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| A defense to negligence. A plaintiff may not recover for injuries or damage suffered from risks he or she knows of and has voluntarily assumed. |
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| An act or omission without which an event would not have occurred. |
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| A rule in tort law, used in the majority of states, that reduces the plaintiffÕs recovery in proportion to the plaintiffÕs degree of fault, rather than barring recovery completely. |
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| A monetary award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damage sustained by the aggrieved party. |
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| A rule in tort law, used only in a few states, that completely bars the plaintiff from recovering any damages if the damage suffered is partly the plaintiffÕs own fault. |
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| A monetary award sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or a tortious action. |
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| The duty of all persons, as established by tort law, to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings with others. Failure to exercise due care, which is normally determined by the reasonable person standard, constitutes the tort of negligence. |
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| Fraudulent Misrepresentation |
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| Any misrepresentation, either by misstatement or by omission of a material fact, knowingly made with the intention of deceiving another and on which a reasonable person would and does rely to his or her detriment. |
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| A state statute stipulating that persons who provide emergency services to, or rescue, someone in peril cannot be sued for negligence unless they act recklessly, thereby causing further harm. |
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| A wrongful act knowingly committed. |
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| The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances. |
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| An action or failure to act in violation of a statutory requirement. |
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| Legal cause. It exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability. |
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| Monetary damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future. |
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| Reasonable Persons Standard |
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| The standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical Òreasonable personÓ. It is the standard against which negligence is measured and that must be observed to avoid liability for negligence. |
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| A doctrine under which negligence may be inferred simply because an event occurred, if it is the type of event that would not occur in the absence of negligence. Literally the term means THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. |
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| Liability regardless of fault, which is imposed on those engaged in abnormally dangerous activities, on persons who keep dangerous animals, and on manufacturers or sellers that introduce into commerce defective and unreasonably dangerous goods. |
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| A wrongful act (other than a breach of contract) that results in harm or injury to another and leads to civil liability. |
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| The standard of proof used in criminal cases. |
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| The Fifth Amendment requirement that prohibits a person from being tried twice for the same criminal offense. |
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| A rule that prevents evidence that is obtained illegally or without a prosper search warrant and any evidence derived from illegally obtained evidence from being admissible in court. |
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| A crime such as arson, murder, rape, or robbery that carries the most severe sanctions, ranging from more than one year in a state or federal prison to the death penalty. |
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| A group of citizens who decide, after hearing the states evidence, whether probable cause exists for believing that a crime has been committed and that a trial ought to be held. |
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| A formal charge by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that a named person has committed a crime. |
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| A lesser crime than a felony, punishable by a fine or incarceration in jail for up to one year. |
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| Reasonable grounds for believing that a search should be conducted or that a person should be arrested. |
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| An order granted by a public authority, such as a judge, that authorizes law enforcement personnel to search particular premises or property. |
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| The branch of law dealing with definition and enforcement of all private or public rights as opposed to criminal matter. |
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| The body of law derived from the U.S. Constitution of the various states |
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| Ê The branch of law that defines and punishes wrongful actions committed against the public. |
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| One against whom a lawsuit is brought, or the accused person is in a criminal proceeding. |
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| The state of being legally responsible (liable) for something. Such as debt or obligation. |
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| ÊOne who initiates a lawsuit. |
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| ÊA court decision that furnishes an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar legal principles or facts. |
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| A common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions. |
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| The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to constitutional law, administrative law, or case law). |
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| Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) |
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| The resolution of disputes in ways other than those involved in the traditional judicial process, such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. |
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| Procedurally, a defendants response to a plaintiffÕs complaint. |
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| The settling of a dispute by submitting it to a disinterested third party (other than a court), who renders a decision. |
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| A clause in a contract that provides that, in the event of a dispute, the parties will submit the dispute to arbitration rather than litigate the dispute in court. |
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| The pleading made by a plaintiff alleging wrongdoing on the part of the defendant. When filed with a court, the complaint initiates a lawsuit. |
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| A claim made by a defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff. In effect, the defendant is suing the plaintiff. |
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| The testimony of a party to a lawsuit or a witness taken under oath at trial. |
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| A method by which the opposing parties obtain information from each other to prepare for trial. |
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| A series of written questions for which written answers are prepared by a party to a lawsuit, usually with the assistance of the partyÕs attorney, and then signed under oath. |
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| ÊThe process of resolving a dispute through the court system. |
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| A method of settling disputes outside the courts by using the services of a neutral third party, who acts as communicating agent between the parties and assists them in negotiating a settlement. |
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| The first ten amendments of the U.S. constitution. |
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| The provision in article 1, section 8, of the U.S. constitution that gives congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. |
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| The provisions in the fifth and fourteenth amendments that guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. |
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| The provision in the 14th amendment that requires state government to treat similarity-situated individuals in a similar manner. |
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| The provision in the 1st amendment that prohibits the government from establishing any state-sponsored religion or enacting any law that promotes religion or favors one religion over another. |
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| A doctrine under which certain federal laws preempt, or take precedence over, conflicting state or local laws. |
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| ÊThe requirement in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution that provides that the constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States are Òthe supreme law of the landÓ. |
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