Terms

Acquittal - a finding of non-guilty in a criminal case.

Adverse Verdict - a decision of a jury or judge which is opposed to one’s interest.

Amicable Settlement - a friendly or goodwill agreement resolving differences.

Arbitrary Amount - a figure based on individual discretion and not fixed by standards, rules, or law.

Breach of Contract - a legal claim that one party failed to perform as required by a valid agreement with the other party.

Decedent - deceased person.

Defendant - the party who is sued. Applicable to both criminal and civil cases.

Deposition - a formal statement given by a party or witness under oath in the presence of counsel.
It can be utilized for various purposes at trial or in motions.

Evidentiary - evidence allowed to be presented in court.

Hearsay - out-of-court statement provided by a person who is unavailable or deceased.

Litigation - generally refers to all of the legal activities involved in a civil lawsuit, from the filing of the complaint through the trial itself and any appeal.

Mediation - dispute resolution utilizing the services of a lawyer/judge for the purpose of bringing the parties to an amicable resolution of the dispute without incurring the expense and risk of a trial.

Metastasized - transmission of cancer from an original site to one or more sites elsewhere in the body.

Mistrial - a trial which has been terminated prior to its normal conclusion because of some extraordinary event (e.g death or illness of juror or attorney), a prejudicial error which cannot be corrected in that trial, or because of a deadlocked jury.

Motion - document filed by either party to a lawsuit in order to ask the judge to order the opposing party to do something or to have the judge rule that certain evidence should be excluded at trial.

Negligent - the failure to act in a reasonably prudent manner in any activity; generally it means carelessness.

Negotiations - discussions to bring about an agreement or compromise.

Plaintiff - the party who files a civil lawsuit; generally, the party who is claiming financial or physical injury.

Plantar Fasciitis - an inflammation of the plantar fascia, the band of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the ball of the foot and supports the arch of the foot.

Recovery - an amount awarded by or collected as a result of a judgment or decree.

Statute of Limitations - a statute setting a time limit on filing a legal action in court.