Glossary
This glossary may be used to find the definitions of many legal terms.
In many instances, there are synonyms and plain language options provided for the terms.
You may search within this glossary:
- by entering a term in the “Keyword Search” field.
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A combination of these search options can be used to provide a more defined result.
Note that this glossary may not contain all legal terms.
| Term | Definition | Plain Language | Synonyms | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restitution | The act of restoring or giving the equivalent value to compensate for an injury, damage, or loss. | repayment | value paid, compensation, repayment, payment | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Restraining order | An order in the nature of an injunction. A civil order issued by a court that requires one person to stop doing something to or towards another person. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Retainer | 1. A fee that the client pays a lawyer before that lawyer begins to work for the client. 2. Act of the client in employing an attorney or counsel. | deposit | fee, charge, deposit, down payment | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Rules of court | Regulations made by a court of competent jurisdiction governing the general practice and procedure in all matters coming before the court. | policies | procedural regulations, policies | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Search warrant | An order in writing, issued by a judge in the name of the state, directing an officer to search a specified house or other premises for stolen property; usually required as a condition precedent to a legal search and seizure. | order to search | examination permission, Order to search | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Self-defense | The protection of one's person or property against some injury attempted by another. The law of "self-defense" justifies an act done in the reasonable belief of immediate danger. When acting in justifiable self-defense, a person may not be punished criminally nor held responsible for civil damages. | protecting yourself | protection, protecting yourself | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sentence | Judgment formally pronounced by a judge upon a defendant after his or her conviction in a criminal or civil prosecution. | punishment | punishment, penalty, conviction | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sentence, concurrent | Two or more sentences which run at the same time. | at the same time | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Sentence, consecutive | Two or more sentences which run after another. | one after another | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Sentence, determinate | A sentence that states exactly the time to be served or money to be paid. | exact amount of time | punishment, exact penalty, conviction | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Separation of witnesses | An order of the court requiring all witnesses to remain outside the courtroom until each is called to testify, except the plaintiff or defendant. | kept away from each other | divided witnesses, solo testifying | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sheriff | An officer of a county, chosen by popular election, whose principal duties are aid of criminal and civil courts? chief preserver of peace? serves processes, summons juries, executes judgments, and holds judicial sales. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Slander | 1. Base and defamatory spoken words tending to harm another's reputation, business or means of livelihood. Both "libel" and "slander" are methods of defamation, libel being expressed by print, broadcast, writings, pictures, signs or other forms of side publication, while slander is expressed orally. 2. Defamation of a person's character or reputation through false or malicious oral statements. | say something untrue about someone | defamation, disparagement, smear, besmirch, tarnish, vilify | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Small claims court | The division of the trial court that handles civil cases asking for $3,900.00 or less and is designed to be simple, quick, and less costly than a regular civil lawsuit. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Special appearance | An answer in a legal proceeding with the sole purpose of testing the court's jurisdiction. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |||
| Special performance | A mandatory order in equity? where damages would be inadequate compensation for the breach of a contract, the contractor will be compelled to perform specifically what he or she has agreed to do. | legal enforcement of a contract | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Stare decisis | 1. Let the decision stand; principle that prior court rulings should be Followed unless there are truly significant reasons to overturn them. 2. The doctrine that when a court has once laid down a principle of law as applicable to a certain set of facts, it will adhere to the principle and apply it to future cases where the facts are substantially the same. | decision stands | decision stands, ruling unchanged, legal finding applies decision stands | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Stay | 1. A stopping or arresting of a judicial proceeding by order of the court. 2. A stopping of a proceeding by court order. | pause, stop | hold, pause, stop order | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Stipulation | An agreement by attorneys on opposite sides of a case as to any matter pertaining to the proceedings or trial? not binding unless assented to by the parties? most stipulations must be in writing. | agreement | agreement, arrangement, deal | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Subpoena | A process to cause a witness to appear and give testimony before a court. | order to appear | order to appear, notification of court | General Terms, Domestic Relations, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Subpoena duces tecum | An official court order to bring documents or records to a stated place at a stated time. "Under penalty you shall take it with you." | appear and bring documents | order to bring, order to produce | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Substantive law | The law dealing with rights, duties and liabilities? as distinguished from adjective law, which is the law regulating procedure. | laws of rights and duties | common law, statutes, rights | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Summary judgement | 1. A procedure in civil cases where a party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law, there being no genuine issue of material fact in dispute; the court's decision is rendered before completion of a full trial. 2. The termination of a lawsuit, usually before trial, upon the judgment showing that there is no issue of fact in the case, and that one party or another is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. | final decision without trial | final decision without trial, finding pre-trial, case closure before trial | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Summons | A writ or order directing the sheriff or other officer to notify the named person that an action has been commenced against him or her in court, and that they are required to appear, on the day named, and answer the petition or complaint in such action. |
order to appear | order to appear, notification of court | County Court Civil, Court Reporting, District Court Civil, Domestic Relations, General Terms, Juvenile, News Reporter Guide | |
