- CALENDAR: The list of cases scheduled for hearing in court each day.
- CAPTION: The heading on a legal document listing the parties, the court, the case number and related information.
- CASE: A civil or criminal suit or action; the reported facts, procedural history, and outcome of an action
- CASE DISPOSITION: The termination of an action by transfer, consolidation, withdrawal, dismissal, or issuance of final judgment.
- CASE LAW: Law established by precedent, predominantly decisions of state Supreme Court or United States Supreme Court, used to support your position. Any opinion cited by a district court or another state is merely persuasive. It is not controlling law.
- CAUSE: Any question litigated or contested in a court of law.
- CAUSE OF ACTION: The facts that give rise to a lawsuit or a legal claim.
- CAVEAT: A warning, a note of caution.
- CHANGE OF VENUE: Moving a lawsuit to another location for trial.
- CHARACTER EVIDENCE: Evidence of a person's character or a trait of character is not admissible in civil cases except for impeachment purposes.
- CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE: All evidence that is not eyewitness testimony. For example, the airline ticket, flight itinerary and baggage claim are physical evidence from which an inference can be drawn.
- CIVIL ACTION: An action or case outside of criminal court related to various disputes such as contracts, personal injury and property damage.
- CIVIL PROCEDURE: Non criminal cases in which one private individual or business sues another to protect, enforce, or redress private or civil rights.
- CLASS ACTION: A lawsuit brought by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group. Such cases have typically included lawsuits regarding safety devices, tobacco, asbestos, discrimination, and dangerous pharmaceuticals.
- CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE: Standard of proof commonly used in civil lawsuits. Govern the amount of proof the plaintiff must offer to be successful.
- CLOSING ARGUMENT: The closing statement by counsel, or small claim party (if allowed) to the trier of facts after all parties have concluded their presentation of evidence.
- CODE: A collection of state or federal laws arranged into chapters, table of contents, sections and index.
- COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE: A defense to negligence where fault is measured in percentages and any damages shall be reduced by that percentage. See also contributory negligence.
- COMPLAINT: The legal document, also known as a pleading that initiates a civil lawsuit. It states facts and identifies the action the court is asked to take.
- CONTINUANCE: Postponement of a legal proceeding to a later date.
- CONTRACT: A legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties signifying a meeting of the minds either orally or in writing.
- CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE: A complete defense to negligence when the defendant's behavior causes an omission or neglect of reasonable precaution, care, or action, which is a proximate cause of his/her injury. Some states still use this standard, but most rely on a comparative negligence standard.
- CORPORATION: A legal entity created under state law most commonly intended to be in business.
- COUNSEL: Term used to refer to lawyers in a case.
- COUNTERCLAIM: A claim made by a defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff, included within the Defendant's Answer to the Plaintiff.
- COURT: Government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes. Also term used to refer to the small claim's court judge.
- COURT COSTS: The expenses of prosecuting or defending a lawsuit, other than attorney fees. An amount of money may be awarded to the successful party of a case and recoverable from the losing party as reimbursement for court costs.
- CREDIBILITY: Whether testimony is worthy of belief, based on the competence of the witness and the likelihood that it is true. Generally subjective test.
- CROSS EXAMINATION: The examination of a witness who has already testified in order to test, discredit or impeach the witness's testimony, knowledge, or credibility.
