BOOK 1

1.Basic Legal Terms

attorney – a person, typically a lawyer, appointed to act for another person in
business or legal matters.
civil – occurring between citizens, involving citizen’s private rights.
complaint – an accusation in a civil court.
court – a place where justice is administered.
defendant – a person who has been accused of wrongdoing.
judge – a person who decides cases in a law court.
jury – a group of people sworn to give a verdict.
legal system – the methods of interpreting laws and putting them into effect.
paralegal – a person with legal training, who may assist the attorney.
plaintiff – a person who accuses another person of a wrongdoing.
verdict – a legal conclusion.

2.Basic Legal Concepts

appeal – an application to a higher court for a decision to be reversed.
damages – compensation by a court.
dispute – disagreement, argument, conflict.
due process –a citizen’s guarantee that he or she will receive a fair trial.
lawsuit – a legal action/case before a court.
legal action – a process to have a court of law to settle an argument.
proof – evidence or argument proving a fact or a truth.
settle – to reach an agreement.
trial – an event in court which a jury or judge decides if someone is innocent
or guilty.
3.Legal Resources
case annotations – articles about individual cases, printed in law journals.
cite – to refer to something, to mention something.
computerized database – a collection of texts and information which is
available on a computer.
digest – a compilation or summary of individual cases that have similar topics.
form book – a tool used by attorneys that show how documents should be
worded or formatted.
law journal – a scholarly or academic publication presenting commentary
about legal issues.
legal encyclopedia – a book which gives brief information about a wide range
of legal matters.
legal resources – the materials used for legal research (divided in two broad
categories: primary materials and secondary materials).
primary materials – texts which give information about the government’s law;
materials that discuss, explain, interpret and analyze what the law is or what it
should be, including treatises, law reviews, encyclopedias, ALR annotations,
restatements, legal newspapers.
reference – to mention or to refer to.

4.Sources of Law
legislation – set of laws, formally decided and put in force by a government.
pertain – be related, connected, appropriate.
policy – a principle which the law encourages.
statute – a formally written law.
(+court rules, precedent, procedure, relevant constitutional law, state law)
5.Preliminary Documents
agenda – a list of things that need to be done in a certain order.
correspondence – a close similarity, connection, or equivalence/letters and
emails.
demand package – a request for a set of documents related to a case.
fee agreement – a contract which defines a client's agreement to pay specific
fees for the services.
form letter – a letter printed many times and sent to many different people.
intake memo – initial summary/questionnaire of a potential client’s case.
litigation – the process of taking legal action.
pre-litigation – any activity that happens with a case before you file a lawsuit.
retainer agreement – a contract between a lawyer and a client for retention
and payment of services.
(+medical records, police report)

6.Court Structure
bankruptcy – the state of being bankrupt/a legal status of a person or other
entity that cannot repay debts to creditors.
claim – formally request or demand.
Court of Appeals – the court that reviews all decisions in the lower courts that
people object to.
discretionary review – the authority some courts have to decide which
appeals/cases they will consider from among the cases submitted to them.
District Court – a general court.
Specialized Court – for example: bankruptcy courts, tax courts, the court of
private land claims.
State Court – a court that decides disputes that pertain to state laws(rather
than federal laws).
Supreme Court – the highest court that operates under discretionary review.
7.Jurisdiction
adjudicate – make a formal judgement on a disputed matter/act as a judge.
authority –power/right to control people or organizations.
forum shopping – the act of choosing which court to take your case to.
jurisdiction – the official power to make legal decisions and judgements/the
authority of an official organization to deal with, hear & decide legal disputes.
personal jurisdiction – authority over a person.
territorial jurisdiction – authority over an area.
subject jurisdiction – authority over a particular subject.
exclusive jurisdiction – when only one court is able to
decide the issue.
concurrent jurisdiction – when more than one court is
able to decide the issue.
legal body – an organization with power to make or enforce laws.

