Glossary
This glossary may be used to find the definitions of many legal terms.
In many instances, there are synonyms and plain language options provided for the terms.
You may search within this glossary:
- by entering a term in the “Keyword Search” field.
- by choosing a “Type” from the drop-down list such as “Estate” or “Small Claims.”
- by choosing the beginning letter in the “Filter by Letter” drop-down list to display only the terms that start with that letter.
A combination of these search options can be used to provide a more defined result.
Note that this glossary may not contain all legal terms.
| Term | Definition | Plain Language | Synonyms | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reversible error | A legal mistake made by the court that is so significant the court's decision must be reversed. | mistake made by the court | mistake, error | General Terms | |
| Review of Disposition (juvenile) | When a child is in foster care, the court having jurisdiction over such child for the purposes of foster care placement shall review the dispositional order for such child at least once every six months. The court may reaffirm the order or direct other disposition of the child. Any review hearing by a court having jurisdiction over such child for purposes of foster care placement shall be conducted on the record as provided in sections §§ 43-283 and 43-284, and any recommendations of the state board or a local board concerning such child shall be included in the record. The court shall review a case on the record more often than every six months and at any time following the original placement of the child if the state board requests a hearing in writing specifying the reasons for the review § 43-1313. |
General Terms, Juvenile | |||
| Revocation | The act of voiding or canceling something, usually probation or a driver's license. | cancellation | cancel, withdraw, take-back, repeal | General Terms | |
| Riparian | Relating to water rights and access to rivers and streams. | water rights | riverbanks, floodplains, water rights | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Rule | To decide a legal question. | to make a decision | decision, answer | General Terms | |
| Rules of court | Regulations made by a court of competent jurisdiction governing the general practice and procedure in all matters coming before the court. | policies | procedural regulations, policies | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Ruling | Court's decision on a legal question raised in a case. | decision | decision, finding | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Sanction | 1. To authorize, approve, or allow. 2. To impose a sanction on; penalize, especially by way of discipline. | 1. allow. 2. penalty. | 1. allow, permit, approve, certify. 2. penalty, punishment, sentence | General Terms | |
| Sano minutes | Chronological record of court proceedings. | timeline | timeline, record | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Satisfaction | Payment of a judgment amount by the losing party. | complete payment | complete compensation, damages, or payment | General Terms | |
| Scofflaw | One who not only breaks the law, but holds it in contempt. | criminal | convict, felon, lawbreaker, offender | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Sealed | Not open to public scrutiny. | restricted | closed, hidden, protected, restricted | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Search | To examine private property or a person's body to look for evidence of criminal activity. | check | examination, inspection, inquiry, look, seek, check | General Terms | |
| Search warrant | An order in writing, issued by a judge in the name of the state, directing an officer to search a specified house or other premises for stolen property; usually required as a condition precedent to a legal search and seizure. | order to search | examination permission, Order to search | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Second-Level Parenting Education Course | Educates parents about the development of provisions for safety and transition plans, the potentially harmful impact of domestic intimate partner abuse and unresolved parental conflict on the child, use of effective communication techniques and protocols, resources and referral information for victim and perpetrator services, batterer intervention programs, and referrals for mental health services, substance abuse services, and other community resources. | General Terms, Office of Dispute Resolution | |||
| Section 8 | A federally financed housing assistance program that helps low-income tenants with rent payments. | rent assistance | low income housing, housing assistance | General Terms | |
| Secured creditor | A secured creditor is an individual or business that holds a claim against the debtor that is secured by a lien on property of the estate. The property subject to the lien is the secured creditor's collateral. | lien holder | lien holder, backed by collateral | General Terms | |
| Secured debt | Debt backed by a mortgage, pledge of collateral, or other lien; debt for which the creditor has the right to pursue specific pledged property upon default. Examples include home mortgages, auto loans and tax liens. | debt secured by collateral | General Terms | ||
| Security deposit | 1. A deposit or a fee that the landlord requires the tenant to pay at the beginning of the tenancy. 2. An amount of money given to the landlord that can be used to cover unpaid rent, damages, or cleaning. | down-payment, amount held to cover repairs | deposit, down payment, security | General Terms | |
| Self-defense | The protection of one's person or property against some injury attempted by another. The law of "self-defense" justifies an act done in the reasonable belief of immediate danger. When acting in justifiable self-defense, a person may not be punished criminally nor held responsible for civil damages. | protecting yourself | protection, protecting yourself | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Self-employed | Working for oneself as a freelancer or as an owner of a business rather than working for an employer. | working for yourself | freelance, independent, working for yourself | General Terms | |
| Self-incrimination | The act of indicating your involvement in a crime or exposing yourself to criminal prosecution. | testifying against yourself | General Terms | ||
