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Law
Definitions
Question | Answer |
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Barrister | A lawyer in England who accepts cases from solicitors and presents them in court, and also acts as consultant in complex legal issues. |
Solicitor | An "office" lawyer in England who interviews clients, carries on legal aspects of business and family affairs, and prepares cases for trial. |
Mediation | A form of ADR where a neutral third party who is acceptable to both sides acts as mediator, assisting the parties to reach a settlement. |
Adjudicate | Hear parties and deliver a decision with reasons. |
Arbitration | A form of ADR where a dispute is referred to an arbitrator who adjudicates the matter and the parties agree to be bound by the arbitrator's decision, although there may be a right to appeal to the courts. |
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) | Using private procedures instead of the courts to resolve disputes. |
Contingent or contingency fee | A fee aid for a lawyer's services only if the client is successful; there is no charge if the client is unsuccessful. |
Judicare | A model of legal aid in which lawyers agree to be paid according to government fee schedules for serving clients who qualify for legal aid. |
Party and party costs | An award that shifts some of the costs of litigation to the losing side according to a published scale of fees. |
Pleadings | Documents filed by each party to an action providing information it intends to prove in court. |
Counterclaim | A claim by the defendant arising from the same facts as the original action by the plaintiff to be tried along with that action. |
Statement of defence | A reply to a statement of claim, admitting facts not in dispute, denying other facts, and setting out facts in support of the defence. |
Serving | Providing a copy of the issued claim to each defendant. |
Issuing | Commencing the lawsuit by filing a copy of the statement of claim with the court office. |
Settlement | An out-of-court procedure by which one of the parties agrees to pay a sum of money or perform an act in return for a waiver by the other party of all rights arising from the grievance. |
Res Judicata | A case that has already been decided by a court and cannot be brought before a court again. |
Class Action | An action in which an individual represents a group of possible plaintiffs and the judgment decides the matter for all members of the class at once. |
Plaintiff | The party that commences a private (civil) legal action against another party. |
Respondent | The party who defends on an appeal. |
Appellant | The party who petitions for an appeal. |
Equitable remedies | New remedies created by the courts of equity to address situations where money damages did not solve the problem. |
Equity | Rules developed by the courts of equity as exceptions to existing rules of common law. |
Codify | Set down and summarize in a statute the existing common law rules governing a particular area of activity. |
Subordinate legislation | Law created by administrative agencies whose authority is granted by statute in order to carry out the purposes of the legislation. |
Overrule | To declare an existing precedent no longer binding or effective. |
Stare decisis | To stand by a previous decision. |
Procedural law | Law the deals with the protection and enforcement of substantive rights and duties. |
Substantive law | The rights and duties that each person has in society. |
Case law | A collection of individual cases decided by the courts that develop and shape legal principles. |
Basic law | A constitution that is habitually obeyed by the citizens of a country and that they regard as legitimate and binding. |
Rule of law | Established legal principles that treat all persons equally and that government itself obeys. |
Private law | Law that regulates the relations between private persons and groups of private persons. |
Public law | Law that regulates the conduct of government and the relations between government and private persons. |
Interlocutory proceeding | Proceeding within a proceeding. |
Statute | A piece of legislation passed by government. |
Common law | The case-based system of law originating in England and covering most of the English-speaking world. Based on the recorded reasons given by the courts for their decisions. |
Civil law | The system of law involving a comprehensive legislated code, derived from Roman law that developed in continental Europe and greatly influenced by the Code Napoleon in 1804. |
Security interest | An interest in goods, intangible property, or personal property that secures payment of a debt or performance of an obligation. |
Unsecured creditor | A creditor who has no security interest in any of the debtors' property. |
Secured creditor | A creditor that has collateral security in the form of a prior claim against specified assets of the debtor. |
Arms length | A transaction between persons who are not related in any way. |
Bankrupt/insolvent person | A person who has made a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy or against whom a receiving order has been made. |
Limitation period | The time period within which a right of action must be pursued or it is lost forever. |
Holdback | An amount that the owner who contracts for construction work may withhold from payments made to the principal contractor to protect against claims from subcontractors and suppliers. |
Privity | The relation which subsists between two contracting parties. |
