Glossary

Legal glossary

763 definitions · page 12 of 13.

Living Will: A living will is a document that perhaps everyone should have. A person may through a living will state his or her intentions regarding the refusal of medical treatment or life support by artificial means, and to release from liability healthcare providers…
Mediation: Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution technique. Mediation is a means of resolving disputes by taking the matter, by agreement, to a third party who is experienced and trained in the type of dispute. This is usually a lawyer well experienced or a…
Money Order: A Money Order is a financial instrument that is usually issued by a bank. The money order allows the person named to receive a specific amount of cash on demand from the issuing bank. Money orders are very common and are typically used by those persons who…
MSDS Software: MSDS, or Material Safety Data Sheets, have been developed to help workers and safety personnel be aware of the particulars about specific products and any special handling requirements involved. This is to ensure safe handling, safe transportation, and safe…
Municipal Bond: A Municipal Bond is a security issued by a state or local government entity. The bond is meant to raise money for local public projects or to retire an existing public expense. Ordinarily, the interest or income generated by municipal bond investments are to…
Non-Competition Clause: A non-competition clause in a contract indicates that the parties, or more likely one of the parties, have agreed not to compete with the business of the contract for a set period of time after the contract expires or is terminated. To be enforceable, most…
Non-Profit Corporation: A non-profit corporation is a corporation that is formed without an intent to make a profit for its investors. Instead, the purpose of the non-profit is to make income for a religious, charitable, educational, literary, or a scientific purpose. Upon…
Notary Public: A Notary is a public officer appointed under authority of State Law who has power under the relevant Notary Statute to administer an oath, to certify affidavits, to take acknowledgements, depositions or sworn testimony, and to take certain actions in some…
Oath: To take an oath is to swear by declaration that you are telling the truth. Lying under oath during a trial or deposition may expose one to criminal liability for perjury.
Oath of Office: The oath of office is taken when the officeholder takes the position officially. The oath of office is usually prescribed by statute or constitution. Generally, the oath of office is a statement that the officeholder will uphold the terms of office and…
Obiter Dictum: Dictum, or obiter dictum, is a statement found in an appellate court's written opinion that states the court's position as to the law but the position is not on an issue directly necessary to the legal point being decided in the case. Dicta is not precedent…
Online Banking and Bill Pay: Online Banking is the use of a personal computer for making transactions in bank accounts while online over the internet. Bill Pay refers to the use of a touch-tone telephone for this same purpose, rather than a computer. These methods are becoming…
Online Degrees and Home-schooling: Online educational degrees from accredited institutions are becoming more and more accepted in the job market. More common online degrees awarded are in the specialized fields, such as paralegal training. There are also several PhD programs available online…
Partnership: A partnership is a form of business enterprise. A partnership exists where there is a voluntary association of two or more persons engaged together for the purpose of doing business as a partnership, for profit. Partnerships are assumed to exist where the…
Patent: A patent is a grant of a property right issued by the government's patent office to the inventor or creator of a new invention. The life term of a patent is twenty years from the date on which the patent application is filed. Patents may be renewed for…
Polygraph or Lie Detector: A polygraph machine is a law enforcement tool that purports to determine whether a subject is telling the truth or not. The polygraph, or lie detector, as it is commonly called, is attached to the subject and measures changes in blood pressure, galvanic skin…
Probate Court: The probate court is the division of the state's court system that has general charge of decedent's estates and their settlements. In general, the probate division of the court will oversee the liquidation of decedent's estates, making provisions for the…
Prototype: A prototype is a trial model of a product in development. During the production process for a new product, it is not unusual to develop a prototypical model for fine tuning the product idea. Claims expected to be made about the product can be tested against…
Qualified Domestic Relations Order: A qualified domestic relations order is entered in some dissolution of marriage cases. The purpose of the QDRO, as it is called, is to secure pension benefits belonging to one party to be split in some equitable fashion to the other party. The order mandates…
