Glossary of Tort Law Terms

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Legal Glossaries Index

Security Agreement: A contract between a lender and borrower that states that the lender can repossess the property a person has offered as collateral if the loan is not paid as agreed.

Services of Process: The act of notifying the other parties that an action has begun and informing them of the steps they should take in order to respond.

Settlement Agreement: In a civil lawsuit, the document that spells out the terms of an out-of-court compromise.

Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.

Sidebar: A conference between the judge and lawyers held out of earshot of the jury and spectators.

Slander: Defamatory (false and injurious) oral statements or gestures.

Sole Proprietorship: A form of business organization in which an individual is fully and personally liable for all the obligations (including debts) of the business, is entitled to all of its profits and exercises complete managerial control.

Standard of Care: The degree of care a reasonable person would take to prevent an injury to another.

Standing: The legal right to initiate a lawsuit. To do so, a person must be sufficiently affected by the matter at hand, and there must be a case or controversy that can be resolved by legal action.

Stare Decisis: Latin for "to stand by that which is decided." Refers to the principle of adhering to precedent when deciding a case.

Statement: A description that a witness gives to the police and that the police write down.

Statute of Limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.

Statute of Repose: A statute of repose for products completely cuts off liability of the manufacturer or seller of a defective product after an arbitrarily-established number of years, such as 10 years or 15 years. Statutes of repose apply no matter how serious the injuries, how many injuries have been caused over the years by these products or services, or how reckless the actions of the wrongdoer were. They cover products with expected lives much longer than typical cut-off dates in the statute of repose, products like nuclear power plant components, medical devices such as pacemakers, elevators, airplanes, home appliances, playground equipment, farm equipment, freight trains, trucks, and other industrial machinery.

Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

Statutes of Fraud: Laws in most states to protect against false claims for payment from contracts that were not agreed upon. The specific laws vary from state to state, but most require that certain contracts be in writing.

Statutes of Limitations: Laws setting deadlines for filing lawsuits within a certain time after events occur that are the source of a claim.

Strict Liability: Liability even when there is no proof of negligence. Often applicable in product liability cases against manufacturers, who are legally responsible for injuries caused by defects in their products, even if they were not negligent.

Structured Settlements: Also called "periodic payments," structured settlement laws either mandate or allow courts to require that some or all payments awarded by a judge or jury be made to the injured consumer over a long period of time. In other words, the injured consumer is prohibited from receiving payments in a lump sum. These provisions increase the hardships of the most seriously injured consumers who are hit soon after an injury with large medical costs and must make adjustments in transportation and housing. Often, the law allows insurance companies to pocket the money upon the plaintiff's death, instead of paying it to a dependent spouse or child.

Subpoena Duces Tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.

Subpoena: An order compelling a person to appear to testify or produce documents.

Summary Judgment: A decision made on the basis of statements and evidence presented for the record without a trial. It is used when there is no dispute as to the facts of the case, and one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Summation: The closing argument in a trial.

Summons: A legal document that notifies a party that a lawsuit has been initiated and states when and where the party must appear to answer the charges.