An act of God refers to a severe, unanticipated natural event for which no human is responsible. Despite its facial religious connections, the usefulness of the term means “act of God” is frequently used in otherwise secular statutory and...
legal practice/ethics
actual authority
Actual authority is an agent's power to act on behalf of a principal, because such power was expressly or impliedly conferred. Express actual authority is when a principal directly tells the agent that they have the authority to take certain...
actual cause
Actual cause is a necessary element for both liability in civil cases and a guilty verdict under much of criminal law. In both civil and criminal cases, actual cause is determined by the but-for cause test; however, some jurisdictions also...
ad hoc
This phrases mean “for this purpose only.” Its literal translation from the Latin is “to this.”
Common examples are an ad hoc committee or an ad hoc commission created for a specific or one-time purpose to address issues that fall outside...
ad litem
The Latin translation of ad litem is "for the suit."
Examples:
A guardian ad litem is a guardian (usually a lawyer) appointed by the court to manage the affairs of the ward as they relate to a proceeding or particular...addendum
An addendum is an addition to a finished document, such as a contract. The most common addendum is an attachment or exhibit at the end of such a document. For example, a contract to manufacture widgets may have an addendum listing the...
administrative forfeiture
Administrative forfeiture is an in rem (against the property) action that allows the property to be forfeited to the United States without filing a case in federal court. The administrative forfeiture process occurs before the agency seizes...
administrative warrant
An administrative warrant is a warrant obtained from a judge by an administrative body to search for violations of administrative rules and regulations. While similar to a criminal warrant, an administrative warrant requires a lower standard...
administrator
In law, there are different meanings for “administrator.”
First, an administrator is a person who operates or leads a business, public office, agency, or other forms of organization. There are court administrators and local...
administrator ad litem
An administrator ad litem is a person appointed by a probate court to represent the interests of an estate for the purposes of a lawsuit.
Administrators ad litem are typically appointed in cases where the estate’s...