Legal Business Glossary

An estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period, reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and goals.

List of cases to be called for trial before a particular court; to set and give a date and time for a case, petition, or motion to be heard by a court. Usually a judge, a trial setting commissioner, or the clerk of the court calendars cases.

A general term for any action, Cause of Action, lawsuit, or controversy; all the evidence and testimony compiled and organized by one party in a lawsuit to prove that party’s version of the controversy at a trial in court.

Reported decisions of appeals courts and other courts which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedent in a given case.

The process of planning and implementing change within organizations in a thoughtful and educational manner, minimizing employee resistance and cost while maximizing the effectiveness of the change effort.

A list of all the accounts you must use to record financial transactions in your general ledger.

A written order or request instructing a bank or other financial institution to transfer funds from the payor’s account (the person who has the account and signs the check) to the payee’s account.

A demand for money, for property, or for enforcement of a right provided by law.

A type of civil lawsuit filed by one or more people on behalf of themselves and a larger group of people "who are similarly situated” and have been harmed in the same way by the same entity.

The initial contact with a prospective client, which may include steps like potential conflict screenings. This is the first opportunity to build trust and to start providing a great client experience.

A global community of experts focused on redefining the business of law. By helping legal operations professionals collaborate with each other and with other industry players, including law firms, technology providers, and law schools, CLOC works to help set industry standards and practices for the profession.

Data storage on offsite servers hosted by an outside entity.

Applications that are stored on an online server as opposed to your local server. An advantage to these platforms is that software vendors are now responsible for maintaining the platforms versus having your internal IT department maintain the platforms. In addition, you can access these platforms from anywhere as long as you have internet access. Many of the modern legal operations management platforms are cloud-based applications that allow legal teams to store their matter data and access it wherever needed.

Software used by legal compliance departments to monitor and track an organization’s activities and processes to ensure they are complying with all laws and regulations. Compliance management also consists of correcting any violations in order to stay compliant and avoid lawsuits against the organization.

The process by which an attorney ensures his/her representation of one client is not averse to another client.

A situation in which a person has a duty to more than one person or organization but cannot do justice to the actual or potentially adverse interests of both parties.

A fee to a lawyer which will be due and payable only if there is a successful conclusion of the legal work, usually winning or settling a lawsuit in favor of the client (particularly in negligence cases), or collecting funds due with or without filing a lawsuit.

The management of an organization’s contracts from initiation through execution, performance, and renewal/expiration.

v. To provide legal advice or guidance to someone on a specific subject matter. 

n. A lawyer giving advice about a legal matter.

Right granted by a creditor to an applicant to defer payment of a debt.