is a person who has died. The term is often used in the areas of estate planning, probate, and tort.

Damages

Damages are money paid to the winning party in a lawsuit. Damages are just one remedy you may ask for in a lawsuit. See Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Injunctions.

Devise

A devise is a transfer of real estate through a will. But, the term is sometimes used as a verb and as a noun to mean a transfer of real estate and personal property by will. A transfer of personal property by will is called a bequest.

Due Diligence

Due diligence has several different meanings. For instance, the law might say that a person was under a duty to exercise due diligence. Due diligence would be a standard of care measured by the facts of the case. In other words, its the amount of care exercised by a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances of the case. Kind of vague, but that's the law for you.
Due diligence is also a term used when a company is asked to compile all of its important legal and financial papers for another party to view. For example, if a company is looking to purchase another company, they would perform a due diligence to look for anything nasty. The Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory authorities may request the same of a company.

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Estate Tax

If someone dies with property valued above a certain amount, the federal government and some states, impose a tax on the value of that property. The person receiving the estate, or part of the estate, does not have to pay tax on what he or she receives. Estate tax can get pretty steep. However, it doesn't kick in unless the estate (all of the person's property) is worth a good amount of money. When it kicks in, it kicks hard. There are many ways to transfer money to others to avoid estate tax.

Et seq.

Et seq. is an abbreviation of the Latin "et sequentia. " It means "and the following. " It's used in legal citation to refer the reader to a certain page and all that follows. For example, there might be a reference in a case to "p.437 et seq. " I like to think of it as "keep reading. " In other words, go to page 437 and keep reading.

Evidence

Evidence is the proof used to sway a court ("court" meaning a judge) or a jury. This is easy to comprehend. What gets a little loopy are the rules of evidence. The rules of evidence govern what evidence a court or jury get to see and hear. They're not logical! In fact, they can even impede justice. You may have truck loads of evidence, but the rules of evidence may keep most of it from getting to the courtroom. However, a good lawyer will be able to find a way to get the most important evidence into the courtroom.

Evidentiary Hearing

An evidentiary hearing is when the prosecution and defense (if it's acriminal trial) or the plaintiff and the defense (if it's a civil trial) ask the court before trial to admit or exclude certain evidence. The purpose of an evidentiary hearing is for both sides to get a handle on the case beforehand. Sometimes it's difficult to know how to plan your case until
you know whether certain pieces of evidence are going to be allowed or not. An evidentiary hearing, in essence, is a planning device.

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First degree relative

The term "first degree relative" doesn't have meaning outside a statute.Usually, such a term is used in conjunction with state probate codes to determine who gets real and personal property of someone who has died without a will. The term, then, will be defined however the statute defines it. To find out, you need to get ahold of the statute (you can do this at findlaw.com) and go to the definitions section to see how they define the term--tedious, but important work. The term will probably mean relatives directly related to the person who has died, like the parents, siblings, children, and so forth.

Force Majeure

Force majeure means "superior force" in Latin. It's generally the title to a clause in a contract, the force majeure clause. The force majeure clause protects the parties from performing the contract if something out of their control prevents them from performing such as a fire or flood. In other words, if you're supposed to build a house and you're almost done when there's a hurricane, the force majeure clause will tell you whether you have to perform the rest of the contract or not.

Fraud

In its most generic sense, fraud is when someone intentionally distorts the truth (by an act, omission, or concealment) to get someone else to part with something that is of value to that person. A court action for fraud is governed by statutes and case law. In legal parlance, fraud is an intentional tort, meaning you have to demonstrate in court that the jerk who defrauded you actually intended to defraud you. Some statutes and case law state that if you present certain evidence, such as the fact that the defrauder made a false representation, you have shown intent. It all depends on the statute and the state. Many states have their basic fraud
statutes online now. Check out the state law section of www.findlaw.com for more information.

