Basic Legal Terms
Contract is a legal agreement entered into between two or more
persons, known as “parties to the contract”, whereby an offer is
made and accepted
Conviction a judgment of guilt against a criminal defendant.
Counsel legal representative: lawyer or attorney
Court government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes.
Judges sometimes use "court" to refer to themselves in the third
person, as in "the court has read the briefs."
Court Stenographer a person who makes a word-for-word record
of what is said in court, generally by using a stenographic machine,
shorthand or audio recording, and then produces a transcript of the
proceedings upon request.
Creditor a person to whom or business to which the debtor owes
money or that claims to be owed money by the debtor.
Damages is an amount of money to be paid to a plaintiff (the
person suing) as compensation for loss or injury.
Debtor someone who owes money to a creditor
Decision the verdict of a court in a case
Deed a written legal document describing a piece of property and
setting out the boundaries of that property
Default is the failure to do something required of you under
contract – an obligation. Ordinarily the obligation is to pay money,
which is you do not pay, would mean you are in default of the
contract
Part 2
Defendant the person accused of the crime (criminal cases) or the
person or organization that is being sued (civil cases)
Docket a brief record of all important actions in court, from the
beginning to the end of a case. A log containing the complete
history of each case in the form of brief chronological entries
summarizing the court proceedings.
Dismissal: the termination of a case
Double Jeopardy is the process of being tried twice for the same
crime/offense.
Due Process is a legal doctrine that a person’s trial proceeding be
fair
Estate all of the property of a deceased person
Executor person named in a will to dispense the estate
Ex parte a proceeding brought before a court by one party only,
without notice to or challenge by the other side.
Evidence documents, etc. that prove a claim as to facts
Exhibit: document, evidence, provided to a court to support a
claim
Fine punishment imposed for an offense
Foreclosure occurs when a borrower cannot repay their debts
and the creditor forecloses and sells the property – such as a
house.
Basic Legal Terms Part 2