8.In The Courtroom

bailiff – an officer in court who keeps order and enforces good behavior.
clerk of the court – a person who assists the judge with writing or
administration.
court reporter – the person who writes everything that is said in court.
defense – the side of a case that attempts to prove innocence.
juror – a member of a jury.
jury box – where the jury sits during a trial.
preside – to be in charge of a formal meeting or ceremony.
proceedings – a series of events that happen in a formal, controlled way.
prosecution – the side of a case that attempts to prove guilt.
9.Court Process
acquit – to decide officially that someone is not guilty of a crime.
arraignment – when a person is formally charged with an offence and has the
opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty.
charge – to accuse someone formally of a crime.
discovery – when a lawyer asks and examines information about a case from
the lawyer on the opposing side.
hung jury – a jury that cannot agree on whether someone is guilty or
innocent.
mistrial – a trial in which no decision is made or in which the trial is declared
invalid due to legal errors.
plea bargain – when a suspect is given the chance to stand trial for a lesser
offence if he pleads guilt.
pre-trial hearing – a meeting between the lawyers, the defendant, the
plaintiff and the judge before the trial, in which they attempt to come to an
agreement.
sentence – to formally decide what punishment they will get for their crime.
suppress – to prevent other people from seeing or using evidence.

10.Court Etiquette
bench – the name for the place where a judge sits in court.
off the record – not reported in public.
perjury – the crime of lying while giving evidence in court.
protocol – a system of rules about how to behave for formal occasions.
sworn in = under oath
well – the space in front of the judge in a courtroom.
11.Criminal Law
assault & battery – attacking, hurting another person.
capital punishment – punishing a person with death.
commit a crime – to destroy or break the law.
fine – a punishment in which someone must pay money.
jail – prison.
offend – to break the law.
probation – a period of time in which a criminal must behave well, otherwise
he will go to jail.
punish – to make someone suffer for their wrongdoing.
trespass – to go onto private land without permission from the owner.

12.Civil Law
compensation – an award to make up for a wrongdoing that affected you in
the past.
injunction – an official court order that stops a person or company from doing
something or forces them to do it.
liability – legal responsibility.
monetary – in the form of money(e.g. monetary damages).
negligence – failure to do the things that you have a duty to (or should) do.
probate – the act of dealing with a dead person’s property and will.
punitive damages – fees that must be paid in punishment for a wrongdoing.
sue – to take legal action against someone.
tort law – law which is involved in getting compensation for a civil wrongdoing
that caused loss or injury.

13.Administrative Law
accreditation – official authority to take a certain action.
bureaucracy – an administrative system ran by many offices, administrators
and petty officials. It normally involves large amounts of official paperwork.
compliance – when people obey an order or request.
disciplinary action – steps taken to punish a person or business that has not
correctly followed the rules.
government agency – an administrative department which is run by the
government.
jeopardize – put smn/smth into a situation in which there is a danger of loss,
harm, or failure / if something jeopardizes something else, it has a seriously
negative effect on it.
licence – a paper which gives permission for you to do or own something.
negotiate – to manage to come to an agreement over a difficult situation.
regulation – an official rule.
resolve – to find a solution to a problem.

14.Initial Client Interview

assertion – a statement of one’s beliefs.
belief – something that you think is, but may not really be, true.
documentation – paper that proves something is true or that something
happened.
elicit – to get (reaction, answer, information) from someone / to get the
information by talking to and questioning people.
factual – based of facts, not beliefs.
obtain – to get something.
recommend – to state that it should be done.
termination – the loss of employment against one’s will.
valid – based on truth; acceptable.
wrongful – illegal or incorrect.
15.Interviewing Witnesses
biased – showing unreasonable preferences that are based on personal
opinions.
credibility – being believable.
expert witness – a witness who can give a professional opinion on the facts of
the case.
eyewitness – a person who saw the accident which is under investigation.
friendly witness – a person who supports the client’s case.
hostile witness – a person who does not support the client’s case.
prejudiced – to show an unreasonable like/dislike for someone or something.
qualification – certification that someone has completed a course of study.

BOOK 2

1.Discovery Documents
discovery stage – the period before a trial when requests for documents,
interviews and legal actions are made.
interrogatory – questioning.
mental examination – an assessment of someone’s state of mind.
opposing – being in conflict with another person, team or army.
physical examination – an assessment of a person’s body for disease or injury.
privileged – (statement/conversation) confidential, unable to be revealed.
request for admissions – to ask a defendant to agree or deny certain facts
that pertain to a legal case.
request for production – the legal demand for the opposing party’s
information in a lawsuit.
settlement – an agreement between two legal parties that is reached through
negotiation, rather than by a court ruling.
subpoena – an order from the court for a witness to appear at a certain time
and place to bring all relevant documents.
2.Affidavits
affiant – a person who signs an affidavit and swears that the statements in it
are true.
affidavit – a written document in which the signer swears that the statements
are true before an authorized person, such as a notary public.
attest – to confirm that a legal document is genuine.
fact – any object or event that must be proved through evidence at a trial.
notary public – a person certified by his/her state to certify documents and
administer oaths.
perjury – the crime of lying after swearing to tell the truth before a notary
public or court official.
sworn statement – a spoken/written statement made under oath.
testimony – the spoken evidence given by a witness under oath at trial.

