Laches: A legal doctrine whereby those who take too long to assert a legal right, lose their entitlement to a right or compensation. See the complete Legal Definition of Laches
Landlord: A land or building owner who has leased the land, the building or a part of the land or building, to another person. See the complete Legal Definition of Landlord
Larceny: A criminal offence now more commonly referred to as theft, covering the unlawful or fraudulent removal of another's property without the owner's consent. See the complete Legal Definition of Larceny
Law: Rules of conduct approved and enforced by the government of and over a certain territory (eg. the 'laws' of Australia). See the complete Legal Definition of Law
Lawyer: An individual trained in the law and that has been certified to give legal advice or to represent others in litigation. See the complete Legal Definition of Lawyer
Leading Question: A question which suggests an answer; usually answerable by yes or no. See the complete Legal Definition of Leading Question
Lease: A special kind of contract between a property owner and a person wanting temporary enjoyment and exclusive use of the property, in exchange for rent paid to the property owner. See the complete Legal Definition of Lease
Leasehold: Real property held under a lease. See the complete Legal Definition of Leasehold
Legal Custody: A child custody decision which entails the right to make, or participate in, the significant decisions affecting a child’s health and welfare (compare with physical custody and joint custody). See the complete Legal Definition of Legal Custody
Legislation: Written and approved laws. See the complete Legal Definition of Legislation
Liability: A legal obligation, either due now or at some time in the future. See the complete Legal Definition of Liability
Libel: Written form of defamation such as on the Internet, in a newspaper or a letter. See the complete Legal Definition of Libel
Liberal Construction: A form of construction which allows a judge to consider other factors when deciding the meaning of a phrase or document. See the complete Legal Definition of Liberal Construction
License: A special permission to do something on, or with, somebody else’s property which, were it not for the license, could be legally prevented or give rise to legal action in tort or trespass. See the complete Legal Definition of License
Lien: A property right which remains attached to an object that has been sold, but not totally paid for, until complete payment has been made. See the complete Legal Definition of Lien
Life Estate: A right to use and to enjoy land and/or structures on land only for the life of the life tenant. See the complete Legal Definition of Life Estate
Life Tenant: The beneficiary of a life estate. See the complete Legal Definition of Life Tenant
Limited Partner: A unique colleague in a partnership relationship who has agreed to be liable only to the extent of his (or her) investment. See the complete Legal Definition of Limited Partner
Limitrophe: Adjacent, bordering or contiguous. See the complete Legal Definition of Limitrophe
Lineal Descendant: A person who is a direct descendant such as a child to his or her natural parent. See the complete Legal Definition of Lineal Descendant
Liquidation: The selling of all the assets of a debtor and the use of the cash proceeds of the sale to pay off creditors. See the complete Legal Definition of Liquidation
Lis Pendens: Latin: a dispute or matter which is the subject of ongoing or pending litigation. See the complete Legal Definition of Lis Pendens
Literal Construction: A form of construction which does not allow evidence extrapolated beyond the actual words of a phrase or document but, rather, takes a phrase or document at face value, giving effect only to the actual words used. See the complete Legal Definition of Literal Construction
Litigation: A dispute is in 'litigation' (or being 'litigated') when it has become the subject of a formal court action or law suit. See the complete Legal Definition of Litigation
Livery: Delivery. See the complete Legal Definition of Livery
Living Will: A document that sets out guidelines for dealing with life-sustaining medical procedures in the eventuality of the signatory's sudden debilitation. See the complete Legal Definition of Living Will
LL.B., LL.M. or LL.D.: Abbreviations for law degrees as in bachelor of law, master or law, or doctorate. See the complete Legal Definition of LL.B., LL.M. or LL.D.
Long Arm Statutes: A statute which purports to regulate persons outside of its territorial jurisdiction. See the complete Legal Definition of Long Arm Statutes
Loitering: To waste time; to be idle. See the complete Legal Definition of Loitering
Legalese: Legal terms combined in long-winded sentences, or varied or with permutations, with the initial design of legal or drafting precision but which otherwise add unnecessary complexity or inadvertently resulting in confusion. See the complete Legal Definition of Legalese
Long-Term Offender: A convicted person for whom there is a substantial risk of re-offending. See the complete Legal Definition of Long-Term Offender
Locus: Latin: the place; venue. See the complete Legal Definition of Locus
Liquidated Damages: Pre-determined damages. See the complete Legal Definition of Liquidated Damages
Limited Power of Attorney: A POA limited by a condition or term or in regards to a specific item of property. See the complete Legal Definition of Limited Power of Attorney
Legacy: A gift of a chattel by will. See the complete Legal Definition of Legacy
Landed Immigrant: An immigration law term; an individual who has relocated and changed his permanent residence to a state where he does not have citizenship but does limited rights associated with residency. See the complete Legal Definition of Landed Immigrant
Lunatic: An individual who, though once of sound mind, can no longer manage his person or his affairs. See the complete Legal Definition of Lunatic
Lockout: An employer's decision to bar unionized employees entry to the workplace until such time as they accept to work on the employer's terms and conditions or based on a lapsed collective bargaining agreement. See the complete Legal Definition of Lockout
Locus Standi: Latin: legal standing before a court. See the complete Legal Definition of Locus Standi
Lay on the Table: Also “to table”; a term of parliamentary law and procedure which refers to a motion in regards to another motion being actively debated, but intended to defer a final disposition of the pending motion. See the complete Legal Definition of Lay on the Table
Legislative Branch: The elected law-making branch of government. See the complete Legal Definition of Legislative Branch
Legal Fiction: A ruling on law based on hypothetical facts. See the complete Legal Definition of Legal Fiction
