See: lawsuit
[Last updated in August of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
legal practice/ethics
summation
In a legal trial, summation refers to the final, closing argument articulated by a litigant to a judge or jury concerning the merits of their side of a case. In contrast to an opening statement, in which a litigant may only preview what the...
sunshine laws
Sunshine laws are regulations requiring public disclosure of government agency meetings and records. Sunshine laws require specific businesses and government agencies to maintain transparency and disclose their activities to the public. The...
supernumerary witness
A supernumerary witness is a witness that is not required; an extra witness; a witness beyond the requisite number of witnesses.
[Last updated in August of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
supplemental
Supplemental means completing or making an addition to, particularly to a document - for example, a supplemental complaint, supplemental claim, or supplemental proceeding.
Some common uses of the term “supplemental” in a...
supplemental pleadings
A pleading that sets forth transactions or occurrences or events which happened since the date of the pleading, with the purpose of supplementing it. The court may permit these through motion. Even if the original pleading was defective, it may still...
Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act of 2010
Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act of 2010 (also known as S.B. 1070) was a highly controversial piece of immigration legislation in the state of Arizona. The bill was enacted in response to years of increasing illegal...
surplusage
Surplusage is language contained in a pleading that is unnecessary or irrelevant. For example, in an indictment, surplusage is the allegation of any fact or circumstances that is not a necessary element to the offense. Surplusage may be...
surrebuttal
Surrebuttal is the response to a rebuttal that the responding party may be allowed to make in rare circumstances. Usually, a court will only allow the moving party to have a rebuttal to the evidence and arguments of the responding party....
suspect
A suspect is a person who is believed to have committed a crime, but has not yet been found guilty. If a suspect received an arrest warrant, they might then be identified as a defendant; and after the suspect was convicted or found guilty,...