Wagner Act: A 1935 American federal statute which recognized employee rights to collective bargaining, protected the right to belong to a union, prohibited many anti-union tactics then used by employers, and set up the National Labor Relations Board. See the complete Legal Definition of Wagner Act

Waiver: An intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege. See the complete Legal Definition of Waiver

Warranty: A guarantee given on the performance of a product or the doing of a certain thing. See the complete Legal Definition of Warranty

Waste: The abuse, destruction or permanent change to property by one who is merely in possession of it as in the case of a tenant or a life tenant. See the complete Legal Definition of Waste

Wedlock: Being married. See the complete Legal Definition of Wedlock

Will: A written statement, usually signed, made by an individual, which directs the distribution of their property when they die. See the complete Legal Definition of Will

Wire-tapping: An electronic surveillance device which secretly listens in and records conversations held over a phone line. See the complete Legal Definition of Wire-tapping

Without Prejudice: A reservation made on a statement or an offer that it is not an admission or cannot otherwise be used against the issuing party in future dealings or litigation with any determinative legal effect. See the complete Legal Definition of Without Prejudice

Witness: A person who perceives an event (by seeing, hearing, smelling or other sensory perception). See the complete Legal Definition of Witness

Words of Limitation: Words in a conveyance or in a will which set the duration of an estate. See the complete Legal Definition of Words of Limitation

Words of Purchase: Words which specifically name the person to whom land is being conveyed. See the complete Legal Definition of Words of Purchase

Writ: An official court document, signed by a judge or bearing an official court seal, which commands the person to whom it is addressed, to do something specific. See the complete Legal Definition of Writ

Wrongful Death: A law action which claims damages from any person who, through negligence or direct act or omission, caused the death of certain relatives (eg. spouse, children or parent). See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Death

Wrongful Dismissal: Being fired from a job without an adequate reason or without any reason whatsoever. Can also be referred to as wrongful termination, wrongful discharge or dismissal without just cause. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Dismissal

War Crimes: Excessive brutality during war, in contravention of an international treaty or convention. See the complete Legal Definition of War Crimes

Wild Horse Annie Act: A 1959 American law that sought to restrict the use of motorized vehicles by cowboys rounding-up wild horses on public land. See the complete Legal Definition of Wild Horse Annie Act

Witchcraft: According to law books of the Middle Ages, the act of invoking evil spirits or consulting, covenanting with, entertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding any evil spirit. See the complete Legal Definition of Witchcraft

Want of Prosecution: An application to a judge to dismiss a law suit alleging that the litigant has inexcusably delayed moving the litigation along and that under the circumstances, the litigation ought to be dismissed. See the complete Legal Definition of Want of Prosecution

Waterboarding: A criminal investigation interrogation technique whereby a person suspected of having or withholding relevant information is blindfolded and bound on their back, sometimes with the fact covered with porous or nonporous material, and subjected to water poured over their mouth and nose such as to simulate drowning and to thus, under duress, elicit information. See the complete Legal Definition of Waterboarding

Wergeld: A fine set for injury or death of certain animals or person and upon which, the perpetrator was required to pay to the family of the deceased. Also spelled wergild. See the complete Legal Definition of Wergeld

Wreck: An abandoned vessel, or something abandoned off a vessel, which is either afloat, stranded, aground or sunken. See the complete Legal Definition of Wreck

With Prejudice: A statement or order that is conclusive between the parties as to the dispute between them. See the complete Legal Definition of With Prejudice

Waiver By Conduct: The abandonment of a right implied from a person's conduct. See the complete Legal Definition of Waiver By Conduct

Welsh Mortgage: A unique, now archaic species of common law mortgages where a person collects rents or profits in regards to specified real property, until the loan and any interest, is paid off. See the complete Legal Definition of Welsh Mortgage

Women's Court: An in camera court set up to hear cases involving women. See the complete Legal Definition of Women's Court

War: The use of violence and force between two or more states to resolve a matter of dispute. See the complete Legal Definition of War

Wallace Damages: Increased damage award in a wrongful dismissal case because of the manner in which the dismissal was handled by the employer. See the complete Legal Definition of Wallace Damages

Wager of Law: An ancient English law defence to a claim of contractual debt. See the complete Legal Definition of Wager of Law

Watered Stock: Shares in a corporation which is stated to be, or issued as fully paid but which in fact, has not been paid for. See the complete Legal Definition of Watered Stock

Witenagemote: An assembly of local elders in medieval England. See the complete Legal Definition of Witenagemote

Wrongful Conviction: A conviction of a person accused of a crime which, in the result of subsequent investigation, proves erroneous. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Conviction

Waqf: Muslim law: property dedicated to charitable purposes. See the complete Legal Definition of Waqf

Wrongful Life: A child's tort claim for bringing the child to birth where the person so doing knew or ought to have known that the child would be born into a life of painful and debilitating disease. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Life

Wrongful Birth: A mother's claim in tort that she would not to have given birth to the child with serious genetic defects but for the defendant's negligence in testing or counselling. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Birth

Wrongful Pregnancy: A tort claim alleging that the defendant's negligence has caused an unwanted pregnancy and birth. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Pregnancy

Withdrawal: A cancellation of a statement of defence or counterclaim by a defendant. See the complete Legal Definition of Withdrawal

Weapon of Mass Destruction: Device designed to kill humans through the use of atomic or nuclear energy or the release of chemicals, poisons, biological agents or radioactivity. See the complete Legal Definition of Weapon of Mass Destruction

Whiplash: Soft tissue (nerves and muscles) damage to the neck or lower brain area, often caused by a rear-end motor vehicle collision. See the complete Legal Definition of Whiplash

Wobbler: An offense known to American criminal law which offers to the district attorney the option of charging as a misdemeanor or as a felony. See the complete Legal Definition of Wobbler

Wrongful Invasion: In the context of the tort of nuisance, the enjoyment of property rights of another. See the complete Legal Definition of Wrongful Invasion