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:
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Note that this glossary may not contain all legal terms.
| Term | Definition | Plain Language | Synonyms | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conclusion | In a trial, the end of all evidence being introduced and final arguments made, so nothing more can be presented, or a final determination of the facts by the jury or judge. | ending | General Terms | ||
| Concurrent condition | Part of an agreement that calls for one side to fulfill a specified condition at the same time as the other party fulfills a specified condition. | parallel, along with | General Terms | ||
| Concurrent sentence | Sentences for more than one crime in which the time of each is to be served at the same time, rather than one after the other. | at the same time | combined sentence | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Condemn | 1. When a public agency determines that a building is unsafe or unfit for habitation and must be repaired, torn down or rebuilt to meet building and health code requirements. | find unsafe | unfit, unsafe | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Condemnation | 1. The legal process by which real estate of a private owner is taken for public use without the owner's consent, but upon the award and payment of just compensation. 2. A special proceeding at law to determine on a single action the damages done by the taking of private property for public use. 3. Government taking of private land; eminent domain. | seize | government taking of private land; eminent domain | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Condemnation action | A lawsuit brought by a public agency to acquire private property for public purposes (schools, highways, parks, hospitals, redevelopment, civic buildings, for example), or even for private development that has a public benefit. The government has the right to acquire the private property (eminent domain), and the owner has a right under the Constitution to receive just compensation for the land, which will be decided by a court if necessary. | exercise eminent domain | General Terms | ||
| Condition | A term or requirement in a contract that defines the rights and duties of the parties to the contract. | term | term, requirement | General Terms | |
| Condition precedent | An event or state of affairs that must happen before something else may be required. In a contract, a condition precedent is an event that must take place before the parties must perform the agreement. | must happen before | General Terms | ||
| Condition subsequent | An event or state of affairs that, if it happens, changes or cancels an existing arrangement or duty. In a contract, a condition subsequent can often terminate the duty of one party to perform under the agreement. | General Terms | |||
| Conditional bequest | In a will, a gift that will occur only if a stated condition is met. For example, a will clause that says "I give my house to my daughter if she is married." | dependent on | General Terms | ||
| Conditional ownership | Ownership in which the owner does not have full right to the property, but could acquire full ownership if specific conditions are fulfilled. Also called contingent ownership. | dependent on | contingent ownership | General Terms | |
| Condonation | One person's approval of another's activities, which may be used as a defense in a fault divorce. For example, if a wife did not object to her husband's adultery even though she was aware of it, and she later tries to use it as grounds for a divorce or the basis for a settlement in her favor, he could counter these efforts by arguing that she had condoned his behavior. | approval of | approval of, forgiveness, release | General Terms | |
| Condone | To forgive, support, or overlook another person's wrong or illegal action. | overlook | approve of, forgive, ignore, overlook | General Terms | |
| Confess | In criminal law, to voluntarily say that one is guilty of a crime. A confession must be truly voluntary (not forced by threat, torture, or trickery) and generally cannot be admitted in trial if it is not. If the confession results from custodial questioning, it generally cannot be used at trial unless the defendant was given the so-called Miranda warnings and gave up those rights before questioning. | admit | admission of guilt | General Terms | |
| Confession | When someone says voluntarily, out loud or in writing, that s/he committed a certain crime. | admission of guilt | admission of guilt | General Terms | |
| Confidence game | A swindle in which the perpetrator obtains money by gaining the victim's trust. | con job | fraud, swindle, dishonest trick | General Terms | |
| Confidential record | Information in a court case that is not available to the public. | sealed | private record | General Terms | |
| Conflict of interest | Conflict between the private interests and public obligations of someone in a position of authority | General Terms, Court Reporting | |||
| Confront accusers | Right of a person accused of a crime to face those making the accusation. | face | face, stand in front of | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Connivance | Ignoring another person's wrongdoing, for example, by indirectly condoning an illegal act by another person. | secretly allow | condoning | General Terms | |
| Conscientious objector | A person who refuses to serve in the military due to religious or strong philosophical views against war or killing. Refusing to answer a draft call is a federal felony, but when a person's religious beliefs are long-standing and consistent (as with the Quakers), the objection to service may be excused. | pacifist | General Terms | ||
| Consecutive sentences | Two or more sentences which must be served one after the other. | one after another | back to back, continuing, sequential | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Consent decree | A court order made after all people in the case have made an agreement, if the judge finds it acceptable. | court-enforced settlement | General Terms | ||
| Consequential damages | Damage or injury not caused immediately or directly by a wrongful act, but are a foreseeable consequence of that act. | as a result of | General Terms | ||
| Conservator | The individual who legally has the case and management of the property of a minor or person incapacitated to manage his or her own affairs. | General Terms, Guardian and Conservator | |||
| Consign | To give goods to another to sell; profits from the sale are generally divided between the seller and the original owner, or to give over to the custody or care of another. | give to sell | assign, commission, give to | General Terms | |
