JD Next – Glossary

Term	Definition
Acceptance	Assent to the terms of an offer. Acceptance must be judged objectively, but can either be expressly stated or implied by the offeree's conduct. To form a binding contract, acceptance should be relayed in a manner authorized, requested, or at least reasonably expected by the offeror.
Accruing	To be added as a matter of periodic gain or advantage, as interest on money.
Affirmed	Generally means to confirm or ratify. Common uses include: (1) an appellate court affirms a lower ruling, meaning the ruling stands; (2) courts or boards use affirm to mean approve; (3) a person may affirm an oath rather than swear it.
Allegation	A claim of fact not yet proven to be true. In a lawsuit, a party sets out allegations in a complaint, indictment, or affirmative defense, and then uses evidence to try to prove them.
Appeal	A challenge to a previous legal determination directed to a higher authority. Trial court decisions can usually be appealed to an appellate court, and then sometimes to a court of last resort. Appeals may be of right or discretionary.
Appellant	The party who appeals a lower court's decision in a higher court and seeks reversal or modification.
Appellee	The party against whom an appeal is filed and who usually seeks affirmance of the lower court's decision.
Arbitrary Discretion	When used about a judge's ruling, arbitrary means based on individual discretion rather than fair application of the law. A discretionary decision is not always arbitrary, but ignoring evidence or precedent would be arbitrary.
Assent	The expression of approval or agreement.
Assignee	A person to whom a property right is transferred by the holder of that right under contract. The transfer is called an assignment.
Assume a Debt	To assume means to undertake or take over a duty or responsibility, such as another person's debt.
Avers	To state or assert to be the case.
Award	A final judgment or decision, often declaring that one party owes another money. The term is often used for decisions by arbitrators and juries, but may also refer to judges' decisions.
Bear interest	If a bank account or investment bears interest, it pays money for keeping funds in the account.
Black letter law	Basic standard rules that are generally known and free from doubt; rules that can be applied in a mechanical way without moral qualms or other considerations.
Breach	Violation of a law or contractual duty.
Breach of contract	The violation of a contractual obligation, such as repudiating a promise, failing to perform a promise, or interfering with another party's performance.
Brief	Written arguments submitted to the court.
Business efficacy	The power to produce intended results.
Capricious	Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior; also a standard of review on appeal, often in administrative law, under which a lower decision will not be disturbed unless it has no reasonable basis.
Case Brief	A dissection of a judicial opinion containing a written summary of the basic components of that decision.
Case law	Law based on judicial decisions rather than constitutions, statutes, or regulations.
Cause of action	A set of predefined factual elements that allow for a legal remedy. The needed elements may come from a constitution, statute, precedent, or regulation.
Chattels	A category of property mostly associated with movable goods; traditionally all property that was not real estate and not attached to real estate.
Circuit Court	A United States court of appeals. There are twelve regional federal circuits plus the Federal Circuit with nationwide jurisdiction over certain issues such as patents.
Claim	A set of operative facts creating a right enforceable in court. Slightly broader than cause of action.
Cold calling	A tool of law professors using the Socratic method by questioning students to develop critical thinking skills.
Common law	Law derived from judicial decisions rather than statutes.
Complaint	The pleading that starts a case, setting forth jurisdiction, the plaintiff's cause of action, and a demand for relief.
Conclusion	The final part of a speech or writing; also a judgment or inference from reasoning. A conclusion of law applies law to facts; a conclusion of fact is a finding from evidentiary facts.
Concurring Opinion	An opinion agreeing with the majority's result but not its rationale. It is not binding but may be persuasive.
Condition precedent	A condition or event that must occur before a right, claim, duty, or interest arises. In contracts, it is an event that must occur before performance is required.
Consensus ad idem	Latin for agreement; in contract law, a meeting of the minds of all parties involved.
Consideration	Something bargained for and received by a promisor from a promisee, such as property, a return promise, an act, or forbearance. Required to form a contract unless a substitute applies.
Contract	An agreement between private parties creating mutual obligations enforceable by law. Basic elements include mutual assent, consideration, capacity, and legality.
Counsel	To provide legal advice or guidance; also a lawyer who gives advice and represents clients.
Countervailing	Offsetting an effect by countering it with something of equal force.
Court of Appeals	May mean an intermediate appellate court, the highest court in some states, or a branch of the English Supreme Court of Judicature.
Court orders	Decisions or judgments issued by a court, including orders after hearings or consent orders based on the parties' agreement.
Courts of equity	Traditionally, courts hearing cases involving remedies other than monetary damages, such as injunctions, writs, or specific performance.
Cross-examination	Questioning of a witness by the opposing party after direct examination, often using leading questions to test credibility or expose weaknesses.
