Legal Dictionary |
Glossary of terms that are frequently used on this site.
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| There are 9 entries in the glossary. |
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| bad faith | Dishonesty or fraud in a transaction, such as entering into an agreement with no intention of ever living up to its terms, or knowingly misrepresenting the quality of something that is being bought or sold. |
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| bankruptcy | Insolvency; a process governed by federal law to help when people cannot or will not pay their debts. |
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| bench trial | Also called court trial. A trial held before a judge and without a jury. |
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| beyond a reasonable doubt | The highest level of proof required to win a case. It is required to get a guilty verdict in criminal cases. The burden of proof that the prosecution must carry in a criminal trial to obtain a guilty verdict. Reasonable doubt is sometimes explained as being convinced "to a moral certainty". The jury must be convinced that the defendant committed each element of the crime before returning a guilty verdict. |
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| bifurcation | Splitting a trial into two parts: a liability phase and a penalty phase. In some cases, a new jury may be empaneled to deliberate for the penalty phase. |
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| bond | 1. A document with which one party promises to pay another within a specified amount of time. Bonds are used for many things, including borrowing money or guaranteeing payment of money.
2. A written agreement purchased from a bonding company that guarantees a person will properly carry out a specific act, such as managing funds, showing up in court, providing good title to a piece of real estate or completing a construction project. If the person who purchased the bond fails at his or her task, the bonding company will pay the aggrieved party an amount up to the value of the bond. 3. An interest-bearing document issued by a government or company as evidence of a debt. A bond provides pre-determined payments at a set date to the bond holder. Bonds may be "registered" bonds, which provide payment to the bond holder whose name is recorded with the issuer and appears on the bond certificate, or "bearer" bonds, which provide payments to whomever holds the bond in-hand. |
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| brief | 1. A written document that outlines a party's legal arguments in a case.
2. A document used to submit a legal contention or argument to a court. A brief typically sets out the facts of the case and a party's argument as to why she should prevail. These arguments must be supported by legal authority and precedent, such as statutes, regulations and previous court decisions. Although it is usually possible to submit a brief to a trial court (called a trial brief), briefs are most commonly used as a central part of the appeal process (an appellate brief). |
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| burden of proof | 1. The duty of a party in a lawsuit to persuade the judge or the jury that enough facts exist to prove the allegations of the case. Different levels of proof are required depending on the type of case.
2. A party's job of convincing the decision's maker in a trial that the party's version of the facts is true. In a civil trial, it means that the plaintiff must convince the judge or jury "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the plaintiff's version is true -- that is, over 50% of the believable evidence is in the plaintiff's favor. In a criminal case, because a person's liberty is at stake, the government has a harder job, and must convince the judge or jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. |
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| buy-sell agreement | An agreement among business partners that specifies how shares in the business are to be transferred in the case of a co-owner\'s death. |
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Glossary
