Accord and satisfaction refers to the agreement (accord) between two contracting parties to accept alternate performance to discharge a pre-existing duty between them and the subsequent performance (satisfaction) of that agreement. The new...
legal education and practice
accounts receivable
Accounts receivable (abbreviated A/R) is money owed to a business by another business or individual in exchange for property or services that were provided on credit. The settlement of an account receivable begins by sending an invoice to...
accumulated earnings
Accumulated earnings represent a company’s net profit after having distributed dividends to the stockholders. It is often used in accounting to determine how much net profits a company has left after having paid dividends. To calculate...
accusation
An accusation is informally stating that a person has committed an illegal or immoral act. An accusation is also formally charging a person with a crime either by a prosecuting attorney filing charges against or through a grand jury...
accusatory instrument
An accusatory instrument, similar to a criminal complaint, is a document which formally accuses a defendant of a criminal offense. Generally, this document must be signed by a party who has knowledge that the alleged criminal conduct took...
acknowledgment
Acknowledgement refers to a formal declaration before an official that one has executed a particular legal document. Some common usages of the term “acknowledgement” in a legal sense include:
Cases such as this one from Nebraska,...acquittal
An acquittal is a resolution of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged. The trier of fact, whether the jury or the court, must render a verdict of finding not guilty of the charged offense. A not guilty finding is an...
act
An act in the legal sense refers to either a voluntary bodily movement or a term for a body of law/proposed law.
In the criminal law context, an act is part of the concept of actus reus and, therefore, is a prerequisite to...
act of God
An act of God refers to a severe, unanticipated natural event for which no human is responsible. Despite its facial religious connections, the usefulness of the term means “act of God” is frequently used in otherwise secular statutory and...
action
An action refers to a judicial proceeding. If a party brings a civil or criminal case against you, an action has been brought against you. The party bringing the action is the plaintiff /prosecution respectively.
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