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Calendar: List of cases scheduled for hearing in court.
Capacity Defense: Broadly, describes a defendant's
lack of some fundamental ability to be held accountable. For
example, in Pennsylvania, persons under 7 years of age are
presumed incapable of negligence.
Capital crime: A crime punishable by death.
Caption: The heading on a legal document listing the
parties, the court, the case number, and related information.
Case Law: Law established by previous decisions of
appellate courts, particularly the Supreme Court.
Casualty: A loss of property due to fire, storm
shipwreck or other casualty, which is allowable as a deduction
in computing taxable income.
Cause: A lawsuit, litigation, or action. Any
question, civil or criminal, litigated or contested before a
court of justice.
Causation: The act by which an effect is produced.
See also "legal cause" and "proximate
cause."
Cause of Action: Fact or facts that give someone the
right to seek a remedy through the court because the facts of
the case apply to a certain law sought to be enforced.
Caveat: A warning; a note of caution.
Certification: 1. Written attestation. 2. Authorized
declaration verifying that an instrument is a true and correct
copy of the original.
Certiorari: (Latin: "To be informed of.")
Writ issued by a superior or higher court to a lower court
requiring the lower court to produce a certified record of a
case tried there so that the superior court can examine the
lower court proceedings for errors. See record.
Challenge: An objection, such as when an attorney
objects at a hearing to the seating of a particular person on
a civil or criminal jury.
Challenge for Cause: Objection to the seating of a
particular juror for a stated reason (usually bias or
prejudice for or against one of the parties in the lawsuit).
The judge has the discretion to deny the challenge. This
differs from peremptory challenge.
Chambers: A judge's private office. A hearing in
chambers takes place in the judge's office outside of the
presence of the jury and the public.
Change of Venue: Moving a lawsuit or criminal trial
to another place for trial.
Charge to the Jury: The judge's instructions to the
jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case
on trial.
Chief Judge: Presiding or Administrative Judge in a
court.
Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence not based on
actual personal knowledge or observation of the fact in
dispute, but, rather, evidence of other personal knowledge or
observation which allows a jury to infer the existence or
nonexistence of the fact in dispute. An example of direct
evidence of who was at fault for a car accident would be a
witness who actually saw the accident. An example of
circumstantial evidence in this case, would be a witness who
drove by after the impact and saw the defendant's car in the
wrong lane.
Citation: 1. A reference to a source of legal
authority. 2. A direction to appear in court, as when a
defendant is cited into court, rather than arrested.
Civil Actions: Noncriminal cases in which one
private individual or business sues another to protect,
enforce, or redress private or civil rights.
Civil Action: Action brought to enforce private
rights. Generally, all actions except criminal actions.
Civil Law: Body of law concerned with private rights
and remedies, as contrasted with criminal law. Compare with
criminal law.
Civil Procedure: The rules and process by which a civil
case is tried and appealed, including the preparations for
trial, the rules of evidence and trial conduct, and the
procedure for pursuing appeals.
Claim Petition: In cases where a worker is injured
on the job, the injured employee files a claim petition to
seek initial compensation. This occurs when there has been a
Notice of Denial - no workers' compensation payments have been
made or medical benefits have not been paid.
Class Action: A means by which one or more
individuals are able to sue for themselves and as
representatives of other people. A class action requires: an
identifiable group of people with a well-defined interest in
the facts and law of the suit; too many people in the group
for it to be practical to bring them all before the court; and
the individuals bringing suit are able to adequately represent
the entire group.
Clear and Convincing Evidence: Standard of proof
commonly used in civil lawsuits and in regulatory agency
cases. It governs the amount of proof that must be offered in
order for the plaintiff to win the case.
Clemency or Executive Clemency: Act of grace or
mercy by the president or governor to ease the consequences of
a criminal act, accusation, or conviction. It may take the
form of commutation or pardon.
Closing Argument: The closing statement, by counsel,
to the trier of facts after all parties have concluded their
presentation of evidence.
Codicil (kod'i-sil): An amendment to a will.
Co- Defendant: A defendant joined together with one
or more other defendants in the same case.
Collateral Source Rule: The rule ensures that
compensation awarded to a plaintiff in a lawsuit will not be
reduced if the plaintiff receives compensation for the same
injury from another source, such as insurance. Under the rule,
a defendant tort-feasor is unable to benefit from the fact
that the plaintiff received money from another source, such as
insurance, because of the defendant's tort.
