courts and procedure

trial practice

trial practice: an overview

Only a small percentage of legal disputes are litigated in a court. When litigation does occur, several areas govern the lawyers' conduct of the trial or trial practice:

Criminal procedure Civil procedure...

turn state's evidence

Turn state’s evidence (also known as “turn King’s evidence”) or to "flip” means the defendant chose to reveal valuable evidence to the prosecutor, in exchange for a reduction of the charge or the dismissal of some charges. When the defendant...

undocumented immigrant

Undocumented immigrants are individuals who have either illegally entered the United States without inspection, or legally entered the United States with valid nonimmigrant visas but those visas have expired. For instance, an individual...

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (USCAAF)

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (USCAAF) is a federal appellate court which exercises exclusive and worldwide jurisdiction over active members of the armed forces subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The USCAAF...

United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is a federal appellate court which has exclusive national jurisdiction to review decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA).

The Court was created under Article I of...

United States Marshals Service (USMS)

The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Department of Justice federal law enforcement agency charged with ensuring the effective operation of the federal judiciary. The President appoints a U.S. Marshal for each federal district....

unreasonable

The term “unreasonable” refers to any action or result that exceeds a reasonable expectation, or refers to anything beyond what would be considered “common sense.” In criminal cases, the prosecutor should explain the evidence so clearly that...

v.

An abbreviation for versus, meaning against. Used in case names, e.g. McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010).

See also

Adverse party

vacate

In civil and criminal procedure: To set aside or annul a previous judgment or order. In property law: To surrender or leave the premises.

See, e.g. Sears v. Upton, 130 S.Ct. 3259 (2010) (a judgment) and Thorpe v. Housing...

vacatur

Latin for "it is vacated." A rule or order that sets aside a judgment or annuls a proceeding.

See, e.g. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, 130 S.Ct. 2743 (2010).

See also

Vacate

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