The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States, which relies on the articulation of legal principles in a historical succession of judicial decisions. Common law principles can be changed by legislation.
Prison terms for two or more offenses to be served at the same time, rather than one after the other. Example: Two five-year sentences and one three-year sentence, if served concurrently, result in a maximum of five years behind bars.
Legal Terms Dictionary
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Prison terms for two or more offenses to be served one after the other. Example: Two five-year sentences and one three-year sentence, if served consecutively, result in a maximum of 13 years behind bars.
In criminal law, the constitutional guarantee that a defendant will receive a fair and impartial trial. In civil law, the legal rights of someone who confronts an adverse action threatening liberty or property.
Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy (see damages). A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something (e.g., injunction). In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases.
An attorney employed by the federal courts on a full-time basis to provide legal defense to defendants who are unable to afford counsel. The judiciary administers the federal defender program pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act.
The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a certain type of case. It also is used as a synonym for venue, meaning the geographic area over which the court has territorial jurisdiction to decide cases.
A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court. Judges will generally "follow precedent" - meaning that they use the principles established in earlier cases to decide new cases that have similar facts and raise similar legal issues. A judge will disregard precedent if a party can show that the earlier case was wrongly decided, or that it differed in some significant way from the current case.
A nonbankruptcy legal proceeding whereby a plaintiff or creditor seeks to subject to his or her claim the future wages of a debtor. In other words, the creditor seeks to have part of the debtor's future wages paid to the creditor for a debt owed to the creditor.
This glossary is provided to help citizens, teachers, and students gain a working knowledge of some of the terms used on this website; it is not intended to be a comprehensive legal dictionary. Online Legal Dictionaries may provide a more comprehensive listing of legal terms. Findlaw Legal Dictionary
Certificate of Service: A statement saying how and when you served a party a document. The rules require that you send a copy of any document or brief that you file with the court to each opposing party. This is sometimes called a Proof of Service. Both terms mean the same thing.
Citation: A reference to legal authority such as cases that have already been decided by a Court, statutes, or the state or federal constitution. This can also be a reference to the appendix or the transcript in the case.
Concurring Opinion: A written opinion of an appellate court in which the writing judge agrees with the decision reached by the majority of the judges, but uses different legal reasoning to reach that decision, and writes a separate opinion describing that reasoning.
Dispositive Order: Presents the decision of the court in a case, but does not typically include a detailed explanation of legal reasoning as do opinions. Examples of dispositive orders include orders resolving attorney or judicial discipline cases and orders denying transfer of cases.
Opinion: A court's written discussion of the legal issues raised by a court case and the court's decision about those issues. Memorandum decisions, also known as "not for publication" decisions, may be published online but do not establish precedent. Opinions for recent Indiana Tax Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court cases can be found online at There are different types of opinions issued by the court, see also concurring, dissenting and majority opinion.
Statute of Limitations: a legally established time limit (based on the date of the claim for civil cases or the crime for criminal cases) for entering a suit (civil) or beginning a prosecution (criminal). A reasonable time limit is established so that the defendant may still be able to find witnesses, evidence, etc. pertinent to the case.
Writ: An extraordinary remedy that can be sought from the Indiana Supreme Court. A writ can be sought to compel a person to do something or to stop doing something. Writs are usually sought to compel the trial court to perform a duty or obligation that it is required to do. This option should be used when there is no other legal remedy to solve the problem.
Project CLIMB proudly hosts the Legal Terminology Dictionary in ASL. By making this resource available, Project CLIMB continues the critical work of legal interpreting experts and the Mid-American Regional Interpreter Education (MARIE) Center over nearly 50 years.
The Mid-American Regional Interpreter Education (MARIE) Center was a resource center on interpreting and interpreter education housed in the University of Northern Colorado's Department of ASL & Interpreting Studies. The MARIE Center was funded by the US Department of Education and Rehabilitation Services Administration grants from 2005-2016. During the 2010-2016 grant cycle, The MARIE Center, as the Center on Excellence in Legal Interpreting, chose to honor those who came before us and the work they did by selecting 300 of the terms most commonly seen in legal discourse and to make this valuable resource available in ASL and locate it on the internet. Project CLIMB continues the work of the MARIE Center by hosting this Legal Terminology Dictionary.
comparative negligence - The degree to which a person contributed to his/her own injury, damage or death. Usually measured in terms of percentage. Contributory negligence is the failure to exercise care by a plaintiff, which contributed to the plaintiff's injury.
concurrent sentence - Sentence under which two or more prison or jail terms are served simultaneously, and the prisoner is entitled to discharge when the longest term specified expires (i.e., sentences of 1 to 15 years and 0 to 5 years means a maximum sentence of 15 years). Differs from a consecutive sentence, which is when the sentences are served back-to-back. (A 1 to 15 and 0 to 5 consecutive sentence could mean up to 20 years).
equity, courts of - Courts which administer a legal remedy according to the system of equity, as distinguished from courts of common law. The English system upon which most American states modeled their court systems included two separate sets of courts: equity and law. Although Utah has now combined the two in a single system, court continue to refer to their powers in equity as distinct from their functions as courts of law. Equitable powers are flexible and try to do justice. Courts of law are rigid and must act strictly according to the law.
exclusionary rule - A rule by which evidence that was obtained illegally cannot be used in a criminal trial against a defendant. Also, in criminal cases, a rule which prevents witnesses from observing each other testify or from discussing testimony during the course of the proceedings.
forfeiture - The concept of forfeiture is used in a variety of settings in the legal system. For example, property such as an automobile or house that is used in the commission of a crime i.e., selling a controlled substance, may be forfeited to the state in a civil proceeding.
guardian - A guardian has the authority to consent, on behalf of an infant, child or incompetent, to marriage, enlistment in the armed forces, or major medical, surgical, or psychiatric treatment. Includes legal custody.
habeas corpus - Latin phrase meaning "you have the body"; A civil proceeding used to review the legality of a prisoner's confinement in criminal cases. Habeas corpus actions are commonly used as a means of reviewing state or federal criminal convictions. The petitioner alleges the convictions violated state or federal constitutional rights. State habeas proceedings start in state District Court; federal habeas proceedings start in federal District Court. Lower court decisions may be appealed to appellate courts.
manslaughter - A person recklessly causes the death of another, or acting under extreme emotional disturbance, causes the death of another, or acting under circumstances when a person reasonably believes the circumstances provide a legal justification or excuse for his conduct constitutes manslaughter.
parol evidence - Oral or verbal evidence (rather than written). The parol evidence rule limits the admissibility of parol evidence which would directly contradict the clear meaning of terms of a written contract.
privileged communications - Confidential communications to certain persons that are protected by law against any disclosure, including forced disclosure in legal proceedings. Communications between lawyer and client, physician and patient, psychotherapist and patient, priest, minister or rabbi and penitent are typically privileged.
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annulment ("nullity of marriage"): A legal action that says your marriage was never legally valid because of unsound mind, incest, bigamy, being too young to consent, fraud, force, or physical incapacity. ff782bc1db