Legal Terminology
A similar term that's ordinarily used to describe people who are paid to influence legislators is this.
What is a lobbyist?
Once a jury makes this decision, the judicial process is not necessarily over.
What is a verdict?
Most lawyers are paid with this type of down payment arrangement.
What is a retainer?
The first refuge to address unresponsive public officials is to vote them out in this.
What is an election?
The minority opinion in a court decision is called this.
What is a dissent?
In Massachusetts, petitioners must collect 74,574 signatures and follow a strict timeline for submission to various government offices. This is an example of ______ petition.
What is an initiative petition?
This is the prosecutor's opening statement about the defendant's supposed crimes.
What is an indictment?
Lawyers are a self-policing profession, with rules set up by this organization.
What is the bar association?
One of the greatest aspects of this country is the ability for public ______________.
What is petitioning?
The majority (or plurality) view of the court is called this.
What is the majority opinion?
When laws are too vague, the executive branch creates these to add clarity.
What are regulations?
Lawyers can exclude a predetermined number of potential jurors for any reason using this.
What is a peremptory challenge?
If a lawyer violates the confidentiality of his client's statements, they violate this.
What is attorney-client privilege?
When the legislature puts a question on the ballot for voters, it's called this.
What is a referendum?
When a judge agrees with the verdict but disagrees about the reasoning, they write this.
What is a concurring opinion?
The Anglo-American system of conducting trials is called this.
What is the adversarial system?
Every defendant is entitled to this type of hearing in a higher court.
What is an appeal?
This type of fee arrangement means the lawyer only gets paid if they win the case.
What is a contingency fee?
In some states, citizens can remove elected officials from office with this process.
What is a recall?
Regulations are supposed to be based on this principle.
What is statutory authority?
In the civil law system, judges take a more active role in asking questions, which is called this system.
What is the inquisitorial system?
When the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take a case, it approves this filed by a lawyer or citizen.
What is a writ of certiorari?
This punishment prevents lawyers from practicing law anymore due to ethics violations.
What is disbarment?
The executive agency must hold these before regulations can be considered binding rules.
What are public hearings?
Appellate courts can only reverse a decision if there is this.
What is legal error?