| Self-proving affidavit | An affidavit attached to a will and signed by the testator and witnesses. The affidavit, which recites the facts of the will’s proper execution, permits the will to be probated without the necessity of having the witnesses appear and prove the execution of the will by their testimony. | last will affidavit | Last will affidavit, last will instructions | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates | |
| Self-surrender | When a person turns themself in voluntarily to the jail, police, or the court. | turning oneself in | turning oneself in, relinquishing | General Terms | |
| Semble | It seems it appears; a word used in printed summaries of court opinions where a point of law was not directly decided, or the ruling was obscure. | seems like, "it appears" | suggests, implies, seems like | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Senior judge | A federal judge who, after attaining the requisite age and length of judicial experience, takes senior status, thus creating a vacancy among a court's active judges. | General Terms | |||
| Sentence | Judgment formally pronounced by a judge upon a defendant after his or her conviction in a criminal or civil prosecution. | punishment | punishment, penalty, conviction | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sentence, concurrent | Two or more sentences which run at the same time. | at the same time | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Sentence, consecutive | Two or more sentences which run after another. | one after another | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Sentence, determinate | A sentence that states exactly the time to be served or money to be paid. | exact amount of time | punishment, exact penalty, conviction | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sentencing guidelines | A set of rules and principles established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence of a convicted defendant in a federal court case. | sentencing rules | sentencing rules, sentencing instructions, penalty recommendations | General Terms | |
| Sentencing hearing | Procedure after a criminal trial when the severity of the sentence is stated. At a sentencing hearing, the judge will review the presentence report and hear arguments from both the prosecutor and the defense attorneyóand sometimes, the victim. | when the court orders the penalty | penalty hearing, punishment determination | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Separate property | Property that one of the spouses owned before the marriage. Any inheritance one spouse gets, even during marriage, is separate property. So are personal gifts (unless they came from the other spouse) and payments for personal injuries. | owned before marriage | pre-marital property, pre-marital assets pre-marital property | General Terms | |
| Separation agreement | An agreement made by two married people who decide to live apart that resolves questions of property, custody, and support. | General Terms | |||
| Separation date | The date of separation for divorces is when one spouse (or both) decides that the marriage is over and takes some actions to show this. | date relationship ended | Date relationship ended, breakup date | General Terms | |
| Separation of witnesses | An order of the court requiring all witnesses to remain outside the courtroom until each is called to testify, except the plaintiff or defendant. | kept away from each other | divided witnesses, solo testifying | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Sequester | To remove or set apart, as a jury during deliberations or witnesses during trial. | to keep separate | an isolated space, hidden away | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Sequestration | When members of a jury are housed together in a hotel and kept from contacting people outside of the court. This is used during a controversial trial with media coverage that could influence the jurors. *court ordered seizure of property. (Westlaw) | keeping jurors away from the public | keeping jurors away from the public | General Terms | |
| Seriatim | In a series; one by one, one after another, separately, individually. | one after another | back-to-back, one-by-one, consecutively | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Service | Delivering legal papers to a person involved in a legal case. | handed to | delivered, given, handed to | General Terms | |
| Service by publication | When service of process is done by publishing a notice in a newspaper or by posting on a bulletin board of a courthouse or other public facility after a court determines that other means of service are impractical or have been unsuccessful. | notice in newspaper | Notice in newspaper, notice by public building | General Terms | |
| Service of process | The delivery of legal papers to the opposing party. The papers must be delivered by an adult aged 18 or older that is not involved in the case and that swears to the date and method of delivery to the recipient. | method of delivery | method of delivering court documents | General Terms | |
| Set | To schedule. | schedule | schedule | General Terms | |
| Set aside | To vacate or annul a court order or judgment. | void | rescind, revoke, shut down, cancel, void | General Terms, Domestic Relations | |
| Set out | Explain, describe. | describe | narrate, recite, describe | General Terms | |
| Settle | To resolve a legal case before going to trial. | work out | resolve, fix, work out, put an end to work out | General Terms | |
| Settlement | An agreement reached between the parties that resolves the case at any time before a judge's decision in the case or a jury verdict. | agreement | agreement, arrangement, deal | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Settlor | Another word for grantor or trustor of a trust. The person who "settles" the assets into the trust. | person who creates a trust | trustor, grantor | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator, Estates | |
| Several liability | When a plaintiff can sue a responsible party without needing to sue all other responsible parties. | separate responsibility | separate responsibility, individual accountability | General Terms | |
| Severance of actions | To separate multiple criminal actions, defendants, causes of action, or cross-complaints for separate trials. | separate cases | Separate cases, individual cases, single trial | General Terms |