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Grandfathered

The term grandfathered is usually used when a new statute is passed that has an exception that allows people who are already doing something to keep doing it even though the new law prohibits it. For example, a new zoning law may make a commercial district into a residential district and
thereby prohibit restaurants from doing business in that area, but the restaurants that are already there will likely be allowed to continue because they had that right before the new legislation was passed. The idea is that you can't wantonly take away rights that people have relied for years.
It's destabilizing and it may even be unconstitutional (depends on the situation of course). Thus, you have grandfather clauses in some statutes to deal with this.

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Heir

If a person who has died does not leave a will, an heir will inherit the property. State statutes determine who is an heir under the law. If a person writes a will and leaves property to you, you are not an heir (you may be a devisee or legatee). However, the term heir used in non-legal circles often means anyone who receives property after the death of another whether through a will or through a statute.

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In limine

This is a motion that's made to exclude evidence that one party thinks will be prejudicial. It can be made before trial or during trial. It's called a motion in limine.

Incorporation

Incorporation is the act of forming a corporation. State statutes set out the requirements for forming a corporation. You can find much information about incorporating by searching your state's Secretary of State site on-line.

Injunction

An injunction is a court order to stop someone from doing something or to make them undo something they've already done. Usually, you have to show that you'd be harmed beyond repair in order to get an injunction. Courts don't like to issue injunctions because they're difficult to enforce. They prefer to have people pay money for the harm they've caused (called damages).

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is the term used to describe property rights derived from patent law, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, trade secret law, the right of publicity and protection of some ideas under common law. The main idea behind these laws is to give people an incentive to invent by giving them a limited monopoly to exploit their creations. When the monopoly expires, everyone's free to use the creation. This way we keep the ideas and information freely moving in society, but also give people the impetus to bring forth new creations which may benefit all of us.

Intestate

Intestate is how someone dies when they have no will. They died intestate. State law comes in and says who gets the person's property. Usually, it's the closest relatives.

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Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the power of a court to hear a case. We don't want a court in Guam to decide an Illinois contract case, so we have rules that tell us whether a case can be brought in a particular court. The laws of each state and of different countries vary greatly, so sometimes people will do sneaky things to try to get a court to hear a case if that person believes the law is favorable to his or her claim. To avoid this, in contract cases, the parties can decide where they want to litigate a claim and under what law by adding choice of law (it chooses the law of a particular place) and choice of venue clauses (it chooses the place).

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Lanham Act

The Lanham Act is a federal statute enacted to protect businesses against unfair competition.

Law

Law is state and federal constitutions, state and federal statutes, and state and federal court decisions. If you look up a statute and think you know the law, think again! The law is what a judge (or panel of judges) say the law is. Interpretation is everything. This is called "case law," and it's what your attorney needs to know before attempting to resolve a dispute for you.

Lawyer

A lawyer is a person licensed to practice law. A lawyer owes a duty of loyalty to the client and must zealously work for the client's interests. Ethically, this makes it nearly impossible for a lawyer to act in the interest of more than one party. You may encounter lawyers for the other party in contract negotiations. They may either be in house counsel (the lawyer works for the company and no-one else) or outside counsel (the lawyer works for a law firm and the company hires the law firm to perform legal work). Always remember that the other parties' lawyer is working to further the client's interests not yours no matter how many assurances you receive that what they're doing is "normal" and "customary". It is quite normal and customary for a lawyer to work to get the best deal possible for the client at the other parties' expense.

Legacy

A legacy is a transfer of personal property through a will. See also Bequest. A devise is a transfer of real estate (called "real property" in legal circles) through a will.

Legator

A legator is a person who makes a will and leaves legacies to others.

Liability

Liability means you have a responsibility to do or not to do something. Generally, the word is associated with having to pay money because you failed to do something such as install a sprinkler system and the building burns down for example. In that case, you would be "liable" for damages (money).

Litigation

Not the way to resolve most disputes! Litigation is when you take your complaint to court. You "litigate" the dispute. It's often expensive and lengthy (read: common for contract cases to take years to be fully litigated through the court system). For your dispute, try common sense, mediation, or arbitration for nonjudicial alternatives.

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