| Consignment | The act of entrusting goods to a person or business who will sell them for you (charging a fee or commission for doing so), and return the goods if unsold. | give to sell | give to sell | General Terms | |
| Consortium | The duties and rights associated with marriage. Consortium includes all the tangible and intangible benefits that one spouse derives from the other, including material support, companionship, affection, guidance, and sexual relations. The term may arise in a lawsuit if a spouse brings a claim against a third party for "loss of consortium" after the other spouse is injured or killed. | marital benefits | marital or spousal rights | General Terms | |
| Conspiracy | An agreement by two or more people to do something illegal. Proving conspiracy requires evidence that the people agreed to the plan before taking action. Proving criminal conspiracy usually requires evidence of some overt action to carry out the plan. | scheme | plot, scheme | General Terms | |
| Conspirator | A person who makes an agreement with another person (or people) to do something illegal. | accomplice | accomplice, collaborator, traitor, betrayer, plotter | General Terms | |
| Constable | A peace officer for a particular geographic area (usually a rural county) with the power to serve legal papers, arrest lawbreakers, and keep the peace. In most states, a constable is similar to a marshal or sheriff. | peace officer | officer, peace officer | General Terms | |
| Constitution | Usually refers to the U.S. Constitution, the fundamental document that establishes the central legal system of our country, including the character and organization of its power and how that power is exercised. | General Terms | |||
| Constitutional amendment | A change to the U.S. Constitution that usually starts as a joint resolution in Congress. To take effect, it must be passed by a two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate, and then be approved by three-quarters of the state legislatures. | revision | change to the constitution | General Terms | |
| Constitutional rights | Rights given or available to people by the U. S. Constitution, and in particular, the Bill of Rights. | civil rights | civil rights, freedom | General Terms | |
| Constitutional tort | A violation of one's constitutional rights by a government servant or employee. | General Terms | |||
| Construction | The interpretation of a statute, law, contract, or will when there is some ambiguity or question about its meaning. Strict, or narrow, construction means considering only the literal words. Broad, or liberal, construction, means considering societal and situational meanings in addition to the language. | interpreting | giving meaning, interpreting | General Terms | |
| Constructive | A legal way of treating a situation as if it were actually another. Something is legally declared even if it is not technically true. A legal fiction. | interpreted | General Terms | ||
| Constructive discharge | When an employee quits a job because the working conditions were so intolerable that a reasonable person in the same situation would also quit. | forced to quit | General Terms | ||
| Constructive eviction | When a landlord provides housing that is so substandard that s/he has effectively evicted the tenant without following eviction procedures. For example, if the landlord refuses to provide heat or water or refuses to clean up an environmental health hazard, the tenant has the right to move out and stop paying rent, and cannot be held liable for breaking the lease. | forced to leave | General Terms | ||
| Constructive fraud | When circumstances show that someone's unfair actions, such as lying or not giving important information, give him/her an unfair advantage over someone else. The court may decide to treat the situation as fraud even if all the technical elements of fraud have not been proven. | unfair actions | General Terms | ||
| Constructive possession | When a person does not actually have possession, but has the ability to control an asset, s/he has constructive possession. Having the key to a safe deposit box, for example, gives the key holder constructive possession. | General Terms | |||
| Constructive trust | A relationship that arises when someone has wrongfully obtained title to or possession of assets and has a legal duty to deliver them to the rightful owner. | General Terms | |||
| Construe | To determine the meaning of a written document, law, or legal decision, based on rules of legal interpretation. | explain | interpret, decipher, translate, infer, explain | General Terms | |
| Consulate | U.S. consulates are branch offices of U.S. embassies, located all over the world. Most consulates accept and process nonimmigrant and immigrant (green card) visa applications. | embassy | embassy, government office | General Terms | |
| Consumer credit | A person's ability to borrow or charge fees owed for consumer goods or services that s/he purchases. Loans for household items, but not real estate. Consumer credit includes credit card purchases, lines of credit, installment agreements, and many other types of loans. | loan with no collateral | General Terms | ||
| Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) | The CCPA, in part, regulates the fair reporting of a customer's financial information, as well as prohibiting deceptive advertising and discrimination by creditors. It also makes the terms of loans more transparent to borrowers who may not be well-versed in finance or bankingóthe CCPA requires financial institutions to explain finance terminology in terms that are easier to understand for consumers. Federal law that includes a requirement to limit how much money can be taken from someone's paycheck to pay for child support. | General Terms | |||
| Consumer debts | Debts incurred for personal, as opposed to business, needs. | personal debt | personal debt | General Terms | |
| Consumer report | Information provided by a consumer reporting agency about a person's creditworthiness, character, personal characteristics, or lifestyle, often used in employment decisions, to decide whether to grant the person credit, to decide whether to rent to the person, or for other legitimate business purposes. Examples of consumer reports include criminal background checks and credit reports. To get a consumer report, the requester must follow the procedures in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. | credit report | credit report | General Terms | |
| Consummation | The completion of a thing; the completion of a marriage between two affianced persons by cohabitation. The actualization of a marriage. Sexual intercourse is required to "consummate" a marriage. | completion | finalization, completion, realization, fulfilment | General Terms | |
| Contemnor | Person who did not follow a court order. One who is in contempt of court. | in contempt of court | Disobeyed | General Terms |