Legal Dictionary

forensics

n. public speaking or argumentation.

foreseeable risk

n. a danger which a reasonable person should anticipate as the result from his/her actions. Foreseeable risk is a common affirmative defense put up as a response by defendants in lawsuits for negligence. A mother is severely injured while accompanying her child on a roller coaster when the car jumps the track and comes loose. While there is potential risk, she had the right to anticipate that the roller coaster was properly maintained and did not assume the risk that it would come apart. Signs that warn "use at your own risk" do not bar lawsuits for risks that are not foreseeable.

forfeiture

n. loss of property due to a violation of law.

forgery

n. 1) the crime of creating a false document, altering a document, or writing a false signature for the illegal benefit of the person making the forgery. This includes improperly filling in a blank document, like an automobile purchase contract, over a buyer's signature, with the terms different from those agreed. It does not include such innocent representation as a staff member autographing photos of politicians or movie stars. While similar to forgery, counterfeiting refers to the creation of phoney money, stock certificates or bonds which are negotiable for cash. 2) a document or signature falsely created or altered.

forthwith

adv. a term found in contracts, court orders and statutes, meaning as soon as it can be reasonably done. It implies immediacy, with no excuses for delay.

forum non conveniens

(for-uhm nahn cahn-vee-nee-ehns) n. Latin for a forum which is not convenient. This doctrine is employed when the court chosen by the plaintiff (the party suing) is inconvenient for witnesses or poses an undue hardship on the defendants, who must petition the court for an order transferring the case to a more convenient court.

four corners of an instrument

n. the term for studying an entire document to understand its meaning, without reference to anything outside of the document ("extrinsic evidence"), such as the circumstances surrounding its writing or the history of the party signing it. If possible a document should be construed based on what lies within its four corners, unless such examination cannot solve an ambiguity in its language.

franchise tax

n. a state tax on corporations or businesses.

fraud in the inducement

n. the use of deceit or trick to cause someone to act to his/her disadvantage, such as signing an agreement or deeding away real property. The heart of this type of fraud is misleading the other party as to the facts upon which he/she will base his/her decision to act. Example: "there will be tax advantages to you if you let me take title to your property".

free and clear

adj. referring to the ownership of real property upon which there is no lien, encumbrance, recorded judgment or the right of anyone to make a claim against the property. The term is used in contracts for sale of real property and deeds, to state that the title has no claim against it.

freehold

n. any interest in real property which is a life estate or of uncertain or undetermined duration (having no stated end), as distinguished from a leasehold which may have declining value toward the end of a long-term lease (such as the 99-year variety).

friendly suit

n. a lawsuit filed in order to obtain a court order when the parties to the suit agree on the expected outcome. Such a legal action will be dismissed if it is an attempt to get an advisory opinion, is collusive (deceitfully planned) to get a judgment to set a legal precedent or where there is no real controversy. However, such suits are allowed in situations in which the statutes require a court ruling to achieve a "reasonable result," such as reforming (correcting) a trust or agreement in which there was an error.

frivolous

adj. referring to a legal move in a lawsuit clearly intended merely to harass, delay or embarrass the opposition. Frivolous acts can include filing the lawsuit itself, a baseless motion for a legal ruling, an answer of a defendant to a complaint which does not deny, contest, prove or controvert anything, or an appeal which contains not a single arguable basis (by any stretch of the imagination) for the appeal. A frivolous lawsuit, motion or appeal can result in a successful claim by the other party for payment by the frivolous suer of their attorneys' fees for defending the case. Judges are reluctant to find an action frivolous, based on the desire not to discourage people from using the courts to resolve disputes.

frustration of purpose

n. sometimes called commercial frustration, when unexpected events arise which make a contract impossible to be performed, entitling the frustrated party to rescind the contract without paying damages.

full disclosure

n. the need in business transactions to tell the "whole truth" about any matter which the other party should know in deciding to buy or contract. In real estate salesthere is a full disclosure form which must be filled out and signed under penalty of perjury for knowingly falsifying or concealing any significant fact.

future interest

n. a right to receive either real property or personal property some time in the future, either upon a particular date or upon the occurrence of an event. Typical examples are getting title upon the death of the person having present use, outliving another beneficiary, reaching maturity (age 18) or upon marriage.

garnish

v. to obtain a court order directing a party holding funds (such as a bank) or about to pay wages (such as an employer) to an alleged debtor to set that money aside until the court determines (decides) how much the debtor owes to the creditor. Garnishing funds is also a warning to the party holding the funds (garnishee) not to pay them, and to inform the court as to how much money is being held. If the garnishee (such as a bank or employer) should mistakenly give the money to the account owner or employee, the garnishee will be liable to pay the creditor what he/she/it has coming.

garnishment

n. the entire process of petitioning for and getting a court order directing a person or entity (garnishee) to hold funds they owe to someone who allegedly is in debt to another person, often after a judgment has been rendered. Usually the actual amounts owed have not been figured out or are to be paid by installments directly or through the law enforcement officer.

general appearance

n. an attorney's representation of a client in court for all purposes connected with a pending lawsuit or prosecution. After "appearing" in court, the attorney is then responsible for all future appearances in court unless officially relieved by court order or substitution of another attorney. A lawyer may be leery of making a general appearance unless all details of representation (such as the amount and payment of his/her fees) have been worked out with the client. This is distinguished from a special appearance, which is only for a particular purpose or court session and does not make the attorney responsible for future conduct of the case.

general damages

n. monetary recovery (money won) in a lawsuit for injuries suffered (such as pain, suffering, inability to perform certain functions) or breach of contract for which there is no exact money value which can be calculated. They are distinguished from special damages, which are for specific costs, and from punitive (exemplary) damages for punishment and to set an example when malice, intent or gross negligence was a factor.

general partner

n. usually one of the owners and operators of a partnership, which is a joint business entered into for profit, in which responsibility for management, profits and, most importantly, the liability for debts is shared by the general partners. Anyone entering into a general partnership (the most common business organization involving more than one owner) must remember that each general partner is liable for all the debts of the partnership. Furthermore, any partner alone can bind the partnership on contracts.

generation skipping

adj., adv. referring to gifts made through trusts by a grandparent to a grandchild, skipping one's child (the grandchild's parent).

gift in contemplation of death

n. (called a gift causa mortis by lawyers), a gift of personal property (not real estate) by a person expecting to die soon due to ill health or age. Treating the gift as made in contemplation of death has the benefit of including the gift in the value of the estate, rather than making the gift subject to a separate gift tax charged the giver. If the giver gets over an apparently mortal illness, the gift is treated like any other gift for tax purposes.

go bail

v. slang for putting up the bail money to get an accused defendant out of jail after an arrest or pending trial or appeal.

good faith

n. honest intent to act without taking an unfair advantage over another person or to fulfill a promise to act, even when some legal technicality is not fulfilled. The term is applied to all kinds of transactions.