Lex Loci: Latin; the law of a place as in where a right was acquired or a liability incurred. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Loci
Lex Fori: Latin for the law of the forum. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Fori
Lex Causae: Latin; law of the cause. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Causae
Lex Situs: A conflict of law rule that selects the applicable law based on the venue or location of something. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Situs
Lex Scripta: Written law; statutes. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Scripta
Lex Non Scripta: Unwritten law; the common or custom law. See the complete Legal Definition of Lex Non Scripta
Lap Dancing: The intentional rubbing against men to please them in a sexual way. See the complete Legal Definition of Lap Dancing
Law of Nature: The uncertain and elastic concept of regulation of conduct based on morality, conscience or God. See the complete Legal Definition of Law of Nature
Legalism: The rigorous and ruthless adherence to the word of the law, usually combined with a policy to regulate as much as possible. See the complete Legal Definition of Legalism
Ligan: Also "lagan"; things thrown from a ship and attached to a float or buoy to mark their location. See the complete Legal Definition of Ligan
Lay Day: A term of a maritime law contract: days stipulated for the loading or unloading of cargo from a ship. See the complete Legal Definition of Lay Day
Limited Partnership: A partnership with at last one general partner and a limited partner, the latter contributing financially or otherwise but not otherwise involved in the business or, generally, personally liable for the debts of the partnership. See the complete Legal Definition of Limited Partnership
Lessor: The person who grants a lease, usually the owner of the thing leased. See the complete Legal Definition of Lessor
Lessee: The person to whom is granted exclusive possession of a thing under the terms of a lease. See the complete Legal Definition of Lessee
Letters Rogatory: A request of a judge in one jurisdiction to a court of another, to examine a specific witness. See the complete Legal Definition of Letters Rogatory
Lettre de Cachet: A discretionary, arbitrary and often secret order issued by the King of France for the execution of some act. See the complete Legal Definition of Lettre de Cachet
Lubricum Linquae Non Facile Trahendum Est In Poena: Latin: the law tends to overlook rash or inconsiderate language spoken in the heat of the moment. See the complete Legal Definition of Lubricum Linquae Non Facile Trahendum Est In Poena
Licensor: The person who grants a license to another, the latter called the licensee. See the complete Legal Definition of Licensor
Licensee: The recipient or beneficiary of a license to use something. See the complete Legal Definition of Licensee
Lodge Act: A 1950 law of the United States of America which allowed foreign nationals who enlisted in the US Army for at least a 5 year tour of duty, to obtain US citizenship. See the complete Legal Definition of Lodge Act
Lake: An expanse of standing water or a widened portion of a river. See the complete Legal Definition of Lake
Lay-Off: A temporary discharge of an employee. See the complete Legal Definition of Lay-Off
Limitation Fund: A guarantee or deposit made by a ship owner to meet any damage claim, and calculated on the negligent ship's tonnage. See the complete Legal Definition of Limitation Fund
Letter of Credit: An undertaking to pay money on stated terms such as the occurrence of a specified event or document(s). See the complete Legal Definition of Letter of Credit
LOF 2000: A Lloyd's standard form of salvage contract. See the complete Legal Definition of LOF 2000
Law Merchant: International commercial law. See the complete Legal Definition of Law Merchant
Legal Citation: An acronym or abbreviation for a law report or other regular or periodic law or legal and authoritative publication directing a reader to the full document. See the complete Legal Definition of Legal Citation
Law Report: A serial publication which publishes, verbatim, judgments of a court of law. See the complete Legal Definition of Law Report
Labor Union: A defined group of employees formed for the purposes of representing those employees with the employer as to the terms of a collective contract of employment. See the complete Legal Definition of Labor Union
Labor Organization: A defined group of employees formed for the purposes of representing those employees with the employer as to the terms of a collective contract of employment. See the complete Legal Definition of Labor Organization
Laissez-faire: French: leave alone. A theory of contract law that persons ought to have freedom of contract with minimal state or judicial interference. See the complete Legal Definition of Laissez-faire
Lawyering: The work of a lawyer in giving legal advice or in suggesting an application of that law in advancing an issue of a client. See the complete Legal Definition of Lawyering
Legatee: The person to whom personal property is gifted pursuant to a will. See the complete Legal Definition of Legatee
Last Clear Chance Doctrine: A principle of tort law which requires an individual to take every action at hand to avoid an accident where peril to another human being is otherwise imminent. See the complete Legal Definition of Last Clear Chance Doctrine
Lawyer's League: A group of German jurists sympathetic to the Nazi Party before and during World War II. See the complete Legal Definition of Lawyer's League
Litigant: A person who is a party to a legal action. See the complete Legal Definition of Litigant
Limitations or Statute of Limitations: Loss of a legal right or cause of action because of the passage of time. See the complete Legal Definition of Limitations or Statute of Limitations
Lunacy law: The law as it relates to the assessment and committal of persons incapable of managing themselves or their affairs. See the complete Legal Definition of Lunacy law
Law of the case Doctrine: When a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case. See the complete Legal Definition of Law of the case Doctrine
Law of Nations: The body of rules that nations in the international community universally abide by, or accede to, out of a sense of legal obligation and mutual concern. See the complete Legal Definition of Law of Nations
Law of the Flag: A principle of maritime and international law; that the sailors and vessel will be subject to the laws of the state corresponding to the flag flown by the vessel. See the complete Legal Definition of Law of the Flag
Learned Intermediary Doctrine: A doctrine of American personal injury law which places upon a prescribing physician the primary responsibility to warn patients of the hazards of prescribed pharmaceutical products. See the complete Legal Definition of Learned Intermediary Doctrine