Use this when questioning the meaning of legal terms.
Questions tagged [legal-terms]
614 questions
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Is there a common name for lawyers and judges?
Lawyers and Judges, for as different as their roles may be, still work in the same system, and share many skills, even if their jobs involve vary different application of said skills.
Thus, I'm curious, given these similarities, is there a common…
Tirous
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What do the different abbreviations after lawyer names mean?
There are numerous. I'm looking for anyone that could list them and answer what all mean and what they entail.
For example, ESQ, P.A., PLLC, etc.
LeanMan
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What's the legal term for a law or a set of laws which are realistically impossible to follow in practice?
As an example, at one point during New York's COVID vaccination campaign Governor Cuomo issued the following rules:
If you vaccinate someone who is not eligible, you're getting a huge fine
If you don't use up your vaccine doses, you're getting a…
JonathanReez
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Why is a lawsuit a "suit"?
Where does the term "law suit" for a legal case come from? It seems to perhaps only be used to refer to civil cases, however. Also, is it a purely American (USA) term or does it also find use elsewhere?
TylerDurden
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What is the definition of a troll in the legal context?
Most commonly one hears the term in the context of the phrase "copyright troll," but what is the essence of a legal "troll"?
JosephCorrectEnglishPronouns
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What did Samuel Alito (SCOTUS) mean by "super-legislative" power?
In Obergefell v. Hodges (the recent gay marriage ruling), Samuel Alito writes in his dissent (p. 73 of this PDF containing the electronic opinion):
This is a naked judicial claim to legislative—indeed, super-legislative—power; a claim fundamentally…
user43
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1 answer
What is a leading question?
What constitutes a leading question?
Until recently, I assumed it was the same as a "loaded question" in a casual context, like a question in a push polls designed to bias the answer. But through answers here, it's become clear to me that the legal…
Katie Kilian
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Law case title convention: Why sometimes not "Plaintiff v. Defendant"?
Quoted from this page:
Plaintiff v Defendant - the "v" is pronounced "and" in civil cases and "against" in criminal cases
However, I've seen a few cases not following this rule. For example, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, where the party of…
xuhdev
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What does "object to the form" mean?
I've been reading the notes for a recent prolific court case, and in the records of what was said the phrase "Object to the form." comes up quite a lot.
What does this phrase mean?
(If it is at all relevant, I believe the law in play is US law, but…
Pharap
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Why is everyone affraid to give "legal advice"? What is the difference between legal advice and personal opinion?
Why is it illegal to give your opinion/advice about a legal problem or case if you are not licensed or do not have a lawyer/client contract?
Findlaw - What is Legal Advice page says it's ok if you are just a friend, or if you give general…
Alex Doe
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Why does "note up" mean "check whether subsequent decisions have followed its precedent or not"?
Why was the "process of examining how a case has been treated in subsequent cases to determine if it is still authoritative or “good law”" termed "note up"?
Step 4: Find Cases That Have Considered the Statute (Note It Up)
To note up the statute…
user35965
5
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2 answers
What, if any, is the legal meaning of the term "benefit of the doubt?"
One instance that I am familiar with is "innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." So if you think that someone is "probably" guilty, but have a "reasonable doubt" covering, say 5%-10% of possible outcomes, my understanding is that…
Libra
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Do legal documents use the person's current or former legal name when referring to the past?
Person was named "A" prior to year 2000.
The name was legally changed from "A" to "B" in 2000.
When creating a legal document, is there a standard of how that person will be called when specifically describing past events before 2000? For…
user0306
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What is "probity"?
I have found a number of definitions but none are satisfyingly congruent with the usages that I have seen in legal contexts including several times on here, which generally use it to describe a quality of evidence, even the definitions which I have…
TylerDurden
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What is "probable cause"?
I know what probable cause is and how it is used in law/law enforcement. But what does the actual term "probable cause" mean?
In a sentence where it is used like
"The drug dog's alert gave me probable cause to search your vehicle"
in this case…
DasBeasto
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