Assignment of books debts | Security interests in the debtors' account receivables. |
Floating charge | A form of mortgage on all the assets of a corporation other than those already specifically charged. |
Chattel Mortgage | A mortgage for moveable property, not real property. (personal property) |
Collateral | Creditor having a claim on an asset of the debtor. |
Preferential share | The first $200,000 of a deceased spouses estate goes to their surviving spouse on intestacy. |
Certificate of appointment of estate trustee without a will (F.K.A letters of administration) | Permission from court to administer the estate of a deceased person without a will. |
Administrator | A personal representitive of a deceased person who has not made a will. |
Abatement | A proportional reduction of the pecuniary legacies when funds or assets are not sufficient to pay them in full. |
Ademption | The extinction or withdrawal of legacy by testators' act equivalent to revocation or indicating intention to revoke. |
Per capita | Only given to those living. |
Per stirpes | Distribution of an estate per lineal descent, therefore children take share of parents' gift if the parent dies prior to the death of the testator. |
Certificate of appointment of estate trustee with will annexed | Permission from court to administer the estate of a deceased person with a will but who has not appointed/or does not have an executor. |
Certificate of appointment of estate trustee with a will (F.K.A letters probate) | Permission from court to administer the estate of a deceased person with a will. |
Vested | Fixed, settled, absolute. Therefore, you have rights to absolute ownership and the property is not subject to being defeated by a condition precedent. |
Life tenant | Person who possesses/holds property for the duration of their life or the life of another, the beneficiary of the life interest. |
Life interest | An interest or claim not amounting to ownership and limited by a term of life; that term of life may be the life of whom the interest is vested or for the life of another. (per autre vie) |
Legacy | Disposition of property by will. |
Codicil | A document that changes, supplements, adds to, modifies, explains, alters, or revokes provisions in a will. |
Devise | Testamentary disposition of realty (real property). |
Bequest | A gift of personal property by will. |
To bequeath | To give property by will (personal property). |
Beneficiary | A person whom something is given in a will (beneficiaries can be of other instruments other than a will, such as a life insurance policy). |
Executor | Personal representitive appointed in a will, of a deceased person who dies with a will. |
Reciprocal/mutual wills | When 2 or more people make mutual provisions in a will in favour of one another. |
Will | A unilateral, revocable instrument whereby a person makes a disposition of their estate after death. |
Intestate | To die without a will. |
Testate | To die with a will. |
Trustee | One who oversees the property in the trust (appointed by the deceased/by law) and who executes the trust for the benefit of the cestui que trust. |
Cestuie que trust | A beneficiary of a trust (trusts are a gift of money granted on a conditional basis). The trustee will hold onto the estate until the cestui que trust meets the conditions. (e.g. age) |
Testamentary trust | Trust made to take affect after one is deceased, can be included in the will. |
Trust | A right of property (real or personal) held by one party for the benefit of another. |
Estate Administration | Deal with the collection, management, realization of the deceased assets after settlement of all proper debts and claims against the estate, distribution of the estate to those beneficially entitled. |
To "realize" assets | To sell or get money for one's assets. (convert to cash) |
Testamentary gift | A gift given after death. |
Inter vivos gifts | During life, thus a gift given prior to death. |
Intangible property | Property that is not physical in nature, can't be touched. (e.g. goodwill and intellectual property such as copyrights and trademarks) |
Tangible property | Chattels, assets that are not real property. |
Estate | All property (real and personal) belonging to a person at the time of their death. Includes both tangible and intangible property that a person has interest in. |
20 year recital rule | A recital that is 20 years old or more, may be relied upon/no further proof required. |
Recital | A statement made in a registry instrument. |
Deposit | A document that is deposited with the Land Registry Office (LRO) to give evidence of some fact relating to title. |
Day sheets | A daily list of all instruments that have been registered on all registry lands that have not yet been abstracted. (entered into abstract book) |
2nd exception | A deed from the municipality for tax arrears is a good root of title. |
Root deed | The first deed outside the 40-year period. (root of title) |
Chain of title | A chronological listing of the owners of a parcel of land from the root deed and ending with the current owner. |
Subsearch | A less extensive search of a title for a particular purpose; looking at the 'current state' of title. |
Good and valid title/marketable title | The opinion the lawyer gives after completing the title search, when reporting to client. |
Crown Patent | Government retains residual ownership in land. In order for someone to obtain private ownership rights in land, Crown must first formally convey land to an individual by way of patent/grand. |
Real Property | Land, as opposed to personal property. |