Glossary Law
There are 15 names in this directory beginning with the letter L.
Laches
The legal doctrine that a legal right or claim will not be enforced or allowed if a long delay in asserting the right or claim has prejudiced the adverse party (hurt the opponent) as a sort of “legal ambush.”
Larceny
The crime of taking the goods of another person without permission (usually secretly), with the intent of keeping them. It is one form of theft.
Last clear chance
A rule of law in determining responsibility for damages caused by negligence, which provides that if the plaintiff (the party suing for damages) is negligent, that will not matter if the defendant (the party being sued for damages caused by his/her negligence) could have still avoided the accident by reasonable care in the final moments (no matter how slight) before the accident.
Law
Any system of regulations to govern the conduct of the people of a community, society or nation, in response to the need for regularity, consistency and justice based upon collective human experience.
Law book
Any of numerous volumes dealing with law, including statutes, reports of cases, digests of cases, commentaries on particular topics, encyclopedias, textbooks, summaries of the law, dictionaries, legal forms and various combinations of these such as case reports with commentaries.
Law of the case
Once a judge has decided a legal question during the conduct of a lawsuit, he/she is unlikely to change his/her views and will respond that the ruling is the “law of the case.”
Lawsuit
A common term for a legal action by one person or entity against another person or entity, to be decided in a court of law, sometimes just called a “suit.” the legal claims within a lawsuit are called “causes of action.”
Leading
Short for “leading the witness,” in which the attorney during a trial or deposition asks questions in a form in which he/she puts words in the mouth of the witness or suggests the answer.
Legitimate
1) Legal, proper, real. 2) Referring to a child born to parents who are married. A baby born to parents who are not married is illegitimate, but can be made legitimate (legitimatized) by the subsequent marriage of the parents. 3) To make proper and/or legal.
Libel per se
Broadcast or written publication of a false statement about another which accuses him/her of a crime, immoral acts, inability to perform his/her profession, having a loathsome disease (like syphilis) or dishonesty in business.
Liberty
Freedom from restraint and the power to follow one’s own will to choose a course of conduct.
