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Legal Dictionary

  
  
 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 

covenant not to compete

n. a common provision in a contract for sale of a business in which the seller agrees not to compete in the same business for a period of years or in the geographic area. This covenant is usually allocated (given) a value in the sales price.

covenant that runs with the land

n. a promise contained in a deed to land or real estate which is binding upon the current owner and all future owners.

credibility

n. whether testimony is worthy of belief, based on competence of the witness and likelihood that it is true. Unless the testimony is contrary to other known facts or is extremely unlikely based on human experience, the test of credibility is purely subjective.

credible witness

n. a witness whose testimony is more than likely to be true based on his/her experience, knowledge, training and appearance of honesty and forthrightness, as well as common human experience. This is subjective in that the trier of fact (judge or jury) may be influenced by the demeanor of the witness or other factors.

creditor

n. a person or entity to whom a debt is owed.

creditor's claim

n. a claim required to be filed in writing, in a proper form by a person or entity owed money by a debtor who has filed a petition to declare the debtor bankrupt, or is owed money by a person who has died. Notice of the need to file a creditor's claim in the estate of a person who has died must be printed in a legal advertisement giving notice of death. Then a creditor has only a few months to file the claim, and it must be in a form approved by the courts.

creditor's rights

n. the field of law dealing with the legal means and procedures to collect debts and judgments.

crime

n. a violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties. There is some sentiment for excluding from the "crime" category crimes without victims, such as consensual acts, or violations in which only the perpetrator is hurt or involved such as personal use of illegal drugs.

crime against nature

n. an oldfashioned term for sodomy.

crime of passion

n. a defendant's excuse for committing a crime due to sudden anger or heartbreak, in order to eliminate the element of "premeditation." This usually arises in murder or attempted murder cases, when a spouse or sweetheart finds his/her "beloved" having sexual intercourse with another and shoots or stabs one or both of the coupled pair. To make this claim the defendant must have acted immediately upon the rise of passion, without the time for contemplation or allowing for "a cooling of the blood." The benefit of eliminating premeditation is to lessen the provable homicide to manslaughter with no death penalty and limited prison terms.

criminal

1) n. a popular term for anyone who has committed a crime, whether convicted of the offense or not. More properly it should apply only to those actually convicted of a crime. Repeat offenders are sometimes called habitual criminals. 2) adj. describing certain acts or people involved in or relating to a crime. Examples of uses include "criminal taking," "criminal conspiracy," a "criminal gang."

criminal attorney

n. a popular term for an attorney who specializes in defending people charged with crimes. Many lawyers handle criminal defense but also have other clientele.

criminal calendar

n. the list of criminal cases to be called in court on a particular time and date. The parties charged and their attorneys are given a written notice of the time and place to appear. The criminal calendar may list arraignments, bail settings, cases continued (put off) awaiting a plea of guilt or innocence, changes of pleas, setting of hearing or trial dates, motions brought by attorneys, pronouncing sentences, hearing reports of probation officers, appointment of public defenders or other attorneys, and other business concerning criminal cases.

criminal justice

n. a generic term for the procedure by which criminal conduct is investigated, evidence gathered, arrests made, charges brought, defenses raised, trials conducted, sentences rendered and punishment carried out.

criminal law

n. those statutes dealing with crimes against the public and members of the public, with penalties and all the procedures connected with charging, trying, sentencing and imprisoning defendants convicted of crimes

cross-complaint

n. after a complaint has been filed against a defendant for damages or other orders of the court, the defendant may file a written complaint against the party suing him/her or against a third party as long as the subject matter is related to the original complaint. The defendant's filing of a complaint is called a cross-complaint, and the defendant is then called a cross-complainant and the party he/she sues is called a cross-defendant. The defendant must still file an answer or other response to the original complaint. If the cross-complaint is against the original plaintiff (original suer) then it can be served on the plaintiff's attorney by mail, but a third party must be served in person with the cross-complaint and a new summons issued by the clerk of the court. The cross-defendants must then file answers or other responses. These are called pleadings and must be carefully drafted (usually by an attorney) to properly state the factual as well as legal basis for the claim and contain a prayer for damages or other relief.

cross-examination

n. the opportunity for the attorney (or an unrepresented party) to ask questions in court of a witness who has testified in a trial on behalf of the opposing party. The questions on cross-examination are limited to the subjects covered in the direct examination of the witness, but importantly, the attorney may ask leading questions, in which he/she is allowed to suggest answers or put words in the witness's mouth. (For example, "Isn't it true that you told Mrs. Jones she had done nothing wrong?" which is leading, as compared to "Did you say anything to Mrs. Jones?") A strong cross-examination (often called just "cross" by lawyers and judges) can force contradictions, expressions of doubts or even complete obliteration of a witness's prior carefully rehearsed testimony. On the other hand, repetition of a witness' s story, vehemently defended, can strengthen his/her credibility.

