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| The enforceable rules of conduct that govern the actions of buyers and sellers in market exchanges. |
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| Rules of conduct in any organized society that are enforced by the governing authority of the community. |
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| Law that involves suits between private individuals or groups. |
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| Law that involves suits between private individuals or groups and their government. |
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| The body of laws that govern the rights and responsibilities either between persons or between persons and their government. |
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| The body of laws that involve the rights and responsibilities an individual has with respect to the public as a whole. |
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| The general limits and powers of a government as interpreted from its written constitution. |
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| The assortment of rules and regulations put forth by legislatures. |
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| Laws created to account for the variability of laws among states. These laws serve to standardize the otherwise different interstate laws. |
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| The collection of legal interpretations made by judges. They are considered to be law unless otherwise revoked by a statutory law. |
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| A tool used by judges to make rulings on cases on the basis of key similarities to previous cases. |
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| "Standing by the decision"; a principle stating that rulings made in higher courts are binding precedent for lower courts. |
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| Summarises of common law rules in a particular area of the law. Restatements do not carry the weight of law but can be used to guide interpretations of particular cases. |
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| The collection of rules and decisions made by administrative agencies to fill in particular constitutions and statues. |
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| A school of jurisprudence that recognizes the existence of higher law, or law that is morally superior to human laws. |
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| A school of jurisprudence which holds that because society requires authority, a legal authoritarian hierarchy should exist. When a law is made, therefore, obedience is expected because authority created it. |
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| Identification with the Vulnerable |
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| A school of jurisprudence which holds that society should be fair. Particular attention is therefore paid to the poor, the ill, and the elderly. |
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| A school of jurisprudence that uses traditions as the model for future laws and behavior. |
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| A school of jurisprudence which holds that context must be considered as well as law. Context includes factors such as economic conditions an social conditions. |
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| An economic school of jurisprudence in which all costs and benefits of a law are given monetary values. Laws with the highest ratios of benefits to costs are then preferable to those with lower ratios. |
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| The study and practice of decisions about what is good or right. |
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| The use of ethics and ethical principles to solve business dilemmas. |
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| A question about how one should behave that requires one to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of the optional choices for various stakeholders. |
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| Social Responsibility of Business |
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| The expectations that a community places on the actions of firms inside the community's borders. |
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| WPH Approach (To Ethical Decision Making) |
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| A set of ethical guidelines that urges us to consider whom an action affects. The purpose of the action, and how we view its morality. |
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| A simple tool that helps determine whether an action is moral. |
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| Positive abstractions that capture our sense of what is good and desirable. |
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| The ethical guidelines that urges us to consider, before we do an action, what the world would be like if everyone acted in this way. |
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| Critical Thinking in the Legal Context |
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| Examining a legal opinion to search for potential problems in the reasoning. |
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| A court in which most civil or criminal cases start when they first enter the legal system. The parties present evidence and call witnesses to testify. Trial courts are referred to as courts of common pleas or county courts in state court systems and as district courts in the federal system. |
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| A higher court, usually consisting of more than one judge, that reviews the decision and results of a lower court (either a trial court or a lower-level appellate court) when a losing party files for an appeal. |
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| An issue concerning the interpretation or application of law. |
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| A question about an event or characteristic in a case. |
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| The power of a court to require that a party (usually the defendant) or a witness come before the court. The court must have personal jurisdiction to enforce its judgements or orders against a party. |
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| The person or party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court by filing a complaint with the clerk of the court against defendants. |
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| The person or party against whom a civil or criminal lawsuit is filed in a court of law. |
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| A formal written document that begins a civil lawsuit; contains the plaintiff's list of allegations against the defendant, along with the damages the plaintiff seeks. |
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| A statute that enables a court to obtain jurisdiction again an out-of-state defendant as long as the defendant has sufficient minimum contacts within the state, such as committing a tort or doing business in the state. |
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| The power of a court over the property of status of an out-of-state defendant when that property or status is within the court's jurisdiction area. |
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| Quasi In Rem Jurisdiction |
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| A type of jurisdiction exercised by a court over an out-of-state defendant's property that is within the jurisdictional boundaries of the court. It applies to personal suits against the defendant in which the property is not the source of the conflict but is sought as compensation by the plaintiff. |
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| Subject-Matter-Jurisdiction |
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| The power of a court over the type of case presented to it. |
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| (1) The place where a hearing takes place. Its geographic location is determined by each state's statutes and based on where the parties live or where the event occurred or the alleged wrong was committed. (2) A legal doctrine relating to the selection of a court with subject-matter and personal jurisdiction that is the most appropriate geographic location for the resolution of the dispute. |
