A fortiori: with stronger reason; the logic that one ascertained facts means another associated but less certain fact is also true.

ABROGATE: To overturn or invalidate.

Ad Hoc: Latin shorthand meaning "for this purpose only." Thus, an ad hoc committee is formed for a specific purpose, usually appointed to solve a particular problem. An ad hoc attorney is one hired to handle one problem only and often is a specialist in a particular area or considered especially able to argue a key point.

Ad litem - a person substituted for a deceased party.

Aleatory: uncertain; usually applied to insurance contracts in which payment is dependent on the occurrence of a contingent event, such as injury to the insured person in an accident or fire damage to his insured building.

Bailor: one who receives security.

Bailee: one who gives security.

Bare non disclosure: Definition not found. Construct as: Non disclosure is tolerated, but barely and has no relief because there is no duty to reveal the information in the absence of a disclosure requirement (statute).
Bare: One who is barely tolerated [caution: this defintion is uncertain]
Non disclosure: A failure to reveal facts, which may exist when there is no "concealment."

Battery: "the least touching of another in anger is a battery." "If any of them use violence against the other, to force his way in a rude inordinate manner, it is battery" Cole v. Turner, 6 Mod. Rep. 149, 90 Eng. Rep. 958 (Nisi Prius 1704).

Bona Fide: Latin for "good faith," it signifies honesty, the "real ...

BURDEN OF PROOF: The obligation of a party to affirmatively establish that which he has alleged to be true.

Capias ad respondendum: a judicial writ ordering the sheriff to take the defendant and keep him safely to answer the plaintiff in the action.

Chaffer: To bargain or haggle, to bandy words; engage in small talk.

Collateral Estoppel: Prior judgment between the same parties on a cause of action to bar relitigation. The doctrine recognizing that the determination of facts litigated between two parties in a proceeding is binding on those parties in all future proceedings against each other. Collateral estoppel is also known as issue preclusion.

Conditional: Performance becomes due only if a certain event occurs.

Constructive Conditions of Exchange: When a party makes a promise in exchange for a return promise, it can only be protected by making its own promise conditional on performance by the other party.

Constructive Trust: when a person has title to property and/or takes possession of it under circumstances in which he/she is holding it for another, even though there is no formal trust document or agreement. The court may determine that the holder of the title holds it as constructive trustee for the benefit of the intended owner. This may occur through fraud, breach of faith, ignorance or inadvertence. Monarco v. Lo Greco 35 C2d 621, 1950

Contracts of Adhesion: "in which one predominate unilateral will dictates its law to an undetermined multitude rather than to an individual * * * as those contracts which, as the Romans said, resemble a law much more than a meeting of the minds." Saleilles, De laDeclaration de Volonté, 229, (1901).

Corpus Delicti (corpus dee-lick-tie): Latin for the substantial fact that a crime has been committed, and in popular crime jargon, the body of the murder victim.

CONSENT JUDGMENT: The stipulation of the parties that judgment may be entered.

Converter: unauthorized assumption and exercise of the right of ownership.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT: A judgment entered against a defendant due to his failure to respond to the plaintiff's action or to appear at the trial.

DE MINIMIS: A shortened form of "de minimis non curat lex," the law does not concern itself with small matters; a phrase meaning that something is very small and insignificant.

Demur: (verb use) - To object, take exception or delay; (noun use) - The act of demurring, Objection or Delay.
DEMURRER: Generally, an answer made by the defendant acknowledging that the facts set forth in the plaintiff's complaint are true, but that the plaintiff is not entitled to a remedy. [In this case, it was Ward, the plaintiff, who demurred to Weaver's version of the facts. Although that is not the way we understand demurrers today, maybe those wacky English did it differently in 1616.]

Detrimental reliance: accepting a promise (e.g., a promotion, benefits, etc.) that contains detriments (e.g. stress in a management position) in return for your actions (work).

DICTA: That portion of a court opinion that does not reflect the holding or the necessary analysis. Dicta can be viewed as surplus language that is not necessary for the court's holding.

Domicile: A person's domicile is the place of "his true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment, and to which he has the intention of returning whenever he is absent". Stine v. Moore

Ex ante: A statute is best interpreted from what precedes and what follows it.

