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...
legal practice/ethics
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...
constable
A constable is a peace officer who has minor judicial duties such as serving legal papers and arresting lawbreakers. Some states, like Georgia, allow constables to be elected by the county governing authority. Other states, like Pennsylvania...
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...
construction
Construction refers to the process of interpreting a law or a legal document, such as a contract or will. Construction is necessary when the plain language of a law or legal document is ambiguous, or the intent of its authors is unclear or...
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 fraud
Constructive fraud in the field of contract law refers to a breach of a duty through material misrepresentations upon which a third party relies. Unlike standard fraud, intent to deceive is not a requirement of constructive fraud. Nonetheless...
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...
contingency fee
A contingency fee is a form of payment to a lawyer for their legal services. In contrast to a fixed hourly fee, in a contingent fee arrangement lawyers receive a percentage of the monetary amount that their client receives when they win or...
contingent fee
A contingent fee, also known as a contingency fee, is a method of compensation for legal services. A lawyer who works on contingency receives a percentage of their client’s monetary award as compensation rather than billing a fixed hourly...