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Most Popular Legal Definitions
presumption of fact
A conclusion of fact constructed logically from other proven
facts.
oral argument
the summary submitted by a lawyer in front of the court explaining why they
should win the decision
abstention doctrine
When the Supreme Court refuses to exercise its federal constitutional
jurisdiction or declines to consider a question of state law arising from a case
being appealed from a state court.
bifurcate
the order or ruling of a judge that one issue in a case can be tried to a
conclusion or a judgment given on one phase of the case without trying all
aspects of the matter
literal construction
A form of construction which does not allow evidence extrapolated beyond the
actual words of a phrase or document but, rather, takes the phrase or document
at face value, giving effect only to the actual words used.
postal rule
A rule of contract law that makes an exception
to the general rule that an acceptance is only created when communicated
directly to the offeror.
accusation
legally charging someone with a crime; either by indictment, Grand Jury, or the
filing of charges by a district attorney
affirm
1) to offer a declaration of support in a judicial capacity 2) what an appeals
court does if it agrees with and confirms a lower court's decision 3) to state
positively
amortalization
periodic payment plan to pay a debt in which the interest and a portion of the
principal are included in each payment by an established mathematical formula;
by figuring the interest on the declining principal and the number of years of
the loan, the monthly payments are averaged and determined; since the main
portion of the early payments is interest, the principal does not decline
rapidly until the latter stages of the loan term; if the amortization leaves a
principal balance at the close of the time for repayment, this final lump sum is
called a "balloon" payment
long-term offender
A convicted person for whom a court states there is a substantial risk of
re-offending.