| Testamentary trust | Trust that comes into being only as a result of the death of a person whose will provides for the creation of a trust after his or her death. | Trust created upon death | Trust created upon death, Posthumous trust formation | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Testator | 1. One who makes or has made a will. 2. The person who makes and signs a will, and, in it, disposes of his or her property. Testatrix is the female term, but it is common, as a convenience, to use the term testator for either a man or a woman. | person who makes a will | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Testimony | 1. Evidence given by a witness under oath. 2. Evidence given by a competent witness, under oath, as distinguished from evidence derived from writings and other sources. | official court statement | statement of affirmation, deposition, statement of truth | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Tort | 1. A civil wrong. 2. An injury or wrong committed, either with or without force, to the person or property of another. | civil wrong-doing | wrong against another person, civil wrong | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Transcript | 1. A written, word-for-word record of what was said at a trial or some other formal conversation like a hearing or deposition. 2.The official record of proceedings in a trial or hearing. | word-for-word record | court log, documentation, exact record, word-for-word record | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Trier of fact | 1. One with responsibility to decide what evidence is true or which witnesses are to be believed. 2. Judge or jury in a case who determines the outcome of the dispute. | jury, judge | judge or jury | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Trust | A legal entity established either by a trust agreement signed by a person during his or her life or arising after death from a will or testamentary trust. The trust is governed by the terms in the documents. | account for holding property | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates, News Reporter Guide | ||
| Trustee | 1. A person appointed to execute a trust. 2. The individual or corporation who in a trust has legal title to the assets and has the power given in the trust to carry out the wishes of the person or persons (trustor) who created the trust. The trustee has a fiduciary obligation to the trust’s beneficiaries. The trustee shall observe the standards in dealing with the rust assets that would be observed by a prudent person dealing with property of another, and, if the trustee has special skills, he or she is under a duty to use those skills. Although he or she has legal title for convenience, the beneficial or equitable title is, in fact, owned by the beneficiaries. When there is more than one trustee, the trustees are called co-trustees. | executor, administrator | administrator, agent, keeper, executor | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Trusty | An inmate granted special privileges. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Undue influence | Whatever destroys free will and causes a person to do something he or she would not do if left to himself or herself. | outside pressure | outside influence, outside pressure | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Usury | The taking of more for the use of money than the law allows. | exploitation | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Venue | 1. Come (to a place); particularly used of court jurisdiction; the place Where something occurs; place where a crime is committed; geographic area from which a jury is selected; jurisdiction in which a case is heard. 2. The particular county, city or geographic area in which a court with jurisdiction may hear and determine a case. 3. The County in which a court is vested with jurisdiction to act upon matters brought before it. Proper place for a case to be heard. | place | place, setting, site | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Verdict | 1. The decision made by a jury in a criminal matter. 2. The final decision about the guilt or innocence of a criminal defendant made by a judge or jury. 3. In practice, the formal and unanimous decision or finding made by a jury, reported to the court and accepted by it. | jury decision | jury decision, final decision | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Voir dire | 1. To see, to say; explanation of a witness, particularly an expert witness, as to his/her qualifications to testify on a matter; examination of prospective jurors to determine qualifications to sit on the jury panel. 2. The process by which judges and lawyers select members of the jury by questioning them to make sure they can fairly decide the case. 3. To speak the truth; the phrase denotes the preliminary examination which the court may make of one presented as a witness or juror as to their qualifications. | interview of juror | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Waiver of immunity from self-incrimination | A means authorized by statutes by which a witness in advance of giving testimony or producing evidence, may renounce the fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself or herself. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Warrant of arrest | A writ or order issued by a judge or other competent authority, to a sheriff or other officer, requiring him or her to arrest a person therein named and bring that person before the court to answer to a specified charge. | order to arrest | order to arrest, detaining order | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Weight of evidence | The balance of preponderance of evidence? the inclination of the greater amount of credible evidence offered by a trial to support one side of the issue rather than the other. | probability | believability, credibility, probability | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Will | 1. A legal paper that lists a person's wishes about what will happen to his or her personal property after death. 2. A document by which a person directs his or her estate to be distributed upon death to provide for the orderly disposition of assets, in accord with the individual's wishes to provide for family security and protection, and to immunize death taxes. HOLOGRAPHIC WILL: a will that is hand-written by the testator. SELF-PROVED WILL: a will proved by a self-proving affidavit (see affidavit). | last wishes | after-death wishes, statement of intentions, device, directions, last wishes | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| With prejudice | 1. A party may not refile. 2. The term as applied to judgment of dismissal, is as conclusive of rights of parties as if action had been prosecuted to final adjudication adverse to the plaintiff. | dismissed and may not refile | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | ||
| Without prejudice | 1. A party may refile. 2. A dismissal "without prejudice" allows a new suit to be brought on the same cause of action. | dismissed but can be refiled | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | ||
| Witness | One who testifies to what he or she has seen, heard or otherwise observed or concluded from observations. | one who testifies | observer, viewer, bystander, one who testifies | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Writ | A written court order directing a person or official to take, or refrain from taking, certain action. | court order | order to _____, order for action, command, decree, mandate | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting |