courts and procedure

consent order

A consent order (also known as a consent decree) is a decree or order made by a judge with the consent of all parties. It is not strictly a judgment, but rather a settlement agreement approved by the court. The agreement is submitted to the...

consequential damages

Consequential damages, also called special damages) are a form of remedy that can be claimed by the plaintiff against the defendant for the harm done as a consequence of the defendant's actions. The consequential damages do not necessarily...

conservatee

A conservatee is a person deemed incompetent by a court and, therefore, a court appointed conservator handles their financial and/or other daily life affairs. The roles of conservator and conservatee follow from the legal concept of...

conservator

A conservator is an individual who handles the financial or daily life affairs of a conservatee, or a party deemed incompetent by a court. The roles of conservator and conservatee follow from the legal concept of conservatorship which is...

conspiracy

Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act, along with an intent to achieve the agreement's goal. Most U.S. jurisdictions also require an overt act toward furthering the agreement. An overt act is a...

constitutional avoidance

Constitutional avoidance is the doctrine that, if possible, the Supreme Court should avoid ruling on constitutional issues, and resolve the cases before them on other (usually statutory) grounds.

In practice, this often...

constructive

Constructive means something is legally declared, even if not technically true in a given case. Lawmakers and judges can decide to make things constructively true so that the intent of the laws cannot be easily thwarted by a loophole or lack...

constructive trust

A constructive trust is not an actual trust by the traditional definition but a trust created through a court’s power, over assets they determine a party cannot equitably keep. It is a legal fiction that is used as a remedy for unjust...

contemnor

A contemnor is a person who is found to be in contempt of court. A party becomes a contemnor by ignoring/disobeying a court order. Contemnors are subject to court sanctions and punishments.

If the contemnor is held in civil...

contempt

Contempt refers to punishable conduct that disrupts or obstructs an official proceeding or order. Contempt is also known as contempt of court, when referring to contempt against a judicial body, but contempt can also refer to violating the...

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