Damages	In civil cases, a remedy in the form of monetary compensation to the harmed party.
Decleration	Formal statement, proclamation, or announcement such as an affidavit.
Decree	An order handed down by a judge that resolves issues in a case. Historically associated with courts of equity, admiralty, divorce, or probate.
Defendant	In a civil matter, the party sued by the plaintiff; in a criminal matter, the party prosecuted.
Deliberation	As an adjective, intentional action or omission; as a verb, the act of carefully considering evidence, facts, law, or other matters.
Demurrer	A defense asserting that even if all allegations in a complaint are true, they are insufficient to establish a valid cause of action. In most jurisdictions now called a motion to dismiss.
Deposition	A witness's sworn out-of-court testimony used in discovery and sometimes at trial.
Dicta	A comment, suggestion, or observation in a judicial opinion that is not necessary to resolve the case and is not binding, though it may be persuasive.
Disposition	In trusts and estates, the transfer, gift, or sale of property; in criminal procedure, the final determination of the court in a criminal charge.
Dispositive facts	Facts that are decisive in answering a question of law or resolving a legal dispute.
Dissenting	Disagreement with the majority opinion; a judge opposing the holding may file a dissenting opinion.
Element	An essential requirement to make a claim or defense in court.
Endorse	A writing of one's name on an instrument to authenticate it or transfer an interest.
Equity	A body of remedies and procedures distinct from legal remedies. Equitable relief often includes injunctions, specific performance, or vacatur.
Estate	The total real and personal property owned by an individual prior to distribution through a trust or will.
Estoppel	A bar preventing one from asserting a claim or right that contradicts what one previously said, did, or what has been legally established as true.
Estoppel in pais	Also called equitable estoppel; a defense preventing a party from using a right against another when the right arises from misleading conduct by the person claiming it.
Evidentiary hearing	A court event after an initial hearing at which the parties present evidence for determination of factual issues. Includes a trial.
Examination of the title	A review of the history of ownership and related deeds of property to assure it is suitable for sale.
Exchequer Chamber	An English appellate court for common law civil actions before the Judicature Acts reforms.
Exclusive dealing contracts	Arrangements in which a seller agrees to sell all or a substantial portion of products to a particular buyer, or a buyer agrees to purchase requirements from a particular seller.
Execution	May mean carrying out an order or decree, completing formalities to make a document effective, putting a person to death pursuant to sentence, or enforcing a monetary judgment.
Execution of the instrument	The completion of a legal instrument by signing it, and perhaps sealing and delivering it, so that it becomes legally binding and enforceable.
Executor	Someone named in a will to carry out the testator's wishes.
Expectation damages	Damages intended to put the injured party in as good a position as if the breaching party had fully performed.
False recital of consideration	A written statement saying there is consideration when there actually is not.
FIRAC brief	A method of briefing cases standing for Facts, Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion.
Forbearance	Intentional abstaining from doing something; in law, delaying enforcement of a right, obligation, or debt.
Foundation	In evidence, the basis for admitting testimony or evidence by establishing qualifications or authenticity; also a fund or endowment for a benevolent purpose.
Gap filling	When a court deals with a gap in a contract by ascertaining what the parties' intentions would have been at the time they entered the contract.
Good faith	A term generally describing honest dealing, including honest belief or purpose, faithful performance, observance of fair dealing standards, or absence of fraudulent intent.
Holding	In civil procedure, a court's determination of some matter of law, often central to the case; in commercial law, legally owned property.
Illusory Promise	A promise unenforceable due to indefiniteness or lack of mutuality, where only one side is bound.
Immaterial	In court, an objection that evidence has nothing substantial to do with an issue; in a lawsuit, a matter with no bearing on the issues in dispute.
Impute	To attach or ascribe; to place responsibility or blame on one person for another's acts because of a relationship; or to attribute knowledge to someone because of a relationship.
Instrument	A written legal document recording the formal execution of legally enforceable acts or agreements, such as contracts, wills, promissory notes, deeds, or statutes.
Intent	The mental aspect behind an action, often central in criminal law and shown by circumstantial evidence.
Interest	A payment associated with borrowing or lending money, usually determined by an interest rate applied to the principal.
Issue	In general, any point in dispute between parties; in trusts and estates, the lineal descendants of an individual.
Joinder	When the claims of parties in one lawsuit are joined.
Judgment	A court order determining each party's rights and obligations with respect to the issues in dispute.
Jurisdiciton	The power of a court to adjudicate cases and issue orders; also the territory within which a court or agency may properly exercise power.
Jurisprudence	The study, knowledge, philosophy, or science of law.
