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Terms
Laches
A legal doctrine whereby those who take too long to assert a legal right, lose their entitlement to a right or compensation.
Expanded Legal Definition of Laches

Landlord
A land or building owner who has leased the land, the building or a part of the land or building, to another person.
Expanded Legal Definition of Landlord

Larceny
A criminal offence now more commonly referred to as theft, covering the unlawful or fraudulent removal of another's property without the owner's consent.
Expanded Legal Definition of Larceny

Law
Rules of conduct approved and enforced by the government of and over a certain territory (eg. the 'laws' of Australia).
Expanded Legal Definition of Law

Lawyer
An individual trained in the law and that has been certified to give legal advice or to represent others in litigation.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lawyer

Leading Question
A question which suggests an answer; usually answerable by yes or no.
Expanded Legal Definition of Leading Question

Lease
A special kind of contract between a property owner and a person wanting temporary enjoyment and exclusive use of the property, in exchange for rent paid to the property owner.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lease

Leasehold
Real property held under a lease.
Expanded Legal Definition of Leasehold

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).
Expanded Legal Definition of Legal Custody

Legislation
Written and approved laws.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legislation

Liability
A legal obligation, either due now or at some time in the future.
Expanded Legal Definition of Liability

Libel
Written form of defamation such as on the Internet, in a newspaper or a letter.
Expanded Legal Definition of Libel

Liberal Construction
A form of construction which allows a judge to consider other factors when deciding the meaning of a phrase or document.
Expanded Legal Definition of Liberal Construction

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.
Expanded Legal Definition of License

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.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lien

Life Estate
A right to use and to enjoy land and/or structures on land only for the life of the life tenant.
Expanded Legal Definition of Life Estate

Life Tenant
The beneficiary of a life estate.
Expanded Legal Definition of Life Tenant

Limited Partner
A unique colleague in a partnership relationship who has agreed to be liable only to the extent of his (or her) investment.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limited Partner

Limitrophe
Adjacent, bordering or contiguous.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limitrophe

Lineal Descendant
A person who is a direct descendant such as a child to his or her natural parent.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lineal Descendant

Liquidation
The selling of all the assets of a debtor and the use of the cash proceeds of the sale to pay off creditors.
Expanded Legal Definition of Liquidation

Lis Pendens
Latin: a dispute or matter which is the subject of ongoing or pending litigation.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lis Pendens

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.
Expanded Legal Definition of Literal Construction

Litigation
A dispute is in 'litigation' (or being 'litigated') when it has become the subject of a formal court action or law suit.
Expanded Legal Definition of Litigation

Livery
Delivery.
Expanded Legal Definition of Livery

Living Will
A document that sets out guidelines for dealing with life-sustaining medical procedures in the eventuality of the signatory's sudden debilitation.
Expanded Legal Definition of Living Will

LL.B., LL.M. or LL.D.
Abbreviations for law degrees as in bachelor of law, master or law, or doctorate.
Expanded Legal Definition of LL.B., LL.M. or LL.D.

Long Arm Statutes
A statute which purports to regulate persons outside of its territorial jurisdiction.
Expanded Legal Definition of Long Arm Statutes

Loitering
To waste time; to be idle.
Expanded Legal Definition of Loitering

Legalese
Legal terms combined in long-winded sentences, or varied or with permutations, with the initial design of legal or drafting precision but which otherwise add unnecessary complexity or inadvertently resulting in confusion.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legalese

Long-Term Offender
A convicted person for whom there is a substantial risk of re-offending.
Expanded Legal Definition of Long-Term Offender

Locus
Latin: the place; venue.
Expanded Legal Definition of Locus

Liquidated Damages
Pre-determined damages.
Expanded Legal Definition of Liquidated Damages

Limited Power of Attorney
A POA limited by a condition or term or in regards to a specific item of property.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limited Power of Attorney

Legacy
A gift of a chattel by will.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legacy

Landed Immigrant
An immigration law term; an individual who has relocated and changed his permanent residence to a state where he does not have citizenship but does limited rights associated with residency.
Expanded Legal Definition of Landed Immigrant

Lunatic
An individual who, though once of sound mind, can no longer manage his person or his affairs.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lunatic

Lockout
An employer's decision to bar unionized employees entry to the workplace until such time as they accept to work on the employer's terms and conditions or based on a lapsed collective bargaining agreement.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lockout

Locus Standi
Latin: legal standing before a court.
Expanded Legal Definition of Locus Standi

Lay on the Table
Also “to table”; a term of parliamentary law and procedure which refers to a motion in regards to another motion being actively debated, but intended to defer a final disposition of the pending motion.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lay on the Table

Legislative Branch
The elected law-making branch of government.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legislative Branch

Legal Fiction
A ruling on law based on hypothetical facts.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legal Fiction

Lex Loci
Latin; the law of a place as in where a right was acquired or a liability incurred.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Loci

Lex Fori
Latin for the law of the forum.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Fori