Commit: To send a person to prison, asylum, or
reformatory by a court order.
Common Law: Law deriving its authority from usage
and customs or judgments of courts recognizing and enforcing
such usages and customs. Generally, law made by judges rather
than by legislatures.
Commutation: The reduction of a sentence, as from
death to life imprisonment.
Comparative Negligence: Comparing the plaintiff's
contributory negligence to the defendant's negligence.
Pennsylvania's Comparative Negligence statute states that when
a plaintiff is guilty of contributory negligence and that
negligence was not greater than the defendant's negligence,
the plaintiff's damages will be diminished in proportion to
his negligence in causing the accident.
Compensation: Something that makes up for a loss. In
workers' compensation cases, it refers to payment to
unemployed or injured workers or their dependents.
Complaint: In the legal sense, the document a
plaintiff files with the court which contains allegations and
damages sought. A complaint generally starts a lawsuit.
Complainant: The party who complains or sues; one
who applies to the court for legal redress. Also called the
plaintiff.
Compromise and Release: In workers' compensation
cases, this occurs when a lump sum payment of money is paid by
the insurance carrier to an injured worker to resolve the
case. This lump sum is in lieu of the weekly compensation
benefits the injured worker is receiving and may or may not
include future medical benefits.
Conciliation: A form of alternative dispute
resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a
neutral third party, who helps lower tensions, improve
communications, and explore possible solutions. Conciliation
is similar to mediation, but it may be less formal.
Concurrent Sentences: Sentences for more than one
crime that are to be served at the same time, rather than one
after the other. See also cumulative sentences.
Condemnation: The legal process by which the
government takes private land for public use, paying the
owners a fair price.
Consecutive Sentences: Successive sentences, one
beginning at the expiration of another, imposed against a
person convicted of two or more violations.
Conservatorship: Legal right given to a person to
manage the property and financial affairs of a person deemed
incapable of doing that for himself or herself. (See also
guardianship. Conservators have somewhat less responsibility
than guardians.)
Contempt of Court: Willful disobedience of a judge's
command or of an official court order.
Continuance: Postponement of a legal proceeding to a
later date.
Contract: A legally enforceable agreement between
two or more competent parties made either orally or in
writing.
Contingent Fee Agreement: An agreement between an
attorney and his or her client whereby the attorney agrees to
represent the client for a percentage of the amount recovered.
This fee agreement is frequently used in personal injury
actions.
Contributory Negligence: Broadly, carelessness on
the plaintiff's part. More precisely, conduct which falls
below the standard of care established by law for the
protection of one's self against unreasonable risk of harm.
Conviction: A judgment of guilt against a criminal
defendant.
Corpus Delicti: Body of the crime. The objective
proof that a crime has been committed. It sometimes refers to
the body of the victim of a homicide or to the charred shell
of a burned house, but the term has a broader meaning. For the
state to introduce a confession or to convict the accused, it
must prove a corpus delicti, that is, the occurrence of a
specific injury or loss and a criminal act as the source of
that particular injury or loss.
Corroborating Evidence: Supplementary evidence that
tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.
Counsel: Legal adviser; a term used to refer to
lawyers in a case.
Counterclaim: Claim brought by a defendant in a
lawsuit against the plaintiff.
Court Administrator/Clerk of court: An officer
appointed by the Court or elected to oversee the
administrative, non-judicial activities of the court.
Court: Refers to a specific court, such as The
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, or may also refer to a judge.
Court Costs: The expenses of prosecuting or
defending a lawsuit, other than the attorneys' fees. An amount
of money may be awarded to the successful party (and may be
recoverable from the losing party) as reimbursement for court
costs.
Court Reporter: The person who stenographically
records and transcribes testimony during court proceedings or
related proceedings such as depositions.
Criminal Law: Criminal law declares what conduct is
criminal and prescribes punishment to be imposed for criminal
conduct. The purpose of criminal law is to prevent harm to
society.
Cross-Claim: Claim brought by a defendant in a
lawsuit against a co-defendant in the lawsuit
Cross-Examination: The questioning of a witness
produced by the other side.
Cumulative Sentences: Sentences for two or more
crimes to run consecutively, rather than concurrently.
Custody: Detaining of a person by lawful process or
authority to assure his or her appearance to any hearing; the
jailing or imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime.
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