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| A basic legal system that relies on scholarly interpretations of codes and constitutions rather than court interpretations of prior court decisions, as in common-law systems. |
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| Doctrine of stare decisis |
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| A method of case resolution in which courts follow earlier court decisions when the same issues arise again in lawsuits. |
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| Fairness, or a body of principles constituting what is fair and right. |
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| A classification of law that applies to acts that society deems so harmful to the public welfare that government is responsible for prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators. |
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| A classification of law that applies to legal matters not governed by criminal law and that protects rights and provides remedies for breaches of duties owed to others. |
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| A classification of law that creates, defines, and regulates parties rights, duties, and powers. |
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| A classification of law that prescribes the steps, or processes, for enforcing the rights and duties defined by substantive law. |
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| The power of a court to decide cases of a certain type or within a specific territory. |
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| The provision of the US Constitution that gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nationals and among the states. |
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| The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing notice and a hearing before the federal government can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property; and the Fourteenth Amendment's extension of these same requirements to state government actions. |
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| A part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Cons. prohibiting state laws that discriminate unfairly or arbitrarily, and requiring equal treatment to all persons under like circumstances and conditions. |
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| A law requiring a passenger who has been injured in a vehicle accident and is seeking to recover damages to establish that the accident resulted from the driver's gross negligence. |
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| National Association of Insurance Commissioners |
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| An organization established to promote uniformity in regulation among states, exchange regulatory information, and coordinate responses to changing conditions in the insurance marketplace. |
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| The power of a court in which cases are initiated to hear those cases. |
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| The power of a court to hear appeals from another court. |
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| The power of a court to hear a variety of types of cases. |
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| The authority of federal district courts to hear cases involving parties from different states that involve amounts in controversy over a legal minimum. |
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| An appeals court at any level of government. |
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| An appellate court's order directing a lower court to deliver its record in a case for appellate review. |
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| A body of law that resolves questions when states' laws conflict. |
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| The state in which a party sues. |
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| The body of law, including agency rules, regulations, and adjudicatory rulings, created by government agencies. |
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| A claim that a party to a lawsuit asserts and expects to prove. |
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| Allegations made by the party starting a lawsuit. |
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| The party who starts a lawsuit by filing a complaint. |
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| The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed. |
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| A formal written statement of a party's claims filed with a court as part of a lawsuit. |
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| A plaintiff's legal grounds to sue a defendant. |
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| A document filed in court by a defendant responding to a plaintiff's complaint and explaining they the plaintiff should not win the case. |
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| A complaint filed by a defendant against a plaintiff in a lawsuit. |
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| A party's formal request for a particular action from the court. |
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| A defendant's formal request to a court admitting the truth of the plaintiff's allegations but asking the court to end a lawsuit because the allegations are not sufficient to justify legal action. |
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| Motion for judgement on the pleadings, or motion of summary judgement |
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| A request made to a court before a lawsuit goes to trial in which one party accepts the other party's statement of facts, but questions whether the law provides a remedy; if the request is granted the lawsuit ends. |
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| The pretrial process by which each party elicits the other party's evidence. |
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| A partial discovery tool involving oral examination of a witness to produce a written verbatim record. |
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| A pretrial discovery tool consisting of written questions directed to the opposing party, requiring written answers. |
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| A pretrial discovery tool requesting that a court order the opposing party in a lawsuit to produce documents or physical evidence. |
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| Questioning one's own witness during a legal proceeding. |
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| Questioning an opposing party during a legal proceeding to bring out information favorable to the questioner's own position or to challenge the witness's testimony. |
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| Referring to evidence, the quality of relating directly to the matter at issue in a case; required for evidence to be admissible in a court proceeding. |
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| Referring to evidence, the quality of having significance and consequence in a case; required for evidence to be admissible in a court proceeding. |
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