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Legal Dictionary L
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Laches :
A legal doctrine whereby those who take too long to assert a legal
right, lose their entitlement to compensation. When you claim that a
person's legal suit against you is not valid because of this, you would
call it "estoppel by laches".
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Landlord :
A land or building owner who has leased the land, the building or a
part of the land or building, to another person.
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Larceny :
An old English criminal and common law offence covering the unlawful
or fraudulent removal of another's property without the owner's consent.
The offence of theft now covers most cases of larceny. But larceny is
wider than theft as it includes the taking of property of another person
by whatever means (by theft, overtly , by fraud, by trickery, etc.) if
an intent exists to convert that property to one's own use against the
wishes of the owner.
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Law :
All the rules of conduct that have been approved by the government
and which are in force over a certain territory and which must be obeyed
by all persons on that territory (eg. the "laws" of Australia).
Violation of these rules could lead to government action such as
imprisonment or fine, or private action such as a legal judgement
against the offender obtained by the person injured by the action
prohibited by law. Synonymous to act or statute although in common
usage, "law" refers not only to legislation or statutes but also to the
body of unwritten law in those states which recognize common law.
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Lawyer :
A person that has been trained in the law and that has been
certified to give legal advice or to represent others in litigation.
Also known as a "barrister and solictor" or an attorney.
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Leading question :
A question which suggests an answer; usually answerable by "yes" or
"no". For example: "Did you see David at 3 p.m.?" These are forbidden to
ensure that the witness is not coached by their lawyer through his or
her testimony. The proper form would be: "At what time did you see
David?" Leading questions are only acceptable in cross-examination or
where a witness is declared hostile.
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Lease :
A special kind of contract between a property owner and a person
wanting temporary enjoyment and use of the property, in exchange for
rent paid to the property owner. Where the property is land, a building,
or parts of either, the property owner is called a landlord and the
person that contracts to receive the temporary enjoyment and use is
called a tenant.
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Leasehold :
Real property held under a lease. Legal custody A child custody
decision which entails the right to make, or participate in, the
significant decisions affecting a child's health and welfare (compare
with physical custody and joint custody).
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Legislation :
Written and approved laws. Also known as "statutes" or "acts." In
constitutional law, one would talk of the "power to legislate" or the
"legislative arm of government" referring to the power of political
bodies (eg: house of assembly, Congress, Parliament) to write the laws
of the land.
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Letters of Marque
written authority granted to a private person by a government to
seize the subjects of a foreign state or their goods; specifically : a
license granted to a private person to fit out an armed ship to plunder
the enemy .
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Liability :
Any legal obligation, either due now or at some time in the future.
It could be a debt or a promise to do something. To say a person is
"liable" for a debt or wrongful act is to indicate that they are the
person responsible for paying the debt or compensating the wrongful act.
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Libel :
Defamation by writing such as in a newspaper or a letter.
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Liberal construction :
A form of construction which allows a judge to consider other
factors when deciding the meaning of a phrase or document. For example,
faced with an ambiguous article in a statute, a liberal construction
would allow a judge to consider the purpose and object of a statute
before deciding what the article actually means.
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License :
A special permission to do something on, or with, somebody else's
property which, were it not for the license, could be legally prevented
or give rise to legal action in tort or trespass. A common example is
allowing a person to walk across your lawn which, if it were not for the
license, would constitute trespass. Licenses are revocable at will
(unless supported by a contract) and, as such, differs from an easement
(the latter conveying a legal interest in the land). Licenses which are
not based on a contract and which are fully revocable are called
"simple" or "bare" licenses. A common example is the shopping mall to
which access by the public is on the basis of an implied license.
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Lien :
A property right which remains attached to an object that has been
sold, but not totally paid for, until complete payment has been made. It
may involve possession of the object until the debt is paid or it may be
registered against the object (especially if the object is real estate).
Ultimately, a lien can be enforced by a court sale of the property to
which it attached and then the debt is paid off from the proceeds of the
sale.
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Life estate :
A right to use and to enjoy land and/or structures on land only for
the life of the life tenant. The estate reverts back to the grantor (or
to some other person), at the death of the person to whom it is given. A
property right to last only for the life of the life tenant is called
the estate "pur sa vie." If it is for the duration of the life of a
third party, it is called an estate "pur autre vie". The rights of the
life tenant are restricted to conduct which does not permanently change
the land or structures upon it.
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Life tenant :
The beneficiary of a life estate.
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Limited partner :
A unique colleague in a partnership relationship who has agreed to
be liable only to the extent of his (or her) investment. Limited
partners, though, have no right to manage the partnership. Limited
partners are usually just investors or promoters who seek the tax
benefits of a partnership
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Limitrophe Adjacent :
bordering or contiguous.
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Lineal descendant :
A person who is a direct descendant such as a child to his or her
natural parent.
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Liquidation :
The selling of all the assets of a debtor and the use of the cash
proceeds of the sale to pay off creditors.
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Lis pendens :
Latin: a dispute or matter which is the subject of ongoing or
pending litigation. Politicians will sometimes refuse to discuss a
matter or an issue which is "lis pendens" because they do not want their
comments to be perceived as an attempt to influence a court of law.
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Literal construction :
A form of construction which does not allow evidence extrapolated
beyond the actual words of a phrase or document but, rather, takes a
phrase or document at face value, giving effect only to the actual words
used. Also known as "strict" or "strict and literal" construction.
Contrasts with liberal construction (which allows for the input from
other factors such as the purpose of the document being interpreted).
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Litigation :
A dispute is in "litigation" ( or being "litigated") when it has
become the subject of a formal court action or law suit.
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Livery Delivery :
An archaic legal word from the feudal system referring to the actual
legal transmission of possession of an object to another. For example, a
knight would obtain an estate in land as tenure in exchange for serving
in the king's army for 40 days a year. The king would give exclusive
possession of the land, (i.e. "livery") to the knight. A writ of livery
also developed which allowed persons to sue for possession of land under
the feudal system. Livery (or "delivery") of the land was important in
completing legal possession or, as it was known in the feudal system,
seisin.
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Living will :
A document that sets out guidelines for dealing with life-sustaining
medical procedures in the eventuality of the signatory's sudden
debilitation. Living wills would, for example, inform medical staff not
to provide extraordinary life-preserving procedures on their bodies if
they are incapable of expressing themselves and suffering from an
incurable and terminal condition.
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LL.B., L.M. or LL.D. :
The Latin abbreviations for the three classes of law degrees: the
regular bachelor degree in law (LL.B.), the masters degree in law
(LL.M.) and the doctorate in law (LL.D.). These are basic prerequisites
to admission to the practice of law in many states. Locus Latin for "the
place." For example, lawyers talk of the "locus delicti" as the pace
where a criminal offense was commited or "loco parentis" to refer to a
person who stands in the place of a parent such as a step-parent in a
common law relationship.
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Long arm statutes :
Each court is bound to a territorial jurisdiction and does not
normally have jurisdiction over persons that reside outside of that
jurisdiction. For example, a court in Scotland would not normally have
jurisdiction over a resident of Ireland. Long-arm statutes are a tool
which gives a court jurisdiction over a person even though the person no
longer resides in the territory limits of the court. For example, UIFSA
allows a court to have jurisdiction over a non-resident support payor.
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