Judg（ e） ment A decision or declaration of the court， usually setting out the court s findings and details of any damages （ compensation） or other remedy which the court has decided to grant to any party in the case.
Jurisdiction The authority to decide and enforce the law. （ E.g. the County and High Courts have jurisdiction to try breach of contract cases in England and Wales.）
Jury Group of individuals （ usually 12） who make findings of fact in the most serious criminal cases （ usually in the Crown Court in England and Wales） .
Intellectual Property Law relating to copyright， rights to inventions （ patents） and trademarks etc.
Law A system of rules and regulations governing and determining permissible conduct within society.
Leading Question A question which suggests the answer or which implies the existence of some particular fact（ s） or circumstances.
Leave Permission. （ E.g. to seek“leaveof the court”is to seek perm ission of thecourt.）
Legal Privilege A legal right to refuse to disclose or produce documentation or other evidence on the basis of some special interest recognized by law. （ Typically relating to the legally recognized right for discussions and correspondence between lawyer and client to remain“privileged”and thus protected from disclosure. ）
Letter BeforeAction Correspondencesentby a prospectiveClaimant or his legal advisor intimating to another party an intention to commence legal action against that other party along with brief details of the proposed legal action. （ Note that a more modern equivalent is“letter of claim”.）
Letter of Claim Modern term for“letter before action”（ see above） .
Liability Legal responsibility to comply with or discharge a legal obligation or indebtedness.
Limitation Period The time-limit prescribed by law in which a Claimant must commence a claim in court. Failure to issue the claim in court within this time-limit will usually result in the Claimant losing the legal right to pursue that particular claim. （ E.g. the limitation period for a personal injury claim is three years in the UK. ）
Listing for Trial Procedure for providing the court with final documentation and information in order to enable the court to finalize a date for trial.
Litigant A party to legal proceedings （ i.e. to litigation—see below） .
Litigation Legal action / proceedings involving a dispute between parties.
Liquidated Damages A term used to refer to a specifically quantifiable amount of monetary compensation which a Claimant is seeking from another party. （ I.e. a sum which can be precisely calculated as opposed to an amount which is variable at the court s discretion.）
Locus Location of an incident， particularly of an accident.
Magistrates Court Criminal Court in England and Wales which tries the relatively less serious criminal cases. （ Usually conducted by a“Magistrate”.）
Member A company shareholder.
Minutes Record of matters discussed and decided in the course of directors and shareholders meetings.
Minor An individual under 18 years of age.
Mitigation A term used in criminal law to refer to submissions seeking to justify or at least provide some explanation for a party s conduct and aimed at persuading a court or tribunal to show some sympathy towards that party. （ See also“Mitigation of Damages”below. ）
Mitigation of Damages A term used in civil law to refer to efforts madeby a Claimant to minimize or alleviate loss and damage sustained.
Negligence Used in a legal sense to refer to a failure to comply with a duty of care towards others imposed by law or by generally accepted standards.
Oral Evidence Spoken （ as opposed to documentary） evidence.
Party Person or organization entering into an agreem ent or engaged in legal proceedings.
Plaintiff Person or party commencing a legal action. Note that the term“Claimant”is now used in English courts in place of“Plaintiff”（ the term“Plaintiff”still being in general use however in American courts） .
Pleadings A termpreviously used to refer to thecourt documents setting out each party s case and now largely superseded by the term“Statements of Case”.
Poll Means of voting at shareholders meetings whereby votes on a particular resolution are counted on the basis of the number of voting shares held by each person voting （ as opposed to“on a show of hands”） .
Precedent Existing document， draft or court decision which is relevant to and used as the basis for subsequent legal drafting or decisions. （“Doctrine of Precedent”refers to a concept whereby previous court decisions establish the general legal position for subsequent legal disputes involving similar circumstances.）
Privilege （ See“Legal Privilege”above.）
Proceedings Term used to refer to an ongoing court action （ known as court or legal proceedings） .
