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Most Popular Legal Definitions

summary judgment

A court order ruling that no factual issues remain to be tried and therefore a cause of action or all causes of action in a complaint can be decided upon certain facts without trial.

justice

a state of affairs in which conduct or action is both fair and right, given the circumstances.

home invasion

A break and enter of occupied residential premises with forced confinement, assault or battery of its occupants.

lay day

A term of maritime law contract: days stipulated for the loading or unloading of cargo from a ship.

sick leave

Time off from work, paid or unpaid, on account of an employee's temporary inability to perform duties because of sickness or disability.

decedent

an individual who has died

cross examination

in trials, each party calls witnesses; ask questions of the other party's witness(es) allowing considerably more latitude then when you question your own witnesses (called an 'examination-in-chief

civil liability

The potential responsibility for payment of damages or other court-mandated conditions in a lawsuit, as opposed to criminal liability, which means open to punishment in accordance to criminal law.

diplomat

an official representative of a state, present in another state for the purposes of general representation of the state-of-origin or for the purpose of specific international negotiations on behalf of the diplomat's state-of-origin.

statutory rape

A statutory rape which allows for conviction regardless of the consent, such as with a minor.