wex definitions

Definition

The revocation of a lawyer’s license to practice law, usually as a result of a violation of professional ethics.

Disbarment may be imposed by the state bar association if a lawyer commits an offense that directly relates to his or her fitness to practice law. Such offenses may include dishonesty, fraud, felony, substance abuse, abuse of public office, or “conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

Definition

The section of a prison the holds prisoners who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting execution.

Definition

In the accounting context, it is the entry on the right-hand side of the balance sheet. Credit can decrease the value of an asset or it can increase the amount of capital, liability or revenue. It is a form of debt.

Definition

A formal agreement, typically in a deed or lease, in which a seller or lessor promises to protect a buyer or lessee in the event of a disturbance of his or right to quiet enjoyment of the property he or she is buying or leasing. A covenant of quiet enjoyment insures an owner or tenant against a disturbance of his or her right to possess or use property. For example, a covenant of quiet enjoyment could prevent a tenant from being evicted by a person with superior title. Also called covenant for quiet enjoyment. 

Definition

Information that a web server (i.e. a website) sends to a web browser. The browser stores the information in a text file, and re-sends the information to the server each time the browser accesses the server. The main purpose of a cookie is to help the server identify the browser. 

Definition

The suspension or postponement of a trial or court proceeding. Continuance is made on a case-by-case basis at the court’s discretion. Courts balance giving the moving party enough time; the need to make the trial timely and speedy; and the interests of justice.

A conditional resident is a noncitizen who is granted permanent resident statutes on a conditional basis. The conditional resident receives a green card valid for 2 years. In order to remain a permanent resident, the conditional resident must file a petition to remove the condition during the 90 days before the card expires.

Definition

The principle that one sovereign nation voluntarily adopts or enforces the laws of another sovereign nation out of deference, mutuality, and respect.

Unlike enforcement of judgments between states in the United States (which is governed by the Comity Clause of the Constitution), there is no Constitutional obligation on a U.S. court to recognize or enforce a foreign judgment. Neither is comity of nations embodied in international law.

Definition

The legal principle that political entities (such as states, nations, or courts from different jurisdictions) will mutually recognize each other’s legislative, executive, and judicial acts. The underlying notion is that different jurisdictions will reciprocate each other’s judgments out of deference, mutuality, and respect.

In Constitutional law, the Comity Clause refers to Article IV, § 2, Clause 2 of the U.S.

Definition

A work, such as an issue of a magazine, an anthology or an encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. See 17 U.S.C. §101. This is relevant in the copyright law context. A copyright to a contribution to a collective work is not the same as the copyright to the collective work.