Law lexicon
Alteration - Changing or making different.
Alternative dispute resolution - Settling a dispute without a full, formal trial. Methods include mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and settlement, among others.
American Bar Association - A national association of lawyers whose primary purpose is improvement of lawyers and the administration of justice.
American Law Reports - A publication which reports cases from all United States jurisdictions by subject matter.
amicus curiae - A friend of the court; a nonparty who interposes, with the permission of the court, and volunteers information upon some matter before the court.
Ancillary - A proceeding which is auxiliary or subordinate to another proceeding. In probate, a proceeding in a state where a decedent owned property but was not domiciled.
Annotations - Remarks, notes, case summaries, or commentaries following statutes which describe interpretations of the statute.
Answer - A formal, written statement by the defendant in a lawsuit which answers each allegation contained in the complaint.
Answers to Interrogatories - A formal written statement by a party to a lawsuit which answers each question or interrogatory propounded by the other party. These answers must be acknowledged before a notary public or other person authorized to take acknowledgments.
Antitrust acts - Federal and state statutes to protect trade and commerce from unlawful restraints, price discriminations, price fixing, and monopolies.
Appeal - A proceeding brought to a higher court to review a lower court decision.
Appeal Bond - A guaranty by the appealing party insuring that court costs will be paid.
Appearance - The act of coming into court as a party to a suit either in person or through an attorney.
Appendix - Supplementary materials added to the end of a document.
Appellant - The party appealing a decision or judgment.
Appellate court - A court having jurisdiction to hear appeals and review a trial court's procedure.
Appellee - The party against whom an appeal is taken.
Arbitration - The hearing of a dispute by an impartial third person or persons (chosen by the parties), whose award the parties agree to accept.
Arbitrator - A private, disinterested person chosen by the parties in arbitration to hear evidence concerning the dispute and to make an award based on the evidence.
Arraignment - The hearing at which the accused is brought before the court to plead to the criminal charge in the indictment. He may plead "guilty," "not guilty," or where permitted "nolo contendere."
Source: Jurist International.
