LAW-240 Midterm Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards for LAW-240 Midterm covering foundations of law, the civil lawsuit process, dispute resolution, intentional and business torts, negligence, strict product liability, and tort damages.

Constitution

The highest source of law; conflicting laws are invalid.

Statutes

Laws passed by the legislature.

Administrative Law

Rules and regulations made by government agencies.

Common Law

Judge-made laws based on prior court decisions.

Precedent

Using previous court decisions to guide future cases.

Stare Decisis

Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand," expressing the principle that courts generally follow precedents to provide consistency and predictability.

Legislative Branch

The branch of government (Congress) responsible for making laws.

Executive Branch

The branch of government (the President) responsible for enforcing laws.

Judicial Branch

The branch of government (the Courts) responsible for interpreting laws.

Criminal Law

Legal branch where the government prosecutes and punishes conduct harmful to society.

Civil Law

Legal branch where a private party sues another party to seek money or another remedy.

Plaintiff

The person or party filing a lawsuit.

Defendant

The person or party being sued or prosecuted.

Legal Positivism

A legal philosophy holding that law is valid simply because it is government-made.

Natural Law

A legal philosophy asserting that an unjust law is not truly valid.

Legal Realism

A legal philosophy arguing that what actually occurs in courts and enforcement matters more than written rules.

Bystander Rule

The general rule that an individual usually has no duty to rescue a stranger, unless exceptions apply such as creating the danger or having a special relationship.

Veto Override

The action of Congress overturning a presidential veto, requiring a 2/3 vote in both the House and the Senate.

Subpoena

A legal order requiring an individual to testify or provide evidence.

FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)

A law providing public access to government records to prevent agency secrecy and hold agencies accountable.

Jurisdiction

A court's official power to handle a case, or the specific geographic area where that power is allowed to be exercised.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

A court's legal authority to hear specific types of cases (addressing what the case is about).

Personal Jurisdiction

A court's legal authority over the specific people or companies involved in a lawsuit (addressing who is being sued).

Federal Question Jurisdiction

Federal court jurisdiction arising when a case involves the U.S. Constitution, federal statutory law, or federal treaties.

Diversity Jurisdiction

Federal court jurisdiction where the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

Complaint

The initial pleading filed by the plaintiff stating the factual allegations and claims against the defendant.

Answer

The defendant's official written response to the plaintiff's complaint.

Counterclaim

A claim made by the defendant suing the plaintiff within the same lawsuit.

Default Judgment

A ruling entered against a defendant resulting from a failure to file a timely answer to the complaint.

Interrogatories

A discovery method involving written questions submitted to another party that must be answered in writing.

Depositions

A discovery method involving oral questioning of a witness or party under oath prior to trial.

Voir Dire

The jury selection process of questioning potential jurors to determine their fitness to serve.

Appellant

The party who files an appeal asking a higher court to review a lower court's decision.

Appellee (Appelle)

The party responding to an appeal filed by the appellant.

Certiorari

A formal petition or procedure used to request that the U.S. Supreme Court review a case.

Motion to Dismiss

A formal request asking the judge to terminate a case because of an inherent legal defect.

Summary Judgment

A motion asking the judge to decide the case immediately without a trial because the essential facts are undisputed.

JNOV (Judgement Non Obstante Veredicto)

A post-trial motion asking the judge to overturn or ignore the jury's verdict because it directly contradicts the law or evidence.

Preponderance of the Evidence

The standard burden of proof in civil lawsuits, requiring that the claim is more likely true than not (greater than 50% probability).

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

The burden of proof in criminal trials, requiring near-certain evidence such that there is no logical explanation other than the defendant's guilt.

Negotiation

An alternative dispute resolution method where the disputing parties communicate directly to reach a resolution.

Mediation

An alternative dispute resolution process where a neutral third party facilitates voluntary settlement without issuing a binding decision.

Arbitration

A formal alternative dispute resolution method where a neutral third party renders a typically binding decision, limiting traditional court and jury access.

Tort

A civil wrong that causes legally recognized harm or injury.

Defamation

A false, unprivileged statement communicated to a third party that causes injury to another's reputation.