Lex Causae
Latin; law of the cause.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Causae

Lex Situs
A conflict of law rule that selects the applicable law based on the venue or location of something.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Situs

Lex Scripta
Written law; statutes.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Scripta

Lex Non Scripta
Unwritten law; the common or custom law.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lex Non Scripta

Lap Dancing
The intentional rubbing against men to please them in a sexual way.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lap Dancing

Law of Nature
The uncertain and elastic concept of regulation of conduct based on morality, conscience or God.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law of Nature

Legalism
The rigorous and ruthless adherence to the word of the law, usually combined with a policy to regulate as much as possible.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legalism

Ligan
Also "lagan"; things thrown from a ship and attached to a float or buoy to mark their location.
Expanded Legal Definition of Ligan

Lay Day
A term of a maritime law contract: days stipulated for the loading or unloading of cargo from a ship.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lay Day

Limited Partnership
A partnership with at last one general partner and a limited partner, the latter contributing financially or otherwise but not otherwise involved in the business or, generally, personally liable for the debts of the partnership.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limited Partnership

Lessor
The person who grants a lease, usually the owner of the thing leased.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lessor

Lessee
The person to whom is granted exclusive possession of a thing under the terms of a lease.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lessee

Letters Rogatory
A request of a judge in one jurisdiction to a court of another, to examine a specific witness.
Expanded Legal Definition of Letters Rogatory

Lettre de Cachet
A discretionary, arbitrary and often secret order issued by the King of France for the execution of some act.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lettre de Cachet

Lubricum Linquae Non Facile Trahendum Est In Poena
Latin: the law tends to overlook rash or inconsiderate language spoken in the heat of the moment.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lubricum Linquae Non Facile Trahendum Est In Poena

Licensor
The person who grants a license to another, the latter called the licensee.
Expanded Legal Definition of Licensor

Licensee
The recipient or beneficiary of a license to use something.
Expanded Legal Definition of Licensee

Lodge Act
A 1950 law of the United States of America which allowed foreign nationals who enlisted in the US Army for at least a 5 year tour of duty, to obtain US citizenship.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lodge Act

Lake
An expanse of standing water or a widened portion of a river.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lake

Lay-Off
A temporary discharge of an employee.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lay-Off

Limitation Fund
A guarantee or deposit made by a ship owner to meet any damage claim, and calculated on the negligent ship's tonnage.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limitation Fund

Letter of Credit
An undertaking to pay money on stated terms such as the occurrence of a specified event or document(s).
Expanded Legal Definition of Letter of Credit

LOF 2000
A Lloyd's standard form of salvage contract.
Expanded Legal Definition of LOF 2000

Law Merchant
International commercial law.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law Merchant

Legal Citation
An acronym or abbreviation for a law report or other regular or periodic law or legal and authoritative publication directing a reader to the full document.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legal Citation

Law Report
A serial publication which publishes, verbatim, judgments of a court of law.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law Report

Labor Union
A defined group of employees formed for the purposes of representing those employees with the employer as to the terms of a collective contract of employment.
Expanded Legal Definition of Labor Union

Labor Organization
A defined group of employees formed for the purposes of representing those employees with the employer as to the terms of a collective contract of employment.
Expanded Legal Definition of Labor Organization

Laissez-faire
French: leave alone. A theory of contract law that persons ought to have freedom of contract with minimal state or judicial interference.
Expanded Legal Definition of Laissez-faire

Lawyering
The work of a lawyer in giving legal advice or in suggesting an application of that law in advancing an issue of a client.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lawyering

Legatee
The person to whom personal property is gifted pursuant to a will.
Expanded Legal Definition of Legatee

Last Clear Chance Doctrine
A principle of tort law which requires an individual to take every action at hand to avoid an accident where peril to another human being is otherwise imminent.
Expanded Legal Definition of Last Clear Chance Doctrine

Lawyer's League
A group of German jurists sympathetic to the Nazi Party before and during World War II.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lawyer's League

Litigant
A person who is a party to a legal action.
Expanded Legal Definition of Litigant

Limitations or Statute of Limitations
Loss of a legal right or cause of action because of the passage of time.
Expanded Legal Definition of Limitations or Statute of Limitations

Lunacy law
The law as it relates to the assessment and committal of persons incapable of managing themselves or their affairs.
Expanded Legal Definition of Lunacy law

Law of the case Doctrine
When a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law of the case Doctrine

Law of Nations
The body of rules that nations in the international community universally abide by, or accede to, out of a sense of legal obligation and mutual concern.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law of Nations

Law of the Flag
A principle of maritime and international law; that the sailors and vessel will be subject to the laws of the state corresponding to the flag flown by the vessel.
Expanded Legal Definition of Law of the Flag

Learned Intermediary Doctrine
A doctrine of American personal injury law which places upon a prescribing physician the primary responsibility to warn patients of the hazards of prescribed pharmaceutical products.
Expanded Legal Definition of Learned Intermediary Doctrine