Ex Post Facto: Latin for "after the fact," which refers to laws adopted after an act is committed making it illegal although it was legal when done, or increasing the penalty for a crime after it is committed. Such laws are specifically prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9. Therefore, if a state legislature or Congress enacts new rules of proof or longer sentences, those new rules or sentences do not apply to crimes committed before the new law was adopted. Punishment which retroactively increases the penalty for a crime that has already been committed.

Filius nullius: A child’s condition when borne out of wedlock.

Forum non conveniens: the discretionary power of a court to decline jurisdiction when convenience of the parties would be better served in another forum (court).

Freedom from contract: provides that parties may negotiate without the risk of pre-contractual liability, under the assumption that parties enter negotiation in the hope that the gain will outweigh the risk of failed negotiation.

Freedom to contract: make contracting available to non-lawyers who will take the pains to clarify their ideas as to what they want to contract about.

Guardian ad litem: a person appointed by the court only to take legal action on behalf of a minor or an adult not able to handle his/her own affairs. Duties may include filing a lawsuit for an injured child, defending a lawsuit or filing a claim against an estate. Usually a parent will file a petition to be appointed the guardian ad litem of a child hurt in an accident at the same time the lawsuit is filed.

IIED: Intent to inflict emotional damage.

Illusory: deceptive, a contract with non-binding terms.

Implied in fact: A contract essentially based upon the intentions of the parties.

Implied in law: A contract as a fiction of law created to require restitution from the unjustly enriched to the benefactor. But restitution will not compensate the disappointed party for losses that did not result in a benefit to the other party.

Impute: attribute vicariously, ascribe or charge an act, fact or quality to a person.

IN PERSONAM: "Into or against the person"; in pleading, the term refers to an action against a person or persons founded on personal liability, and requiring jurisdiction over the person sought to be held liable.

IN REM: a technical tern used to designate proceedings or actions instituted 'against the thing', in contradiction to personal actions which are said to be 'in personam".

Inclusio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius, "To include one is to exclude the alternatives" can be undone with "including but not limited to".

Inchoate: being only partly in existence or operation.

Indispensable: A person without whose presence an adequate judgment cannot be entered for determining rights of parties before a court.

INJUNCTION: A judicial remedy afforded for the purpose of requiring a party to refrain from doing or continuing to do a particular act or activity.

Inter alia: "among other things", an ancient pleading term.

Inter Apices Facti - seizing upon subtle facts to justify something intuitive.

Interdict: a person incapable of controlling his or her own affairs.

Interlocutory: provisional; an interlocutory order or decree is one that does not finally determine a cause of action but only decides some intervening matter.

Interpleader: debt of two parties, third party knows debt is owed but not which person to pay. He deposits the funds with the court to sort out & asks to dismiss him from the suit.

Inter vivos: between the living. A transaction or trust made for living people.

INTERVENTION: A proceeding permitting a person to enter into a lawsuit already in progress. This term refers to admission of a person not an original party to the suit, so that the person can protect some right or interest which is allegedly affected by the proceeding.

INTRACTABLE: Difficult to manage.

Ipso Facto: In and of itself.

JOINDER: Joining or coupling together. Uniting of several causes of action or parties in a single suit. Mandatory joinder refers to the mandatory joining of certain parties which are required for the just adjudication of a controversy.

Legator: one who established a will.

Lis Pendens (lease pen-dense) Latin for "a suit pending," a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed which concerns the title to real property or some interest in that real property. The lis pendens (or notice of pending action) is filed with the clerk of the court, certified that it has been filed, and then recorded with the County Recorder. This gives notice to the defendant who owns real estate that there is a claim on the property, and the recording informs the general public (and particularly anyone interested in buying or financing the property) that there is this potential claim against it. The lis pendens must include a legal description of the real property, and the lawsuit must involve the property. Otherwise, if there is a petition to remove the lis pendens from real property not involved in the lawsuit, the plaintiff who originally recorded a false lis pendens will be subject to payment of attorney's fees as a penalty. Example: Joe Plumbob provides work and materials to Smith's home, sues to enforce a mechanic's lien, but records a lis pendens describing three other properties owned by Smith; Plumbob can be penalized by court order. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Schirmer

Mandamus: "we order", writ of mandamus.

Mutuality: Reciprocation, interchange. Acting by each of two parties, an acting in return. "Mutuality of contract" means that obligation rests on each party to do or permit doing of something in consideration of other party’s act or promise; neither party being bound unless both are bound.

