What are some common latin law terms?

Answer 1

res: the "thing" involved in the lawsuit res adjudicata: something that has already been proved in the case and may not be challenged (used by judges to convince trial lawyers to shut up about it already) res ipsa loquitur: the thing speaks for itself (used pretty much the same way as res adjudicata is used except that when using this phrase, the judge usually waves his gavel at the offending attorney) mens rea: a guilty mind, a component of criminal intent ( taken from a long running series of plays in ancient Rome called "Jus et Ordinatio:Mens Rea" which starred Vincentus Donofrius) nunc pro tunc: doing something now as if it had been done before (usually used when someone screwed up by not doing something that should have been done earlier; in other words a "legal time machine") locus in quo: the place in question, also used to mean the scene of the crime (like where you're reading this right now) amicus curiae: friend of the court; where the court allows an organiztion that is not a party to a lawsuit put in its own two cents (This is a one-way relationship though. Courts are not very friendly to friends of the court because they just file more briefs saying the same things all the other lawyers in the case have said in their own briefs) pro hac vice: when an out-of-state lawyer is allowed to practice in another state for the sole purpose of trying a specific trial (there is no truth to the rumor that the word "hac" refers to the lawyer or that if it did that it is misspelled) et ux: abbreviation for "et uxor" meaning "and wife" Used to be used in old deeds when property was conveyed to a man and his wife. The deed would give the man's name then et ux. A lawschool classmate once gave me and my bride a wedding present in the form of a check to "Rlenahan et ux"; the look I got from the uxor could be in the latin dictionary for "mens rea". Fidem clam scit: He secretly knows the faith (Actually this is not a legal term but was used as a password in ancient Rome to get into illegal speakeasies. Pronunciation of the letter "c" in "scit" is practically silent, almost like an "h")