lawsuits-court

Definition

A concerted action: (1) made in furtherance of an express common purpose; (2) through the use or threat of violence, disorder, or terror to the public; and (3) resulting in a disturbance of the peace. Under common law, the crime of riot requires the assemblage of three or more actors.

Definition

A fee that the client pays upfront to an attorney before the attorney has begun work for the client.

There are three types of retainers, each with a different purpose:

(1) A general retainer, which is a fee for a specific period of time rather than for a specific project. While no specific representation is contemplated, the client pays for the attorney’s availability during the time specified.

(2) Also termed a retaining fee, a deposit or lump sum fee which the client pays in advance.

Definition

[Latin: “things done” or “thing transacted”] The events or circumstances at issue, as well as other events that are contemporaneous with or related to them. Courts previously employed this term in order to admit otherwise inadmissible hearsay. The term has since been put to disuse by scholars and legislators.

Definition

The level of judicial review for determining the constitutionality of a federal or state statute that does not implicate either a fundamental right or a suspect classification under the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. When a court concludes that there is no fundamental liberty interest or suspect classification at stake, the law is presumed to be Constitutional unless it fails the rational basis test.

Definition

To offer or present for immediate acceptance or rejection, usually evidence at trial.

Definition

A type of investment fraud in which investors are promised artificially high rates of return with little or no risk; original investors and the perpetrators of the fraud are paid off by funds from later investors, but there is little or no actual business activity that produces revenue.

Definition

Subject matter that the Supreme Court deems to be inappropriate for judicial review because discretionary power over it should be left to the politically accountable branches of government (i.e., the President and Congress).

Definition

A jail or correctional facility that confines convicted criminals for an extended period of time.

Definition

A rule that governs the extent to which parties to a case may introduce into court evidence of a prior or contemporaneous agreement in order to modify, explain, or supplement the contract at issue.

Definition

A rule that says that the owner of a domesticated animal (e.g., a dog) will be held strictly liable for injuries caused by the animal only if the owner knew or should have known about the animal’s dangerous or vicious propensities, which have been manifested in the past.