Libel

Defamation expressed in written or published form.

Slander

Defamation expressed orally or spoken to a third person.

Actual Malice

The legal standard required for public officials and public figures in defamation claims, proving knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard of the truth.

Battery

An intentional tort consisting of actual harmful or offensive physical contact with another person.

Assault

An intentional tort involving the intentional creation of fear or reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.

False Imprisonment

The intentional and unreasonable restraint of another person's physical freedom without consent or legal justification.

IIED (Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress)

An intentional tort characterized by extreme and outrageous conduct intentionally causing severe emotional distress.

Trespass

The intentional, unauthorized entry onto another person's real property or land.

Conversion

The intentional, unauthorized taking or exercise of dominion over someone else's personal property.

Fraud

Intentional deception or misrepresentation calculated to induce reliance and cause legal injury.

Tortious Interference with Contract

Improperly and intentionally causing a party to breach an existing, valid contract with another party.

Tortious Interference with Prospective Advantage

Improper interference with a probable or prospective economic or business relationship of another party.

Lanham Act

A federal law prohibiting false or misleading commercial advertising and marketing that injures a business.

Factual Cause

The "but for" causation test in negligence: but for the defendant's conduct, would the harm have occurred?

Proximate Cause

Legal causation establishing that the harm suffered by the plaintiff was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant's breach.

Superseding Cause

An unforeseeable intervening event that breaks the causal chain between the defendant's act and the injury, cutting off legal liability.

Negligence Per Se

A doctrine where the violation of a safety statute automatically establishes a breach of duty if the statute was designed to prevent that specific type of harm to that class of plaintiff.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Latin phrase meaning "the thing speaks for itself," a doctrine allowing negligence to be inferred from the very nature of the accident without direct proof.

Trespasser

A person on land without consent; landowners owe the lowest legal duty of care to adult trespassers.

Licensee

A social guest on land; the landowner owes a duty to warn them about known, hidden dangers.

Invitee

A customer or business visitor; landowners owe the highest duty of care, including reasonable inspection and protection from dangers.

Attractive Nuisance

A dangerous man-made condition on land likely to attract children that can impose liability on a landowner if a child is injured.

Contributory Negligence

A traditional defense stating that if a plaintiff is even slightly at fault for their own injuries, they are completely barred from recovery.

Comparative Negligence

A legal defense where damages are proportionally reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the plaintiff.

Assumption of Risk

A defense showing that the plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily accepted the obvious and ordinary hazards of an activity.

Strict Liability

Legal liability that is imposed regardless of intent, negligence, or fault.

Ultrahazardous Activity

An activity carrying an inherently extreme risk of harm that cannot be eliminated through the exercise of reasonable care (e.g., using explosives).

Strict Product Liability

Holding commercial sellers liable when a product is defective and unreasonably dangerous upon reaching the consumer without substantial alteration, regardless of privity.

Design Defect

A product defect where the intrinsic blueprint or design of the product creates an unreasonable hazard, making it dangerously designed.

Manufacturing Defect

A defect occurring when a product departs from its safe, intended design during the production process.

Failure to Warn

A product defect arising when a manufacturer fails to provide adequate instructions or warnings about foreseeable hazards.

Consumer Expectation Test

A design defect test evaluating whether a product is less safe than an ordinary, reasonable consumer would expect under normal use.

Risk-Utility Test

A design defect test determining whether the societal and economic benefits of a product's design outweigh its inherent hazards and risks.

Statute of Limitations

A statutory time limit for initiating a legal proceeding, where the clock typically begins when the injury or defect is discovered or should have been discovered.

Statute of Repose

An absolute legal deadline barring claims after a fixed period from when a product was manufactured or sold, regardless of when injury occurred or was discovered.

Compensatory Damages

Financial damages awarded to make the injured party whole by covering past and future losses such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Single Recovery Principle

A rule mandating that a plaintiff receive a single lump-sum award intended to cover all past, present, and anticipated future injuries and damages.

Punitive Damages

Damages awarded in excess of compensatory damages specifically designed to punish extreme, outrageous conduct and deter similar actions in the future.