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Most Popular Legal Definitions
conditional discharge
a sentence of a person found guilty of a crime in which, upon completion of
specified actions by the accused, no criminal record is issued as regards to the
offense for which a conditional discharge was granted
gift
A transfer of property with nothing given in
return.
pettifogger
An attorney or lawyer who sustains a professional livelihood on dishonest
business.
hereditament
Some thing that can be inherited.
malice
a conscious, intentional wrongdoing either of a civil wrong or a criminal act.
This intention includes ill-will and hatred.
delusion
a firm yet irrational belief and which may
affect an individual's capacity to contract
mandatory sentence
a legislative act requiring certain crimes to be met with at least a minimum
penalty; removes full discretion from judges in certain situations
antenuptial (prenuptial) agreement
written contract between two people about to marry; setting out the terms of of
possession of assets, treatment of future earnings, control of the property of
each, and potential division if the marriage is later dissolved
citation
1) A notice to appear in court due to a probable commission of a minor crime
such as a traffic violation, drinking liquor in a park where prohibited, letting
a dog loose without a leash, and in some states for possession of a small amount
of marijuana. Failure to appear can result in a warrant for the citee's arrest.
2) The act of referring to (citing) a statute, precedent-setting case or legal
textbook, in a brief or argument in court, called "citation of authority." 4)
the section of the statute or the name of the case as well as the volume number,
the report series and the page number of a case referred to in a brief, points
and authorities, or other legal argument.
a priori
From Latin, an assumption based on theory not experiment. For example, an a
priori assumption would be that the sun will come up tomorrow. (as opposed to a
posteriori)