Legal Glossary

The public calling of the list of pending cases at the beginning of a court term for the primary purpose of setting trial dates, entering orders, or hearing preliminary motions.

Standards of ethical conduct governing judges and lawyers.

The legal qualification or ability to sue or be sued or be brought into court.

Latin: “To seize.” An arrest warrant, especially if issued from the bench or on an indictment.

Offense which is punishable by death or life imprisonment.

The heading or introductory part of a pleading, motion or other legal document which shows the names of the parties, name of the court, title of the action, file number, etc.

Driving a vehicle in a careless or imprudent manner, without due regard for the width, grade, curves, corner, traffic and use of the streets and highways and all other attendant circumstances.

Sexual intercourse; the slightest penetration by the male’s sexual organ of a female’s sexual organs.

A legal dispute brought into court; a lawsuit.

The legal basis for bringing a lawsuit.

Latin: “Let the doer beware.”

Latin: “Let the buyer beware.”

1. Order to transfer jurisdiction from youth court to circuit court upon conducting a bifurcated transfer hearing. 2. The act of attesting.

A discretionary review of a lower court decision confined to questions of law arising or appearing on the face of the record and proceedings.

Beneficiary of a trust; one having equitable and beneficial interest in an estate, the legal title to which is vested in another.

One whose life measures the duration of an estate, trust, gift or insurance contract.

Proving that the integrity of evidence has not been compromised, i.e., no indication or reasonable inference of probable tampering with the evidence or substitution of the evidence, by showing continuous custodial possession.

Conveyances or other property transfers, arranged consecutively, from the government or original source of title down to the present holder.

Requesting the court to exclude a prospective juror whose answers and demeanor on voir dire clearly indicate an inability to fairly try the case.

Questioning the qualifications of an entire panel summoned for jury duty, usually because of some deficiency in the manner in which the panel was selected and summoned.

The private office or room of a judge.

The purchase of an interest in something in dispute in order to maintain or take part in litigation concerning it; illegal in Mississippi.

A judge of the chancery court.

Established by the Mississippi Constitution with jurisdiction to hear, among other issues: all matters in equity; divorce and alimony; matters testamentary and of administration; minor’s business; cases of idiocy, lunacy, and persons of unsound mind; and real property disputes.

The removal of a case from one venue to another for trial.

An accusation of a crime by a formal complaint, information, or indictment.

No previous instances of consensual sexual intercourse.

An article of personal property.

One who has not reached the legal age of majority.

Causing or allowing the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, nonaccidental physical injury or other maltreatment upon a child in one’s legal custody or care.

Neglecting or refusing to provide for the necessary physical, medical, or educational needs of a child in one’s legal custody or care.

Court-ordered periodic payments of funds for the support of a child.

Established by the Mississippi Constitution with jurisdiction to hear all matters civil and criminal not exclusively cognizable in some other court.

Evidence which, without going directly to prove the existence of a fact, gives rise to a logical inference that such fact exists.

1. Reference to an authority, e.g., a case or statute, that supports the textual statement or from which a quote is taken. 2. Often used as a synonymous term for traffic ticket or summons.

A lawsuit.

Substantive and procedural laws pertaining to civil matters.

Personal rights guaranteed and protected by the U.S. Constitution or federal law.

1. Any demand to recover damages from a governmental entity as compensation for injuries. 2. A right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured.

One asserting a claim through a civil action.

That weight of proof which produces in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established; evidence so clear, direct and weighty and convincing as to enable the fact finder to come to a clear conviction, without hesitancy, of the truth of the precise facts of the case.

A good and marketable title to real property; a title free from encumbrance, burden, or limitation.

Final steps in a real estate transaction where consideration is paid, the mortgage is secured, and the deed is delivered.

Argument before a jury summarizing the evidence presented at trial, along with any reasonable deductions and conclusions.

The semblance of an outstanding claim or encumbrance that casts a doubt as to the validity of the record title. A legal recourse is to attain a decree in chancery court that removes the cloud on title.

An authorized collection, compendium or revision of laws systematically arranged into titles, chapters, and sections.

A supplement or addition to a will.

A secret agreement between two or more persons for fraudulent or deceitful purposes.

1. To order a person to a state institution such as a prison or mental health facility. 2. To engage in a criminal act.

A person or business that carries or transports people or property for money.