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| The legal right of a party or an individual to bring a lawsuit by demonstrating to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged (i.e., the plaintiff has to demonstrate that he or she is harmed or will be harmed). |
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| A term used in the U.S. Constitution to describe the structure and requirements of conflicting claims of individuals that can be brought before a federal court for resolution. Requires an actual dispute between parties over their legal rights that remains in conflict at the time the case is presented and that is a proper matter for judicial determination. |
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| The readiness of a case for a decision to be made. The goal is to prevent premature litigation for a dispute that is insufficiently developed. |
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| The procedure by which a court delivers a copy of the statement of claim or other legal documents, such as a summons, complaint, or subpoena, to the defendant. |
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| Judgement for the plaintiff that occurs when the defendant fails to respond to the complaint. |
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| The response of the defendant to the plaintiff's complaint. |
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| A request by the defendant that asks a judge or a court in a civil case to dismiss the case because even if all the allegations are true, the plaintiff is not entitled to any legal relief. |
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| An application by a party to a judge or a court in a civil case requesting an order in favor of the applicant. |
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| A claim made by the defendant against the plaintiff that is filed along with the defendant's answer. |
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| A response by the plaintiff to the defendant's counterclaim. |
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| Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings |
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| In a civil case, a request made by either party, after pleadings have been entered, that asks a judge or a court to issue a judgement. |
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| Motion for Summary Judgement |
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| In a civil case, a request made by either party that asks a judge or a court to promptly and expeditiously dispose of a case without a trial. Any evidence or information that would be admissible at trial under the rules of evidence, such as affidavits, interrogatories, depositions, and admissions, may be considered on a motion for summary judgement. |
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| The pretrial phase in a lawsuit during which each party requests relevant documents and other evidence from the other side in an attempt to "discover" pertinent facts and avoid any surprises in the courtroom during the trial. |
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| A formal set of written questions that one party to a lawsuit asks the opposing party as part of the pretrial discovery process in order to clarify matters of evidence and help determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trail in the case. |
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| Request to Produce Documents |
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| In a lawsuit, the right of a party to examine and copy papers of the opposing party that are relevant to the case. |
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| A pretrial sworn and recorded testimony of a witness that is acquired out of court with no judge present. |
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| An informal meeting of the judge with the attorneys representing the parties before the actual trial begins. |
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| The process of questioning potential jurors to ensure that the jury will be made up of nonbiased individuals. |
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| In a jury trial, the right of the plaintiff and the defendant in jury selection to reject, without stating a reason, a certain number of potential jurors who appear to have an unfavorable bias. |
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| A contrived or imitation trial, with a jury recruited by a jury selection firm, that attorneys sometimes use in preparing for an actual trial to test theories, experiment with arguments, and try to predict the outcome of the real trial. |
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| An unofficial jury, provided by a jury selection firm, that sits in during the actual trial and deliberates at the end of each day to evaluate for the attorneys how each side is doing. |
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| A ruling by the judge, after the plaintiff has put forward his or her case but before any evidence is put forward by the defendant, in favor of the defendant because the plaintiff has failed to present the minimum amount of evidence necessary to establish his or her claim. |
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| An error of law that is so significant that it affects the outcome of the case. |
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| A written legal argument, which a party presents to a court, that explains why the party to the case should prevail. |
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| An appellate court decision that accepts a lower court's judgement in a case that has been appealed. |
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| An appellate court decision that grants an alternative remedy in a case rendered when the court finds that the decision of the lower court was correct but the remedy was not. |
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| An appellate court decision that overturns the judgement of a lower court, concluding that the lower court was incorrect and its verdict cannot be allowed to stand. |
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| An appellate court decision that returns a case to the trial court for a new trial or for limited hearing on a specified subject matter; rendered when the court decides that an error was committed that may have affected the outcome of a case. |
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| A Supreme Court order, issued after the Court decides to hear an appeal, mandating that the lower court send to the Supreme Court record of the appealed case. |
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| Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) |
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| The resolution of legal problems through methods other than litigation. |
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| A bargaining process in which disputing parties interact informally to attempt to resolve their dispute. |
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| A type of intensive negotiation in which disputing parties select a neutral party to help facilitate communication and suggest ways for the parties to solve their dispute. |
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| A type of alternative dispute resolution in which disputes are submitted for resolution to private nonofficial persons selected in a manner provided by law or the agreement of the parties. |
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| Binding Arbitration Clause |
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| A contract provision mandating that all disputes arising under the contract must be settled by arbitration. |
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| A type of dispute resolution process in which both parties agree to start out in mediation and, if unsuccessful, to move on to arbitration. |
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| An abbreviated trial that leads to a nonbinding jury verdict. |
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| A type of conflict resolution in which lawyers for each side present their arguments to a neutral adviser, who then offers an opinion as to what the verdict would be if the case went to trial. The decision is not binding. |
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| An ADR method in which a referee is selected and paid by the disputing parties to offer a legally binding judgement in a dispute. |
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