Affidavit
A written or printed statement made under oath.
Agreement
In law, this is another name for a contract including all the elements of a legal contract:...
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
A procedure for settling a dispute outside the courtroom. Most forms of ADR are not binding,...
Answer
The formal written statement by a defendant in a civil case that responds to a complaint,...
Arbitration
A mini-trial, which may be for a lawsuit ready to go to trial, held in an attempt to avoid a...
Appeal
A request made after a trial by a party that has lost on one or more issues that a higher...
Assets
Property of all kinds, including real and personal, tangible and intangible.
Attorney
An agent or someone authorized to act for another, who has been qualified by a state or...
Breach of Contract
Failing to perform any term of a contract, written or oral, without a legitimate legal...
Brief
A written statement submitted in a trial or appellate proceeding that explains one side's...
Burden of Proof
The duty to prove disputed facts. In civil cases, a plaintiff generally has the burden of...
Case File
A complete collection of every document filed in court in a case.
Case Law
The law as established in previous court decisions. A synonym for legal precedent. Akin to...
Cause of Action
A legal claim.
Claim
A creditor's assertion of a right to payment from a debtor or the debtor's property.
Class Action
A lawsuit in which one or more members of a large group, or class, of individuals or other...
Clerk of the Court
The court officer who oversees administrative functions, especially managing the flow of...
Codicil
A written amendment to a person's will, which must be dated, signed and witnessed just as a...
Collateral
Property that is promised as security for the satisfaction of a debt.
Commercial Law
All the law which applies to the rights, relations and conduct of persons and businesses...
Consumer Debts
Debts incurred for personal, as opposed to business, needs.
Contingent Claim
A claim that may be owed by the debtor under certain circumstances, e.g., where the debtor is...
Contract
An agreement between two or more people that creates an obligation to do or not to do a...
Counsel
Legal advice; a term also used to refer to the lawyers in a case.
Court Reporter
A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court, generally by using a...
Creditor
A person to whom or business to which the debtor owes money or that claims to be owed money...
Damages
Money that a defendant pays a plaintiff in a civil case if the plaintiff has won. Damages may...
Debtor’s Plan
A debtor's detailed description of how the debtor proposes to pay creditors' claims over a...
Declaratory Judgment
A judge's statement about someone's rights. For example, a plaintiff may seek a declaratory...
De Facto
Latin, meaning "in fact" or "actually." Something that exists in fact but not as a matter of...
Default Judgment
A judgment awarding a plaintiff the relief sought in the complaint because the defendant has...
Defendant
In a civil case, the person or organization against whom the plaintiff brings suit. An...
Deposition
An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such...
Discovery Process
Used to obtain disclosure of evidence before trial.
Dismissal With Prejudice
Court action that prevents an identical lawsuit from being filed later.
Dismissal Without Prejudice
Dismissal without prejudice Court action that allows the later filing.
Divorce
The termination of a marriage by legal action, requiring a petition or complaint for divorce...
Docket
A log containing the complete history of each case in the form of brief chronological entries...
Due Process
In civil law, the legal rights of someone who confronts an adverse action threatening liberty...
Durable Power of Attorney Health Care
Attorney-in-fact or proxy appointed and authorized to make medical decisions in any situation...
Equitable
Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the...
Equity
The value of a debtor's interest in property that remains after liens and other creditors'...
Estate
Commonly, all the possessions of one who has died and are subject to probate (administration...
Evidence
Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder...
Executor
The person appointed to administer the estate of a person who has died leaving a will which...
Executory Contract
Contracts or leases under which both parties to the agreement have duties remaining to be...
Exempt Assets
Property that a debtor is allowed to retain, free from the claims of creditors who do not...
File
To place a paper in the official custody of the clerk of court to enter into the files or...
Guardian
A person who has been appointed by a judge to take care of a minor child or incompetent adult...
Guardian Ad Litem
Guardian ad litem A person appointed by the court only to take legal action on behalf of a...
Hearsay
Evidence presented by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard...
Impeachment
The process of calling a witness' testimony into doubt. For example, if the attorney can show...
Incorporate
To obtain an official charter or articles of incorporation from the state for an...
Injunction
A court order preventing one or more named parties from taking some action. A preliminary...
