Answer
filed by a defendant to respond to a complaint in a lawsuit filed and served
upon that defendant
Antenuptial (prenuptial) Agreement
written contract between two people about to marry; setting out the terms of of
possession of assets, treatment of future earnings, control of the property of
each, and potential division if the marriage is later dissolved
Anti-trust Laws
acts adopted by Congress to outlaw or restrict
business practices considered to be monopolistic or which restrain interstate
commerce; the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 declared illegal "every contract,
combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce" between states or
foreign countries; the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, amended by the
Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, prohibits discrimination among customers through
pricing and disallows mergers, acquisitions or takeovers of one firm by another
if the effect will "substantially lessen competition"
Anticipatory Breach
when a party to a contract repudiates on his or her obligations under that
contract before fully performing those obligations
Apparent Authority
appearance of being the agent of another
(employer or principal) with the power to act for the principal; since under the
law of agency the employer (the principal) is liable for the acts of his
employee (agent), if a person who is not an agent appears to an outsider (a
customer) to have been given authority by the principal, then the principal is
stuck for the acts of anyone he allows to appear to have authority
Appeal
1) to ask a higher court to reverse the decision
of a trial court after final judgment or other legal ruling 2) the name for the
process of appealing, as in "he has filed an appeal"
Appearance
the arrival and acceptance to proceed in court
Appellant
the party who appeals a trial court decision
they have lost
Appellate Court
court of appeals which hears appeals from lower court decisions
Appellee
in some jurisdictions, this name is used for the
party who has wont at the trial court level, but the loser has appealed the
decision to a higher court, thus the appellee has to file a response to the
legal brief filed by the appellant; in many jurisdictions the appellee is called
the "respondent"