3.Legal Memorandums
analysis – the writer’s thoughtful assesment of the facts included in the
memo.
assignment – the section of a memo which explains what the document is
about.
citations – reference to other documents or cases in a memo.
conclusions – the final thoughts reached after consideration of the matters
discussed in a memo.
legal memorandum = memo – an essay dealing with a legal issue.
pertinent – the information related to the case at hand.
recommendations – suggestions about the next steps to be taken in a legal
memo.
statement of facts – the section of a memo which consolidates information
about a case in a clear, concise way.
4.Legal Documents
advocacy group – the group that works to unfold the rights of a particular
party or cause.
brief – a written legal document presented to a court to argue the case of one
party over another.
amicus brief – a type of brief which is filed by people who are not directly
part of a case, such as groups that have an interest in the outcome.
appellate brief – a type of brief which is filed after a trial has finished in an
attempt to appeal or overturn the decision of the court.
legal briefs – brief presented to the court prior to a trial starting with a
purpose of stating a party’s legal position.
merit brief – an unbiased description of a case based on evidence.
trial brief – a document containing a summary of a party’s case, including
its legal position and evidence, and is used by attorney’s during a trial.
commence – to begin.
dismiss – to throw the case out of court without further consideration.
unbiased – to be impartial and without prejudice.

5.Motions
dismissal – the act of ordering or allowing someone to leave.
harass – disturb, torment; offend.
motion – a request to the judge before a court.
motion for a new trial – a request made by a party, after a judgment is
is entered in a lawsuit, that the judge order a new trial.
motion for change of venue – a motion that ensures that a case is heard
in the best location.
motion for protective order – a motion that refers to a party’s request
that the court protect it from potentially abusive action by other party.
motion for summary judgment – a request for the court to rule that the
other party has no case, because there are no facts at issue.
 motion to compel – a motion that asks the court to order either the
opposing party or a third party to take some action, usually dealing
with discovery disputes.
motion to dismiss – a formal request for a court to dismiss a case.
motion to strike – a motion requesting to remove a witness’s testimony of
the opposing party.
movant – the defendant who is making the motion.
nonmovant – the plaintiff who will oppose the motion.
ruling – the court’s or a judge’s decision on a motion or trial.

6.Intentional Torts
civil litigation – any legal case that is not a criminal proceeding in which a
plaintiff seeks to be compensated.
damages – compensation by a court.
defamation – the act of making untrue and damaging statements about
another person or party.
deliberate – carefully considered and intentionally carried out.
harm to person – pain pr injury to a person’s body.
harm to property – damage to someone’s property.
injury – accidental or intentional harm to a person’s body.
intent – intention or purpose.
misconduct – doing something wrong on purpose.
tort – any wrongful act, whether intentional or accidental, where injury occurs
to another person or party.
tort action – a civil lawsuit that seeks remedy for a wrongful act.

7.Negligent Torts
actual cause – the event directly responsible for another event or injury.
breach of duty – the failure to carry out a legal or contractual obligation.
compensation – money given to someone as reparation for a service or injury.
duty – moral or legal obligation; responsibility.
duty of care – obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others.
harm – physical injury.
liability – legal responsibility.
negligent tort – injuries caused by another party’s failure to maintain a
reasonable person standard.
proximate cause – the immediate reason for something that results in harm
to another person.
prudence – using caution and good judgment.
“reasonable person” standard – the standard of care that a reasonable
person would observe under given circumstances.

8.Nuisance
allegation – a formal accusation against someone.
alternative – the opportunity to choose between two or more options.
entitlement – the fact of having a right to something.
excessive noise – loudness that is beyond an accepted volume and
bothersome.
injunctive relief = injunction – an official court order that stops a person or
company from doing something or forces them to do it.
interfere – prevent something from continuing or being carried out properly.
nuisance – anything that prevents private or public reasonable enjoyment of
property or place.
private – something that is set aside for use by certain individuals based on:
place of residence, fees paid, etc.
property – land or items owned by a person or group.
restitution – a solution to a problem that is accepted by all parties.
settlement request – a request that asks for the resolution of a dispute or law
suit.
small claims court – a special court intended to handle small matters or debts
quickly.