Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. ... Oral argument operates by each party in a case taking turns to speak directly to the judge or judges with an equal amount of time allotted to each.
Apr 28, 2013 · One of the most important weapons in a lawyer’s arsenal is “argument”. The word “argument” engenders visions of debate, the heat and fury of positions attacked and defended strongly, though with words. That may happen of course, in today’s litigation, but generally the arguments which win cases are not replete with drama, sound or fury.
objection - A protest by an attorney, challenging a statement or question made at trial. Common objections include an attorney “leading the witness” or a witness making a statement that is hearsay. Once an objection is made, the judge must decide whether to …
Jan 11, 2012 · An oral argument is a legal proceeding where lawyers on each side of a contentious issue (such as whether or not the testimony of a particular witness should be allowed into evidence) stand in a ...
To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal.". Both the plaintiff and the defendant can appeal, and the party doing so is called the appellant. Appeals can be made for a variety of reasons including improper procedure and asking the court to change its interpretation of the law.
The plaintiff initially decides where to bring the suit, but in some cases, the defendant can seek to change the court. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases. A federal court in one state, for example, can usually only decide a case that arose from actions in that state.
bail - Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
A. acquittal - Judgment that a criminal defendant has not been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. affidavit - A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it. Affidavits must be notarized or administered by an officer of the court with such authority.
appellate - About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgment of another lower court or tribunal. arraignment - A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
charge to the jury - The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial. chief judge - The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court. The chief judge also decides cases, and the choice of chief judges is determined by seniority.
capital offense - A crime punishable by death. In the federal system, it applies to crimes such as first degree murder, genocide, and treason. case law - The use of court decisions to determine how other law (such as statutes) should apply in a given situation.
The lawyer for the plaintiff or government usually goes first. The lawyer sums up and comments on the evidence in the most favorable light for his or her side, showing how it proved what he or she had to prove to prevail in the case. After that side has made its case, the defense then presents its closing arguments.
The judge usually indicates to the lawyers before closing arguments begin which instructions he or she intends to give the jury. In their closing arguments the lawyers can comment on the jury instructions and relate them to the evidence.
Closing Arguments. The lawyers’ closing arguments or summations discuss the evidence and properly drawn inferences. The lawyers cannot talk about issues outside the case or about evidence that was not presented. The judge usually indicates to the lawyers before closing arguments begin which instructions he or she intends to give the jury.
This is a chance to respond to the defendant’s points and make one final appeal to the jury.
Occasionally the defense may choose not to make a closing statement. If so, the plaintiff or government loses the right to make a second argument.
Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services.
However, in common usage "week" means both a period of 7 consecutive days and a period of 7 consecutive days starting from a given day (which day? Sunday, Monday?).
Our system is an adversarial system. The system is designed to get a just result by having each side argue their own position in an adversarial setting. This means that the opposing lawyer could argue that the first lawyer is arguing both sides of the issue in different cases. However I believe a good judge would find that lawyer's argument to be irrelevant. Because the only arguments that are relevant would be the arguments based on the law and the facts of each individual case. In other words it would not be relevant for the opposing lawyer to argue that this lawyer frequently argues both sides of the case. As long as he is not doing so in this one specific case.
Not only would it not be unethical to argue both sides of the issue, if the lawyer argued both sides of the issue and won on both sides, this would be proof that the lawyer is an excellent lawyer. Because the victory would be based on the lawyers skills and not on whether the law leans one way or the other.
Speaking of ethics, I believe it would be unethical for a lawyer not to argue on behalf of one of his clients. A lawyer is required to represent each one of his clients zealously. If this means the lawyer has to argue both sides of an issue, as long as there is no conflict of interest between his two clients, then the lawyer must do so.
1 to state (something) as a reason in support of or against something under consideration. argued that a bake sale would make a lot less money than a car wash. Synonyms for argue. assert, contend, maintain, plead, reason. Words Related to argue.
The words debate and discuss are common synonyms of argue. While all three words mean "to discourse about in order to reach conclusions or to convince, " argue implies the offering of reasons or evidence in support of convictions already held. argued that the project would be too costly.
While in some cases nearly identical to argue, debate suggests formal or public argument between opposing parties ; it may also apply to deliberation with oneself.
Oaths - Sworn attestations required in court, usually administered by the in-court clerk.
Amend – Improve, correct or change a complaint or other pleading. Amicus Curiae - A friend of the court. One not a party to a case who volunteers, or is asked by the court, to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it.
Action - Case, cause, suit, or controversy disputed or contested before a court. Additur - An increase by a judge in the amount of damages awarded by a jury. Adjudication - Judgment rendered by the court after a determination of the issues. Ad Litem - A Latin term meaning “for the purpose of the lawsuit.”.
Abstract of Title - A chronological summary of all official records and recorded documents affecting the title to a parcel of real property.
The judge has the discretion to deny the challenge. Distinguished from peremptory challenge, which they party can usually exercise as a matter of right. Chambers - A judge’s private office. A hearing in chambers takes place in the judge’s office outside of the presence of the jury and the public.
The Probate Court Glossary can be found in Chapter 12 of the Probate Judges Manual.
Ad Litem - A Latin term meaning “for the purpose of the lawsuit.”. For example, a guardian “ad litem” is a person appointed by the court to protect the interests of a minor or legally incompetent person in a lawsuit. Administrator - (1) One who administers the estate of a person who dies without a will.
In the legal field, however, one of the legal duties every lawyer must observe is to avoid conflicts of interest when it comes to their clients. In fact, if a lawyer represents a client knowing that there's a conflict of interest, they can be disciplined by the state bar and sued by the client for legal malpractice.
There are a variety of conflicts of interest that can prevent a lawyer from taking on a particular case. The conflict may occur between the prospective client and one of the attorney's current or former clients. There can also be concerns if a client's interests are in conflict with the lawyer's professional or personal relationships.
While an attorney may be able to easily identify a conflict, sometimes they're not always easy to spot. Because of this, it's the attorney's responsibility to perform regular conflict checks when taking on a new client.
An attorney can not only answer any questions you may have about the scope of an attorney's obligations to their client, they can also answer other questions you may have about the law.
Conflicts of interest can occur in a number of real-life situations. While these may be ethical dilemmas, acting one way or another will not likely lead to any kind of formal punishment. For example, if a business executive is her son's direct manager, there will likely be a conflict of interest when she has to conduct a performance review of her son's work. This might create a problem for the company and lead to policy changes, but it wouldn't necessarily violate any laws.
It's also important to note that a law firm may be able to represent a client even though a single attorney had a conflict of interest, if a "firewall" can be successfully put around the attorney with the conflict. This essentially means that the matter would not be discussed with or around the attorney with the conflict, ...
It's also possible for there to be an issue if the potential client's interests are at odds with the attorney's own interests. A conflict of interest can also occur at the law firm level. For example, even if an attorney working at a law firm didn't personally work on a particular matter (because someone else at the firm handled it), ...