Jury instruction	Instructions written by the judge and given to the jury to guide deliberation on procedure and applicable law.
Meeting of minds	Actual assent by both parties to contract formation, including agreement on the same terms, conditions, and subject matter. Modern doctrine focuses on objective manifestations of assent.
Mesne assignments	Mesne means intermediate or intervening in legal context; the term survives mainly in phrases such as mesne profits.
Misrepresentation	A false or misleading statement or material omission that renders other statements misleading, with intent to deceive.
Motion	A request to a court for a ruling or order, made in writing or orally as rules require.
Motion to dismiss	A formal request for a court to dismiss a case.
Mutual assent	Agreement by both parties to a contract, usually shown objectively through offer and acceptance.
Mutual mistake	A contract defense arguing a contract is invalid because both parties shared a material mistaken belief about a substantive characteristic of the subject matter.
Negotiation	The process of parties bargaining in an attempt to reach agreement, whether for contracts or settlements.
Nominal damages	A trivial sum awarded when a legal right has been violated but no actual compensable loss is proven.
Non-binding authority	Persuasive authority that a court may follow if persuaded, such as law review articles, treatises, and legal encyclopedias.
Nullify	To make legally null and void; invalidate.
Objection	A formal protest during trial, deposition, or other procedure seeking to disallow testimony or evidence that violates evidence or procedural rules.
Offer	A promise to do or refrain from doing something in exchange for something else, stated and delivered so that a reasonable person would expect a binding contract to arise from acceptance.
Opinion	A court's written statement explaining its decision. The term also appears in phrases such as majority opinion, concurring opinion, dissenting opinion, advisory opinion, per curiam opinion, plurality opinion, expert opinion, and opinion work product.
Order	A decision issued by a court or authoritative body, including final and non-final orders.
Parol evidence	Under the parol evidence rule, evidence of agreements outside the parties' written contract is generally inadmissible in contract disputes.
Per curiam	Latin for by the court; an appellate opinion that does not identify a specific judge as author.
Plaintiff	In a civil matter, the party who initiates a lawsuit against the defendant.
Plea	A defendant's formal answer to criminal charges, such as guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere.
Prejudicial	In civil procedure, dismissal with prejudice is final and bars refiling; without prejudice allows refiling. In evidence, prejudicial evidence unfairly biases the jury.
Principal	May mean a person authorizing another to act, the base amount of a debt or investment excluding interest, someone with primary responsibility for an obligation, or the corpus of a trust.
Procedural posture	A neutral summary of how the case arrived in the court.
Promissory estoppel	A doctrine allowing recovery based on a promise when reliance on that promise was reasonable and detrimental.
Promissory note	An unconditional written promise to pay a certain amount of money to a named party or holder, signed by the maker.
Question of law	An issue resolved by a judge rather than a jury, including interpretation or application of law, identifying the relevant law, or certain reserved issues of fact.
Recovery	To receive a money judgment in a lawsuit.
Relief	The redress or assistance a party seeks from a court; essentially similar to remedy, though sometimes broader.
Remanded	To send back, often when an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court or agency for reconsideration.
Remedy	A form of court enforcement of a legal right, including damages, coercive remedies such as injunctions or specific performance, and declaratory judgment.
Restatement of the Law of Contracts	A secondary source published by the American Law Institute that synthesizes and restates contract law principles and is persuasive rather than binding unless adopted by a court.
Reversed	When an appellate court determines that a lower court's judgment was incorrect and directs that it be vacated or retried.
Specific performance	A contractual remedy ordering a party to actually perform its promise because monetary damages are inadequate.
Statute	A law enacted by a legislature.
Summary judgment	A judgment entered by a court for one party and against another without a full trial.
Superior Court	Usually a state trial-level court, despite the word superior.
Supra	A Latin term meaning above, used in legal writing to refer the reader to an earlier portion of a document, case, or book.
Supreme Court	The highest court in a jurisdiction, or in some places a lower court whose name is historical.
Sustained	To support, uphold, or maintain; for example, objection sustained.
Terms of art	Words having particular meanings in a field, especially law.
Testator	A person who has died and left a will.
Testified	To give testimony under oath as a witness.
To wit	A phrase meaning the following comes to mind, used to introduce examples.
Trial court	A court of original jurisdiction where evidence and testimony are first introduced and findings of fact and law are made.
Undue influence	A contract defense arguing that improper persuasion undermined one party's free will, making the contract voidable.
Unilateral Contract	A contract created by an offer that can only be accepted by performance.
Unreported case	A case not reported in an official law report because it was not considered important enough, though it may still be cited.
Void	Having no legal effect from the start.
Waiver	Intentionally or voluntarily giving up a recognized right.