58 articles
Lawsuit
A lawsuit is a court proceeding in which a plaintiff brings a claim against a defendant for damages, an injunction, or declaratory relief. Covers the federal civil process, common law pleading, the 1848 Field Code, and the 1938 Federal Rules.
Lawyer
A lawyer, also called a counselor at law, is a person qualified to advise and represent others on legal matters, including court proceedings and transactions.
Legal affairs of Elon Musk
Legal affairs of Elon Musk: SEC cases (2018 funding-secured tweets, 2025 late Twitter 13D filing settled at $1.5 million), Twitter merger litigation, the lost OpenAI suit, his companies' suits against critics and agencies, and DOGE challenges.
Legal system
A legal system is the set of institutions and rules a society uses to make and enforce law; the main families are civil law, common law, customary law, religious law, and hybrid systems, with quantitative taxonomies identifying four global clusters.
Legal system of Saudi Arabia
The legal system of Saudi Arabia (النظام القضائي السعودي) is based on Islamic Sharia under the Basic Law of Governance, with Sharia courts, the Board of Grievances, and new codes: Evidence Law 2021, Civil Transactions Law 2023.
List of incidents at Disneyland Resort
Incidents at Disneyland Resort: deaths, serious injuries, and accidents at the Anaheim, California theme park resort, including the 2003 Big Thunder Mountain derailment, Jungle Cruise litigation, injury-report data, and its self-regulation history.
List of legal abbreviations
List of legal abbreviations: reference lists expanding short forms in legal citations, covering Bluebook tables, case-name abbreviations, US reporters (S.Ct., F.3d), UK law reports (AC, QB), neutral citations, and lookup tools like the Cardiff Index.
Mata v. Avianca, Inc.
Mata v. Avianca, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 2023, No. 22-cv-1461) is the first widely reported sanction for AI-fabricated citations: Judge Castel fined Schwartz, LoDuca, and Levidow, Levidow & Oberman $5,000 under Rule 11 for filing six ChatGPT-invented cases.
McKenzie friend
McKenzie friend, from McKenzie v McKenzie (1970), is a layperson assisting a litigant in person in England and Wales courts with notes, papers, and quiet advice; no rights of audience, unregulated, fee-charging form grew after LASPO legal aid cuts.
Mediation
Mediation: neutral third party helps disputants settle by their interests without imposing a decision. Also ADR mediation. Settlement rates above 50%, often near 75%; court-annexed programs cut case duration.
Minutes
Minutes: a court clerk's summary record of daily proceedings, listing participants and orders, distinct from verbatim transcripts; rough minutes held public records in Copley Press v. Superior Court (1992).
Moot court
Moot court, or mooting, is a simulated appellate court exercise in which law students brief and argue a hypothetical case before judges. Distinguished from mock trial by its appellate focus; major competitions include the ABA NAAC, Jessup, and the John H. Jackson WTO moot.
Natural law
Natural law (lex naturalis): Western ethical and legal tradition holding that moral and legal norms are rooted in human nature and knowable by reason. Key figures include Aquinas and Grotius; opposed to legal positivism; basis of international law theory.
Notary public
Notary public: state-appointed impartial witness who attests signatures, administers oaths, and takes acknowledgments and jurats; certifies identity and due execution, not document truth. US notary versus civil-law notaire; bonds, journals, fees, remote notarization.
Paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, performs substantive legal work under a lawyer's supervision but may not give legal advice or represent clients in court.
People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 4:23-cv-05448-YGR, is the 2023 Northern District of California lawsuit by 33 state attorneys general alleging Facebook and Instagram addict minors, violating COPPA and California consumer laws; tried in Oakland in 2026, resolved by a proposed $17 billion settlement.
Personal injury lawyer
Personal injury lawyer: plaintiff-side attorney handling tort claims (car accidents, malpractice, wrongful death), typically paid a contingency fee of about 33% of recovery, governed by ABA Model Rule 1.5 and state fee caps.
Plaintiff
Plaintiff: the party who starts a civil lawsuit by filing a complaint against a defendant, seeking damages or other relief and bearing the burden of proof; from Old French plaintif, complaining.
Private investigator
A private investigator (private detective, PI) gathers and reports information on legal or personal matters for clients. Most U.S. states license the occupation; median pay was $51,220 in May 2025; the field traces to Allan Pinkerton's 1850 agency.
Pro se legal representation in the United States
Pro se legal representation in the United States means appearing in court without a lawyer, also called self-representation, guaranteed federally by 28 U.S.C. § 1654. Common in prisoner petitions, family, and civil rights cases; pro se litigants fare far worse than represented ones.
Proctor
Proctor, from Latin procurator: English legal practitioner with exclusive audience in ecclesiastical and admiralty courts until the Judicature Acts 1873–1875; also the King's Proctor, US admiralty lawyers, and Oxford and Cambridge disciplinary officers.
Public defender
Public defender: government- or nonprofit-employed lawyer representing indigent criminal defendants, also called indigent defense counsel. Rooted in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963); distinct from private assigned counsel; defined by caseload standards, oversight commissions, and chronic underfunding.
Retainer agreement
Retainer agreement, also called representation agreement: a lawyer-client compensation contract for reserving availability or future services. Covers general, security, and advance fee retainers, trust account rules, and nonrefundable fee limits.
Settlement (litigation)
Settlement (litigation): negotiated resolution of a legal claim without adjudicated judgment, also called out-of-court settlement. Most civil cases end this way; US federal rates run 60-70%, shaped by information, costs, Rule 68, and Rule 408.
Shyster
Shyster: informal mainly US word for a dishonest person, especially an unscrupulous lawyer or politician. First recorded 1843 in New York's The Subterranean; etymology disputed, probably from German Scheisser, not Shylock.
Skiptrace
Skiptrace (skip tracing) is the investigative process of locating people whose contact information is unknown, used in debt collection, service of process, and law enforcement via public records and licensed databases under FCRA, GLBA, DPPA, and state law.
Solicitor
Solicitor: a qualified lawyer admitted to the roll in England and Wales (also used in other common law jurisdictions), regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and represented by the Law Society (founded 1825). Distinct from a barrister; holds reserved activities under the Legal Services Act 2007 and needs an SRA practising certificate.
Vexatious litigation
Vexatious litigation, or predatory litigation, is a legal action brought without good faith to harass a defendant. Courts in common law jurisdictions can declare a person a vexatious litigant.