Qualified Endorsement: An endorsement becomes qualified when he endorser uses the words "without recourse" or other similar language on the endorsement line of the check. This constitutes a qualification on the endorsement. As a result, the endorser's liability on the check will…
Qualified Medical Child Support Order: A qualified medical child support order is entered in some dissolution of marriage cases. The purpose of the order is to require medical benefits belonging to one spouse to be paid for the benefit of children of the marriage. The order ends up binding the…
Qualified Opinion: A qualified opinion is the opinion of an independent auditor, or accountant, that contains a disclaimer of sorts, such that the opinion is based on less than full information, or that it does not take into account certain events likely to occur in the…
Qualified Retirement Plan: A qualified retirement plan is a type of retirement plan that is set up in accordance with and for the purpose of taking advantage of special tax treatment under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Quantum Meruit: Quantum meruit literally means "as much as he deserves" and refers to the contract remedy whereby a liability is implied because of the benefit that was bestowed by someone's efforts. This remedy avoids unjust enrichment. Basically, a party doing work for…
Qui Tam Action: Qui Tam is the Latin phrase for an action brought by a private citizen on behalf of the King as well as on behalf of himself. Modernly, Qui Tam refers to cases brought by citizens under the Federal Civil False Claims Act, or some other statute. Qui Tam is…
Quiet Enjoyment: Quiet enjoyment refers to the common law covenant between landlords and tenants that the tenant will be allowed the quiet use of the property without interference from the landlord. The covenant is understood to exist in lease agreements, even when they are…
Quitclaim Deed: A quitclaim deed is a deed by which a person grants to another all of his interest in some real property by agreeing to stop making claims on the property. This is a dangerous deed, in a sense, because there is no warranty of what actual title the grantee is…
Roth IRA: A Roth IRA is a type of Individual Retirement Account, or IRA, where contributions made to the account are not tax deductible when invested, but distributions from the Roth IRA accounts, which are made at a much later date, are tax free.
Sarbanes Oxley Act: The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, sometimes referred to as SOX, was a legislative attempt to respond to the accounting scandal caused by the recent fall of some publicly held companies and the perceived excesses of the management of some other companies…
Securities Fraud and Broker Fraud: Securities fraud and broker fraud is a crime that occurs when deception takes place in the trading of stocks and other securities. Many cases have been brought against stock brokers for fraud and deceptive practices. One such broker fraud crime is known as…
Service of Process: Service of process is the first shot fired across the bow in the litigation battle. After the initial filing of the petition in a civil case, the next step is to deliver the petition and the summons to the defendant. This is called service of process and it…
Sexual Harassment: Sexual Harassment is unlawful discrimination against a person with respect to that person's compensation, terms of employment, conditions of employment, or privileges of employment, because of or on account of the person's gender.
Stock Market: A stock market, or stock exchange, is a venue wherein shares of corporation stock are traded. The New York Stock Exchange is one of the oldest stock markets in existence. Stock trades occur in a public manner, according to fixed and known regulations…
Student Loan: A student loan is made to college students for payment or assistance with college tuition and expenses. The loans are guaranteed under the federal law. The Student Loan Marketing Association, also known as Sallie Mai, was set up in 1972 to administer the…
Tax Audit: A tax audit is an investigation conducted by the internal revenue service done to determine whether the taxpayer has paid the correct amount in tax. Some tax audits are triggered by IRS computers detecting an unusual amount of deductions or unreasonably low…
Tax Basis: The value assigned to a taxpayer's investment in particular property. This amount is used to compute the gain or loss from the transfer of the property and is called the taxpayer's tax basis in the property.
Trademark: A trademark is a mark of some kind that is distinctive in nature and that is capable of identifying a particular product or company. The trademark may be a symbol, a name, or a device adopted by the owner for the purpose of identification. The best practice…
U.S. Copyright Office: This is the location for the physical registration of copyrights in Washington, D.C.