cruel and unusual punishment

n. governmental penalties against convicted criminal defendants which are barbaric, involve torture and/or shock the public morality. Tortures like the rack (stretching the body inch by inch) or the thumbscrew, dismemberment, breaking bones, maiming, actions involving deep or long-lasting pain are all banned. But solitary confinement, enforced silence, necessary force to prevent injury to fellow prisoners or guards, psychological humiliation and bad food are generally allowed. In short, there is a large gray area, in which "cruel and unusual" is definitely subjective based on individual sensitivities and moral outlook.

cruelty

n. the intentional and malicious infliction of physical or psychological pain on another.

cruelty to animals

n. the crime of inflicting physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, usually a tame one, beyond necessity for normal discipline. It can include neglect that is so monstrous (withholding food and water) that the animal has suffered, died or been put in imminent danger of death.

culpability

culpable

culpable

adj. sufficiently responsible for criminal acts or negligence to be at fault and liable for the conduct. Sometimes culpability rests on whether the person realized the wrongful nature of his/her actions and thus should take the blame.

cumis counsel

n. an attorney employed by a defendant in a lawsuit when there is an insurance policy supposedly covering the claim, but there is a conflict of interest between the insurance company and the insured defendant. Such a conflict might arise if the insurance company is denying full coverage.

cumulative sentence

n. when a criminal defendant has been found guilty of more than one offense, the judge may sentence him/her to prison for successive terms for each crime (e.g. five years for burglary, three years for possession of stolen property, which add up and accumulate to eight years). The other choice would be to sentence the defendant to a concurrent sentence, in which the lesser term would be merged with the longer, they would run at the same time, and thus result in a five-year term in the example.

cumulative voting

n. in corporations, a system of voting by shareholders for directors in which the shareholder can multiply his voting shares by the number of candidates and vote them all for one person for director. This is intended to give minority shareholders a chance to elect at least one director whom they favor. For example, there are five directors to be elected, and 10,000 shares issued, a shareholder with 1,000 shares could vote 5,000 for his candidate rather than being limited to 1,000 for each of five candidates, always outvoted by shareholders with 1,001 or more shares.

curtesy

n. in old common law, the right of a surviving husband to a life estate in the lands of his deceased wife, if they had a surviving child or children who would inherit the land.

custody

n. 1) holding property under one's control. 2) law enforcement officials' act of holding an accused or convicted person in criminal proceedings, beginning with the arrest of that person. 3) in domestic relations (divorce, dissolution) a court's determination of which parent (or other appropriate party) should have physical and/or legal control and responsibility for a minor child.

cut a check

v. to write (prepare) and sign a check.

cy pres doctrine

n. (see-pray doctrine) from French, meaning "as close as possible." When a gift is made by will or trust (usually for charitable or educational purposes), and the named recipient of the gift does not exist, has dissolved or no longer conducts the activity for which the gift is made, then the estate or trustee must make the gift to an organization which comes closest to fulfilling the purpose of the gift. Sometimes this results in heated court disputes in which a judge must determine the appropriate substitute to receive the gift.

d.b.a.

n. short for "doing business as," when a person or entity uses a business name instead of his/her/its own.

damages

n. the amount of money which a plaintiff (the person suing) may be awarded in a lawsuit. There are many types of damages. Special damages are those which actually were caused by the injury and include medical and hospital bills, ambulance charges, loss of wages, property repair or replacement costs or loss of money due on a contract. The second basic area of damages are general damages, which are presumed to be a result of the other party's actions, but are subjective both in nature and determination of value of damages. These include pain and suffering, future problems and crippling effect of an injury, loss of ability to perform various acts, shortening of life span, mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of reputation (in a libel suit, for example), humiliation from scars, loss of anticipated business and other harm. The third major form of damage is exemplary (or punitive) damages, which combines punishment and the setting of public example. Exemplary damages may be awarded when the defendant acted in a malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton or grossly reckless way in causing the special and general damages to the plaintiff. On occasion punitive damages can be greater than the actual damages, as, for example, in a sexual harassment case or fraudulent schemes. Although often asked for, they are seldom awarded. Nominal damages are those given when the actual harm is minor and an award is warranted under the circumstances. Liquidated damages are those pre-set by the parties in a contract to be awarded in case one party defaults as in breach of contract.

dangerous

adj. unsafe, hazardous, fraught with risk. It can be negligence for which a lawsuit can be brought if damage results from creating or leaving unguarded, a dangerous condition which can cause harm to others, a dangerous instrumentality (any device which can cause harm, including explosives and poisonous substances) or dangerous weapon which is inherently hazardous to anyone handling it or within the weapon's range.

dangerous weapon

n. any gun, knife, sword, crossbow, slingshot or other weapon which can cause bodily harm to people (even though used for target shooting). If a person is harmed by such a weapon that is left unguarded, improperly used, or causes harm even to a person who plays with it without permission, the victim or his/her survivors can sue for negligence and possibly win a judgment.

date rape

n. forcible sexual intercourse by a male acquaintance of a woman, during a voluntary social engagement in which the woman did not intend to submit to the sexual advances and resisted the acts by verbal refusals, denials or pleas to stop, and/or physical resistance. The fact that the parties knew each other or that the woman willingly accompanied the man are not legal defenses to a charge of rape.

day in court

n. popular term for everyone's opportunity to bring a lawsuit or use the court system if he/she thinks he/she has a gripe which can be resolved in court.