The doctrine requiring a party asserting collateral estoppel to have been a party to the prior action.

MUTUALITY OF ESTOPPEL: The principle that collateral estoppel can be asserted only by persons who were parties or privies to an original action. Also, The doctrine which prohibits one party from raising an issue or a matter as to which the other party is estopped. The estoppel is mutual if the one taking advantage of the earlier adjudication would have been bound by it, had it gone against him.

Negligence - any conduct that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others.

Nexus: A sufficient presence for taxable purposes.

NON-MUTUAL COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL: Where a party who is not bound by an earlier judgment may use the judgment against a party who is bound by the judgment.

Nudum pactum: a voluntary promise, without any consideration than mere goodwill, or natural affection.

NUGATORY: Futile or invalid.

NUISANCE: An unusual, unreasonable or unlawful use of property by the landowner that interferes with other property owners' use and enjoyment of their own property.

Offeree: The person receiving the offer, typically, the person with the power to make a contract.

Offeror: The person giving the offer, typically, the master of the offer.

OFFENSIVE COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL: Offensive collateral estoppel refers to a situation where a plaintiff is seeking to estop a defendant from re-litigating the issues which the defendant previously litigated and lost in an earlier action.

Pacta Sunt Servanda: The Pact Must Be Served - Old law requiring a contract to be completely and literally fulfilled or breach could be alleged by the other party.

Per curiam; adj. Latin for "by the court," defining a decision of an appeals court as a whole in which no judge is identified as the specif- ic author.

Plenary: Full, entire, complete, absolute, perfect.

Prima Facie: Not requiring further support to establish existence, validity or credibility.

PRIVITY: A relationship between parties out of which some mutuality of interest arises. The doctrine of res judicata is said to apply not only to one who was a party to the litigation in question, but also to those in privity with him because their mutual or subsequent interests can be considered so related to the interest of the actual party litigant that it is proper to hold them bound by the judgment as well.

Products Liability: A doctrine holding a manufacturer liable when an article is placed into the market with a defect which causes an injury.

Promissory estoppel: A theory that reliance on a promise is basis for the enforcement of the promise.

Proprio vigore: one's own strength, from a dissent by Justice Holmes in Smith v. Kansas City Title & Trust Co.

Quid pro quo: Giving something to receive something, mutual consideration.

Replevin: An action whereby the owner or person entitled to repossession of goods or chattels may recover those goods or chattels from one who has wrongfully distrained or taken or who wrongfully detains such goods or chattels.

Res ipsa loquitur: "The thing speaks for itself." A rule of evidence whereby negligence of the alleged wrongdoer may be inferred from mere fact that the accident happened and reasonable belief in the facts suggest the accident would have happened in the absence of negligence. The plaintiff must show that negligence is more probable than not, or as commonly expressed, that the event does not ordinarily occur without negligence of someone.

REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION: An inference drawn from certain facts, which will be taken as conclusive, absent contrary evidence that overcomes the inference.

Settlor: one who established a trust.

Sine Qua Non: "without which not". That without which the thing cannot be.

Specious: Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious: a specious argument; deceptively attractive.

Strict Liability: Liability imposed without regard to fault.

Sui Generis: obvious to all.

Surcease: To bring or come to an end; stop.

Trover: An action for recovery of damages against a person who had found and wrongfully converted another’s goods and chattels for his own use.

Ukase: edict

Ultra Vires: Latin for "beyond powers," in the law of corporations, referring to acts of a corporation and/or its officers outside the powers and/or authority allowed a corporation by law. Example: Directors of Highfliers, Inc. operate a small bank for its employees and friends, which corporate law does not permit without a bank charter, or sells shares of stock to the public before a permit is issued.

Vel non: or not

Vi et armis: with force and arms, words used in certain trespass writs, originally designed to justify intervention of the King's Courts in the interest of the King's Peace.

Vicarious Liability: Sometimes called "imputed liability," attachment of responsibility to a person for harm or damages caused by another person in either a negligence lawsuit or criminal prosecution. Thus, an employer of an employee who injures someone through negligence while in the scope of employment (doing work for the employer) is vicariously liable for damages to the injured person. In most states a participant in a crime (like a hold-up) may be vicariously liable for murder if another member of the group shoots and kills a shopkeeper or policeman. Tunkl v. Regents of the University of the California (Tunkl used as Torts exam)