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.
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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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corpus delecti | Body of a crime; item upon which a crime has been committed. Example: In murder the corpus delecti is the murdered victim's body. In arson the corpus delecti is the burnt property. | visible evidence of a crime | body of a crime; evidence of the crime | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Corroborate | To confirm or reinforce the testimony of another witness, especially in a trial. | confirm | confirm, validate, verify, reinforce, support, uphold | General Terms | |
| Corroborating evidence | Evidence supplementary to that already given and tending to strengthen or confirm it. | supporting evidence | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Corroborating witness | A witness whose testimony supports or confirms testimony already given. | supporting witness | General Terms | ||
| Cosign | To sign a document, such as a loan or lease, with another person in order to share responsibility for the obligation. | guarantee | secure, guarantee | General Terms | |
| Cosigner | A person who signs a loan agreement, lease, or other document to indicate s/he will be fully responsible for the specified loan or debt if the primary signer does not pay. Many people need a cosigner to qualify for a loan or credit card. Landlords may require a cosigner when renting to a student. | jointly responsible | General Terms | ||
| Cost bill | A list of court costs that the winning party in a lawsuit submits to the court. The law limits what can be included in a cost bill. | court costs, list of costs | court costs, court fees | General Terms | |
| Costs | Fees and charges that a party pays to file and present a court case or to enforce a judgment; ordinarily does not include attorney's fees. | fees | fees, charges | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Cotenancy | When two or more people are legal tenants of the same property at the same time. | General Terms | |||
| Cotenants | Two or more tenants who rent or lease the same property under the same agreement. Each cotenant is 100% responsible (also called joint and severally liable) for obeying the rental agreement, including paying the entire rent and for any damage caused by any of the tenants. If one cotenant violates the lease, the landlord may evict all of them. | General Terms | |||
| Counsel | (noun) A lawyer or group of lawyers. (verb) To give legal advice. | lawyer; legal advice | lawyer; legal advice | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |
| Countable resource | Property that SSI and Medicaid consider available to an applicant or recipient when calculating that person's eligibility for benefits. | personal property | assets, personal property | General Terms | |
| Counterclaim | A claim presented by a defendant against the plaintiff in a civil action. | claim by a defendant | rebuttal, response, defense, come back, counter argument | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, District Court Civil, County Court Civil, Court Reporting | |
| Counterfeit | To fraudulently make money, a document, art, or other item which is forged or created to look real, and intended to pass for real. | fake | fake, fraud | General Terms | |
| Counteroffer | The rejection of an offer that simultaneously makes a different offer, changing the terms of the original offer in some way. The legal significance of a counteroffer is that it completely voids the original offer. | rejection and response | rejection and response | General Terms | |
| Counterpart | In contract law, a document that is one of two or more documents that make up a contract, such as a written offer and a written acceptance. | General Terms | |||
| Counts | Formal criminal charges laid against a person. | charges | charges | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| County attorney | A lawyer who represents a county in civil matters and litigates violations of county ordinances. | General Terms | |||
| Court | A judge or group of judges whose job is to hear cases and carry out justice. Judges sometimes use "court" to refer to themselves in the third person, as in "the court has read the briefs." | General Terms | |||
| Court administrator | Manager of administrative, nonjudicial affairs of a court. | nonjudicial official | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Court calendar | A list of the cases and hearings that will take place in a court on a particular day, week, or month. A court calendar is sometimes called a docket, trial schedule, or trial list. | trial schedule | schedule of cases, docket | General Terms | |
| Court costs | The fees charged for using the services of a court, such as filing fees, fees for serving court papers, fees to pay a court reporter to transcribe depositions, photocopy court papers, etc. | fees | fees, charges | General Terms | |
| Court of record | A court in which a permanent record of proceedings is made? a court having the power to fine or imprison for contempt. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Court order | A legal decision made by a court that commands or directs that something be done or not done. | legal decision | General Terms | ||
| Court reporter | A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court, usually with a stenographic machine, shorthand or audio recording, and then produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Court witness | A witness called by the court. For example, a judge may call an expert witness to clarify an issue for the court. | General Terms | |||