Insider (of corporate debtor)
Director, officer, or person in control of the debtor; a partnership in which the debtor is a...
Insider (of individual debtor)
Any relative of the debtor or of a general partner of the debtor; partnership in which the...
Interrogatories
A form of discovery consisting of written questions to be answered in writing and under oath.
Intestate
Referring to a situation where a person dies without leaving a valid will. This usually is...
Intestate Succession
The distribution when a person dies without leaving a valid will and the spouse and heirs...
Issue
The disputed point between parties in a lawsuit.
Judgment
The official decision of a court finally resolving the dispute between the parties to the...
Jurisdiction
The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a certain type of case. It also is used as...
Jurisprudence
The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
Jury
The group of persons selected to hear the evidence in a trial and render a verdict on matters...
Jury Instructions
A judge's directions to the jury before it begins deliberations regarding the factual...
Lawsuit
A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the...
Letters of Administration
A document issued by the court clerk which states the authority of the administrator of an...
Lien
A charge on specific property that is designed to secure payment of a debt or performance of...
Limited Partnership
A special type of partnership which is very common when people need funding for a business,...
Litigation
A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are...
Living Will
A document authorized by statutes in all states in which a person appoints someone as his/her...
Living Trust
A trust created by a declaration of trust executed by the trustor or trustors (also called...
Mediation
The attempt to settle a legal dispute through active participation of a third party...
Mistrial
An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must...
Motion
A request by a litigant to a judge for a decision on an issue relating to the case.
Net Estate
The remaining estate of a person who has died, calculated by taking the value of all assets...
Non-Profit Corporation
An organization incorporated under state laws and approved by both the state's Secretary of...
Opinion
A judge's written explanation of the decision of the court. Because a case may be heard by...
Oral Argument
An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer...
Partnership
A business enterprise entered into for profit which is owned by more than one person, each of...
Plaintiff
A person or business that files a formal complaint with the court.
Pleadings
Written statements filed with the court that describe a party's legal or factual assertions...
Power of Attorney
A written document signed by a person giving another person the power to act in conducting...
Precedent
A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute...
Pretrial Conference
A meeting of the judge and lawyers to plan the trial, to discuss which matters should be...
Probate
Also called Estate Administration, the process of proving a will is valid and thereafter...
Procedure
The rules for conducting a lawsuit; there are rules of civil procedure, criminal procedure,...
Record
A written account of the proceedings in a case, including all pleadings, evidence, and...
Sanction
A penalty or other type of enforcement used to bring about compliance with the law or with...
Service of Process
The delivery of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
Settlement
Parties to a lawsuit resolve their dispute without having a trial. Settlements often involve...
Statute
A law passed by a legislature.
Statute of Limitations
The time within which a lawsuit must be filed or a criminal prosecution begun. The deadline...
Subordination
The act or process by which a person's rights or claims are ranked below those of others.
Subpoena
A command, issued under a court's authority, to a witness to appear and give testimony.
Subpoena Duces Tecum
A command to a witness to appear and produce documents.
Summary Judgment
A decision made on the basis of statements and evidence presented for the record without a...
Summons
A document issued by the court at the time a lawsuit is filed, stating the name of both...
Temporary Restraining Order
Akin to a preliminary injunction, it is a judge's short-term order forbidding certain actions...
Testacy
Dying with a will (a testament). It is compared to "intestacy," which is dying without a will.
Testimony
Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
Tort
A civil, not criminal, wrong. A negligent or intentional injury against a person or property,...
Transcript
A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial, or...
Venue
The geographic area in which a court has jurisdiction. A change of venue is a change or...
Verdict
The decision of a trial jury or a judge that determines the final outcome of a civil case.
Voir Dire
Jury selection process of questioning prospective jurors, to ascertain their qualifications...
Wage Garnishment
A nonbankruptcy legal proceeding whereby a plaintiff or creditor seeks to subject to his or...
Will
A written document which leaves the estate of the person who signed the will to named persons...
Will Contest
A will contest is a lawsuit challenging the validity of a will and/or its terms. Bases for...
Writ
A writ is a written court order directing a person to take, or refrain from taking, a certain...
Tenancy by the Entirety
The form of ownership of real property afforded to married couples in North Carolina. It...