wex definitions

Courts use mixed-motive jury instructions in many discrimination and improper retaliation cases. These instructions usually take the following form: "If the plaintiff shows that the defendant did something that hurt her, and the action was motivated by an impermissible reason, there is a presumption that the defendant's conduct was wrong. The defendant may rebut this presumption by showing that it would have taken the action regardless of its impermissible motive."

When a court considers a lawsuit involving real property, the court may issue a notice of pendency as a provisional remedy. This notice is filed with the property's deed at the county registry. Once the notice is filed, even if the land is sold or transferred, it may still be used to satisfy judgments against the property owner in the lawsuit. Thus, a notice of pendency makes it effectively impossible to sell the affected property, or get a mortgage on it.

Provisional remedies are pre-judgment or pre-trial court orders intended to preserve the status quo until the court issues a final judgment. Provisional remedies include attachment, garnishment, replevin, receivership, notice of pendency, and temporary injunctions such as temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions.

A plausible legal claim.  In other words, a claim strong enough to have a reasonable chance of being valid if the legal basis is generally correct and the facts can be proven in court.  The claim need not actually result in a win.  

Quasi in rem: an overview

When hearing quasi in rem actions, a court may only affect a named defendant's interest in a specific named piece of property. These actions have similarlities with both in rem and in personam actions. As is the case with in rem actions, a court may hear a quasi in rem action if the named property is within the court's jurisdiction, even if the court does not have the power to exercise in personam jurisdiction over the defendant.

Two or more courts have concurrent jurisdiction over a case if all of the courts have the power to hear it. Most notably, in the United States federal courts and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction to hear many types of actions. Similarly, a state court of general jurisdiction might have concurrent jurisdiction with specialized courts in the same state, such as family courts or small claims courts.

People are judgment-proof if they lack the resources or insurance to pay a court judgment against them. For example, suppose that a thief steals your car, sells it, and then burns all of his worldly possessions. Even if you sued him and won, you could not recover anything because the thief is judgment-proof.

In a civil action, a request for admission is a discovery device that allows one party to request that another party admit or deny the truth of a statement under oath. If admitted, the statement is considered to be true for all purposes of the current trial. Parties may also use this discovery device to request that other parties verify that documents are genuine.

Requests for admission are generally used toward the end of the discovery process to settle uncontested issues and simply the trial.

In a civil action, an interrogatory is a list of questions one party sends to another as part of the discovery process. The recipient must answer the questions under oath and according to the case's schedule. Because attorneys may help their clients answer interrogatories, interrogatory responses tend to be more finely crafted than answers to deposition questions. The number of questions included in an interrogatory is usually limited by court rule.

Discovery: an overview

In civil actions, parties use the pre-trial discovery process to gather information in preparartion for trial.