| Court-Connected/Court-Annexed Mediation | Mediation programs managed by court personnel, funded by, or under the control of the courts. | General Terms, Office of Dispute Resolution | |||
| Court-martial | 1. A military court that decides cases involving military members who have disobeyed the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 2. The act of charging a member of the military with disobeying a military law. | General Terms | |||
| Court-referred mediation | Mediation ordered or referred by county, district, juvenile, or tribal courts with costs and fees paid by the parties or through grants and contracts. | General Terms, Office of Dispute Resolution | |||
| Covenant | An agreement, contract, or written promise between two people or organizations that contains a pledge or promise to do or not do something. In the case of real property, covenants are found in deeds or in documents that bind everyone who owns land in a particular development. | a promise | agreement, contract | General Terms | |
| Credibility | How believable someone or something is. | trustworthiness | believability, trustworthiness, reliability | General Terms | |
| Credible witness | A witness whose testimony is believable based on his or her experience, knowledge, training, and appearance of honesty and forthrightness. | believable witness | believable witness | General Terms | |
| Credit | The ability to borrow money. | General Terms | |||
| Credit insurance | An insurance policy that some lenders require to cover a loan. If the borrower dies or becomes disabled before paying off the loan, the policy will pay off the remaining balance. | General Terms | |||
| Credit report | A written account of a consumer's credit history prepared by a credit reporting agency. Credit reports generally include information on loans, credit cards, and other bills and accounts, as well as a record of the consumer's addresses and employers. To get and use a consumer's credit report, a business must follow the procedures of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. | General Terms | |||
| Credit score | A score that creditors use to evaluate the creditworthiness of someone applying for credit, such as a mortgage or credit card. High credit scores (over 700) indicate a lower risk of defaulting on payments; low scores (under 400) indicate potential problems. Credit scores are based on information in your credit report, such as bill-paying history and unpaid debt. The biggest credit scoring company is Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO). | General Terms | |||
| Credit Union | A cooperative financial institution owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting savings with fair interest rates and offering loans at reasonable rates. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) charters and supervises federal credit unions. | General Terms | |||
| Creditor | A person to whom or business to which the debtor owes money or that claims to be owed money by the debtor. | lender | General Terms | ||
| Creditor's rights | The legal procedures and rights available to creditors for collecting debts and judgments. | lender's rights | General Terms | ||
| Crime | A behavior that has been defined by the state or a legislative body as deserving of punishment, which usually includes time in jail or prison, fines, or both. | violation, infraction, unlawful act | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Criminal | Someone who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor. | convict, felon, offender | General Terms | ||
| Criminal attorney | A lawyer who specializes in representing people charged with a crime. Also called defense attorney. | General Terms | |||
| Criminal calendar | The list of criminal cases on a court's schedule on any given day. A criminal calendar may include arraignments, bail settings, sentencing hearings, hearings to review reports from probation officers, appointing public defenders or other attorneys, etc. | General Terms | |||
| Criminal insanity | Lack of mental capacity to do or abstain from doing a particular act? inability to distinguish right from wrong. | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | |||
| Criminal procedure | A generic term for the procedures of criminal investigations, arrests, evidence collection, charges, defenses, trials, sentences, and punishments. | criminal process | General Terms | ||
| Cross claim | A claim against a co-party arising out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of either the original action or a counterclaim relating to any property that is the subject matter of the original action. Sometimes called a cross-complaint. | General Terms, District Court Civil, County Court Civil | |||
| Cross examination | The questioning of a witness in a trial, or in the taking of a deposition, by the party opposed to the one who produced the witness. The testimony a witness gives when the other side's lawyer is questioning the witness. | questioning | General Terms, News Reporter Guide, Court Reporting | ||
| Cross-defendant | The defendant in a cross-claim. | General Terms | |||
| Culpa | fault; negligence | fault | negligence, fault | General Terms, Court Reporting | |
| Culpable | Blameworthy. Sufficiently responsible for criminal acts or negligence to be at fault and liable for the conduct. | at fault | blameworthy, at fault, guilty, responsible, liable | General Terms |