Legal Jargon
In a courtroom, this is the person being accused of a crime or sued in a lawsuit.
Defendant
This 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case recognized a constitutional right to abortion before being overturned nearly 50 years later in 2022.
Roe v. Wade
This blonde Harvard Law student proved everyone wrong when she nailed her classes, won a murder trial, and did it all in pink heels.
Legally Blonde
Lawyers in this area work on cases where someone is accused of breaking the law like theft or murder and either defend or prosecute them in court.
Criminal Law
This defence means you used reasonable force to protect yourself from being harmed.
Self Defence
This is when someone tries to use a quote or statement that was said outside of court as proof of something in the case. Most of the time, it’s not allowed unless it fits a special rule.
Hearsay
This American serial killer was convicted in 1992 of killing 17 men and boys. His crimes and trial shocked the world and raised debates about mental health and the justice system.
Jeffrey Dahmer
This slick legal drama follows a top law firm in New York that hires a brilliant young man who never actually went to law school.
Suits
This type of law focuses on relationships like divorce, child custody, and adoption.
Family Law
This defence is used when someone commits a crime because they were forced or threatened by another person.
Duress
To be guilty of most crimes, you usually need to have done something wrong and meant to do it. These two Latin terms mean “the guilty act” and “the guilty mind.”
Actus Rea & Mens Rea
This Canadian pig farmer was convicted of murdering multiple women in one of the country’s most disturbing serial killer cases, exposing major flaws in how missing persons cases, especially involving vulnerable women were handled.
Robert Pickton
This long-running crime show focuses on a special police unit and legal team handling sensitive cases involving sexual assault and abuse.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Lawyers in this field help businesses with matters like contracts, company mergers, and following rules to operate legally.
Corporate Law
This defence is used by victims of long-term abuse to explain why they may have harmed their abuser.
Battered Women Syndrome
It is a written statement where someone swears they’re telling the truth, often signed in front of a notary and used as evidence in court.
Affidavit
In 2024, this Canadian man was found not criminally responsible for the murders of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, prompting national debate over mental health defences and justice for Indigenous communities.
Jeremy Skibicki
This political thriller features a crisis management team that works behind the scenes in Washington, D.C. to protect powerful people often bending or breaking the law to do it.
Scandal
This area of law deals with how countries work together including agreements, war crimes, and human rights.
International Law
This defence applies when someone breaks the law to avoid a greater harm or danger.
Necessity
This fancy-sounding Latin phrase means "you shall have the body" and it's a legal tool used to make sure someone isn’t being locked up unfairly without a good reason.
Habeas Corpus
In a 2008 incident that horrified the public, this man fatally attacked a fellow passenger, Tim McLean, on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba. He was later found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
Vince Li
In this Canadian legal drama, a corporate lawyer returns to her hometown and ends up fighting for justice in cases involving environmental harm and Indigenous rights.
Burden of Truth
If you create a new invention and want to stop others from copying it, you would go to a lawyer who works in this specialized field.
Patent Law
This defence relates to a mother who causes the death of her newborn child due to mental disturbance caused by childbirth.
Infanticide