UCC, Uniform Commercial Code: The UCC is the acronym for the Uniform Commercial Code. Coincidentally, UCC also refers to the Universal Copyright Convention. The more common reference is to the commercial code, which is largely adopted in all of the states and sets forth a regularized…
UCCC, Uniform Consumer Credit Code: The UCCC is the acronym for the Uniform Consumer Credit Code. This model act sets up restrictions on business transactions for consumers in applying for credit and for conducting credit sales.
Ultra Vires: Ultra Vires acts are unauthorized acts, especially those of a corporation. All corporations must state the purpose of their existence in their initial filings, usually in the articles of incorporation. Activities that are beyond the scope of those purposes…
Unauthorized Practice of Law: Only persons that have been licensed to practice law or who have been admitted to the bar are allowed to render legal services to other persons. All others are, strictly speaking, unauthorized.
Unavoidable Accident: In personal injury cases, or negligence cases, a party defendant cannot be liable to plaintiff for causing an accident that could not have been prevented with the exercise of reasonable care. Most courts today do not preclude the defendant from claiming the…
Unconscionable: In contract law, where the circumstances of the parties are such that one had great power in the negotiations and the other did not, the terms of the contract may be examined by the court for overreaching and therefore unconscionable.
Unconstitutional: Something that is against or contrary to a provision of a constitution. In the United States it is the judicial branch of the government that will declare a statute unconstitutional. The courts will wait until a proper constitutional issue arises in a case…
Undercapitalization: A corporation is deemed to be undercapitalized when it has less capital, or assets, than will be required for it to set up its business.
Underwriter: An underwriter is one who accepts insurance risks in exchange for a premium, or one who agrees to purchase all of a particular issuance of stock for the purpose of reselling it.
Undue Influence: Undue influence is the intentional act of depriving someone of their free will through an improper use of subtle yet coercive power, or by a misuse of a trust relationship, such that the will of a person is overborne and is submitted to the will of the…
Unearned Income: Unearned income, as the term relates to income tax law, is income received from sources other than wages, salaries, tips, and similar employee compensation. Income from rent, dividend payments received, and interest on bank accounts are examples of unearned…
Unemployment Insurance: Unemployment insurance is a government program that offers some measure of financial assistance and protection to persons who become unemployed for a period of time through no fault of their own. Premiums for this coverage is partially paid by the employers…
Unfair Competition: Unfair competition is dishonest or fraudulent business practices.
Uniform Child Jurisdiction Act: The UCCJA is a model act adopted by most states in some form or another that sets out a standard analysis for determining which state should have jurisdiction to make custodial decisions for a particular child. The act was aimed at preventing divorcing…
Uniform Commercial Code: The UCC is a model act adopted by most states in some form or another that sets out a standard for commercial transactions, including sales of goods, commercial paper, securities, bulk transfers, etc.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage: This is a type of automobile insurance coverage that most states now require to be included in all policies of insurance. The aim of the requirement is to afford some level of compensation in cases where injuries are caused by collisions with uninsured, or…
Unjust Enrichment: Unjust enrichment can be the basis of a claim against a party that has unjustly gained a benefit at the innocent expense of another. This is an equity concept from the common law.
Unlawful: Unlawful, simply put, is that which is illegal or which is not authorized by law. Claims are based on unlawful acts.
Unlawful Detainer: Unlawful Detainer is the retention of real property belonging to another past the date or time that the original entry onto the property was lawfully made. For example unlawful detainer will lie where a tenant holds over on the rented premises at the end of…
Unqualified Opinion: An unqualified opinion is an accounting legal term that should be compared with the concept of a Qualified Opinion. An unqualified opinion is an auditor's opinion on a company's financial condition and position that is made without reservation and with…
Unrealized Gains and Losses: An unrealized gain or loss is a fluctuation in market value for those securities being held by an investor. The gains or losses exist only on paper.
Unsecured Debt: A debt is said to be be unsecured when it has no collateral backing it. The only security for the debt is simply the promise to pay.