Legal Terms
Amicus curiae: ("friend of the court"). Person or organization that files a legal
brief with the court expressing its views on a case involving other parties because it
has a strong interest in the subject matter of the action.
Ante: Prior to, before, preceding.
Appellant: Party who appeals a lower Court decision.
Appellee: Party against whom an appeal is taken (recipient of an appeal).
Arguendo: For the sake of argument; assuming something to be true.
Certiorari: ("To be informed of") A writ of certiorari is a review issued by a higher
court to a lower court. A means of getting an appellate court to review a lower court's
decision. If an appellate court grants a writ of certiorari, it agrees to take the appeal.
(Sometimes referred to as "granting cert.").
Circumstantial evidence: Evidence in a trial which is not directly from an eyewitness
or participant and requires some reasoning to prove a fact. There is a public
perception that such evidence is weak ("all they have is circumstantial evidence"), but
Legal Terms (cont.)
cf.: Means “to compare” (an abbreviation for the Latin word “confer”). Used to
tell the reader to compare with something else in the text.
Codify: To organize into a code or system, such as a body of law.
Compensatory Damages: Money awarded to reimburse actual costs, such as medical
bills and lost wages. Also awarded for things that are harder to measure, such as pain
and suffering.
Consent Decree: Agreement between two parties that concludes a lawsuit instead of
resolving the case through a hearing and/or trial. Unless the judge' order was based
upon one of the party's fraud, mutual mistake or lack of jurisdiction, the decree
cannot be appealed. Since the parties worked out the details of the agreement, it is
final and cannot be appealed. Consent decrees are often granted with the government
has sued to have a corporation or person comply with the law, or the government does
not pursue criminal penalties in return for a defendant agreeing to a consent decree.
Consent decrees and consent judgments are the same.
Legal Terms (cont.)
Et seq.: Abbreviation for the Latin phrase et sequentes meaning "and the
following." It is commonly used by lawyers to include numbered lists, pages or
sections after the first number is stated.
Infra: Refers to something below; often used to indicate that the specifics of a case
will be included later in the text.
Inter alia: “Among other things." This phrase is often found in legal pleadings
and writings to specify one example out of many possibilities. Example: "The
judge said, inter alia, that the time to file the action had passed."
Id.: Means the same. In legal writing it refers to something that was previously
mentioned; the same authority. Used to refer to an immediately preceding
reference.
Legal Terms (cont.)
Remand: To send back. The Supreme Court may remand a case back to
an appeals court for further action.
Supra: Means above. In legal writings, it indicates that a citation for a
court decision was mentioned before in the text.
Plurality: Receiving the greatest number, but less than half, of the votes.
Probative: Evidence which is sufficiently useful to prove something
Punitive Damages: Money awarded to a victim that is intended to punish
a defendant and stop the person or business from repeating the type of
conduct that caused an injury. Also intended to deter others from similar
conduct.
Quid Pro Quo: Latin phrase that means what for what or something for
something. The concept of getting something of value in return for
giving something of value. For a contract to be binding, it usually must
involve the exchange of something of value.
Vacate: To set aside. A judge may decided to set aside a judgment which
he/she finds to be improper.
Some Legal Abbreviations
Aff ’d --- Affirmed
Pet., Petr. --- Petition, Petitioner
Ann. --- Annotated
Pl. --- Plaintiff
App. --- Appeals
Pt. --- Part
Cir. --- Circuit
Pub. --- Public
Cl. --- Clause
Rep. or Repr. --- Reporter
Cmt. --- Comment
Rev. --- Review
D. --- Federal District Court
Rev’d --- Reversed
Dig. --- Digest
Sec. or § --- Section
Ed. --- Edition
Ser. --- Series
Inj. --- Injunction
S.J. --- Summary judgment
J. --- Journal
Subp. --- Supoena
Judm. --- Judgment
Supp. --- Supplement
L. --- Law
Tent. --- Tentative
n., nn. --- Footnotes
Tr. --- Trial
Op. --- Opinion
Trans. --- Translated
Or. --- Order
Unif. --- Uniform