de facto

adj. Latin for "in fact." Often used in place of "actual" to show that the court will treat as a fact authority being exercised or an entity acting as if it had authority, even though the legal requirements have not been met.

de facto corporation

n. a company which operates as if it were a corporation although it has not completed the legal steps to become incorporated or has been dissolved or suspended but continues to function. The court temporarily treats the corporation as if it were legal in order to avoid unfairness to people who thought the corporation was legal.

de jure

adj. Latin for "lawful," as distinguished from de facto (actual).

de jure corporation

n. a corporation in good standing under the law, as compared to a de facto corporation which is acting while not fulfilling legal requirements.

de minimis

adj. (dee-minnie-miss) Latin for "of minimum importance" or "trifling." Essentially it refers to something or a difference that is so little, small, minuscule or tiny that the law does not refer to it and will not consider it.

de novo

adj. Latin for "anew," which means starting over, as in a trial de novo. For example, a decision in a small claims case may be appealed to a local trial court, which may try the case again, de novo.

deadly weapon

n. any weapon which can kill. This includes not only weapons which are intended to do harm like a gun or knife, but also blunt instruments like clubs, an automobile or any object which actually causes death. This becomes important when trying to prove criminal charges brought for assault with a deadly weapon.

dealer

n. anyone who buys goods or property for the purpose of selling as a business. It is important to distinguish a dealer from someone who occasionally buys and occasionally sells, since dealers may need to obtain business licenses, register with the sales tax authorities, and may not defer capital gains taxes by buying other property.

death penalty

n. the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes.

death row

n. nickname for that portion of a prison in which prisoners are housed who are under death sentences and are awaiting appeals and/or potential execution.

debenture

n. a form of bond certificate issued by a corporation to show funds invested, repayment of which is guaranteed by the overall capital value of the company under certain specific terms. Thus, it is more secure than shares of stock or general bonds.

debt

n. 1) a sum of money due to another. 2) obligation to deliver particular goods or perform certain acts according to an agreement, such as returning a favor. 3) a cause of action in a lawsuit for a particular amount owed.

debtor

n. 1) a person or entity that owes an amount of money or favor to another. 2) in bankruptcy, the party whose affairs are the subject of the proceedings is called the "debtor."

deceased

1) adj. dead. 2) n. the person who has died, as used in the handling of his/her estate, probate of will and other proceedings after death, or in reference to the victim of a homicide (as: "The deceased had been shot three times") In probate law the more genteel word is the "decedent".

decedent

n. the person who has died, sometimes referred to as the "deceased".

 
 

Legal Dictionary (PDF File)

Black's Law Dictionary (PDF File)

Law Dictionaries (i.e. Black's Law Dictionary)

  • Barron's Dictionary of Legal Terms A simplified guide to the language of law.
  • Black's Law Dictionary 8th Edition Black’s Law Dictionary is the definitive legal resource for lawyers, law students and laypeople alike. Edited by the world’s foremost legal lexicographer, Bryan A. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary is known for its clear and precise legal definitions, substantive accuracy, and stylistic clarity — making it the most cited legal dictionary in print.
  • Dean's Law Dictionary Version 73 Seeing is believing and you can easily download and see first hand the unsurpassed professional quality of our state-of-the-art definitions in our Digital Legal Dictionary. Discover for yourself all of the unmatched features you get with Dean's Law Dictionary.
  • Oxford Dictionary of Law This best-selling dictionary is an authoritative and comprehensive source of jargon-free legal information. It contains over 4,200 entries that clearly define the major terms, concepts, processes, and the organization of the English legal system.
  • Webster's New World Law Dictionary Law has a language all its own. Webster's New World Law Dictionary translates it clearly. Written in plain English, it's much easier to understand than typical legal documents.

Online Law Dictionaries

  • Duhaime's Law Dictionary Duhaime's Law Dictionary is designed to offer one-stop shopping to all of us who occasionally need to know what a certain legal word means, because our rights stand to be affected by a reference to it, or because of employment or academic research requirements.
  • John Bouvier's Law Dictionary Adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America and of the several states of the American union.
  • Latin Legal Terms Dictionary This small collection of most widely used Latin words and expressions from the legal jargon is a gem. Many of these Latin terms are used in modern legal terminology.
  • Law Dictionary - Look Up Legal dictionary search engine for legal terminology definitions and legal abbreviations.
  • Law.com Legal Dictionary This dictionary allows you to look up the definition of a legal term by entering a word or phrase.
  • Lectric Law Library's Dictionary This is what many consider the Net's best law dictionary. It offers thousands of definitions & explanations of legal terms, phrases & concepts. Please note that LLL's Legal Lexicon addresses mainly US law. Although the layman can also gain great benefit out of this lexicon, it probably suits lawyers and professionals best.
  • Legal Dictionary by The Free Dictionary The main source of TheFreeDictionary's legal dictionary is West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Edition 2, which contains more than 4,000 entries detailing terms, concepts, events, movements, cases, and individuals significant to United States law.
  • LegalGlossary.org A good source to find definitions for legal terms.
 
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