www.LegalTarget.com

Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Elements of a crime -Specific factors that define a crime which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction: (1) that a crime has actually occurred, (2) that the accused intended the crime to happen, and (3) a timely relationship between the first two factors.

Eminent Domain - The power of the government to take private property for public use through condemnation.

Enjoining -An order by the court telling a person to stop performing a specific act.

Entity - A person or legally recognized organization.

Entrapment - The act of inducing a person to commit a crime so that a criminal charge will be brought against him.

Entry - A statement of conclusion reached by the court and placed in the court record.

Environment - The conditions, influences, or forces which affect the desirability and value of property, as well as the effect on people's lives.

Equal Protection of the Law -The guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that all persons be treated equally by the law.

Equity - Justice administered according to fairness; the spirit or habit of fairness in dealing with other persons.

Escheat - The process by which a deceased person's property goes to the state if no heir can be found.

Escrow - Money or a written instrument such as a deed that, by agreement between two parties, is held by a neutral third party (held in escrow) until all conditions of the agreement are met.

Esquire - In the United States the title commonly appended after the name of an attorney. In English law a title of dignity next above gentleman and below knight. Title also given to barristers at law and others. Abbreviated: Esq.

Estate - A person's property.

Estate tax - Generally, a tax on the privilege of transferring property to others after a person's death. In addition to federal estate taxes, many states have their own estate taxes.

Estoppel -An impediment that prevents a person from asserting or doing something contrary to his own previous assertion or act.

Ethics - Of or relating to moral action and conduct; professionally right; conforming to professional standards.

Evidence - Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.