Glossary of court terms in plain English

Short, plain meanings of the words you meet when you handle your own case. They are general: the exact rule, and every deadline, depends on your court, so check your court’s own rules before you rely on any of them. You can read those rules in the law library.

Papers you file

Complaint: The paper that starts a civil lawsuit. Under the federal rules, a civil action begins when a complaint is filed with the court, and it must give a short and plain statement of why the court has jurisdiction, of the claim, and of the relief you ask for.
Petition: A written request asking a court to act. Some cases start with a petition instead of a complaint, such as a habeas corpus case, a request for a writ, or a request that a higher court review a decision.
Motion: A request for a court order inside a case that is already open. Under the federal rules a motion must be in writing unless made at a hearing or trial, state its grounds with particularity, and state the relief sought. Read more: How do I file a motion in court?
Response: A paper answering the other side's motion or brief, saying why the court should not grant what they asked for. Some courts call it an opposition.
Reply: A short paper answering the other side's response. A reply usually may only answer points the response raised, not start new ones.
Brief: A written argument to a court. In an appeal, the appellant files an opening (or initial) brief, the appellee files an answering brief, and the appellant may file a reply brief. Read more: How do I write an appellate brief?
Notice of appeal: A short paper that starts an appeal by telling the court and the other parties you are appealing. In the federal courts, an appeal as of right from a district court is taken only by filing a notice of appeal with the district clerk within the time the rules allow. Read more: How do I write an appellate brief?
Appendix: A bound set of the parts of the lower-court record the appeals court needs to see. In the federal courts of appeals it includes the relevant docket entries, the relevant parts of the pleadings and findings, and the judgment or order being appealed. Read more: How do I write an appellate brief?
Exhibit: A document or other item attached to a filing as proof or for reference, such as a contract, letter or court order. Exhibits are usually labeled with a letter or number.
Affidavit or declaration: A written statement of facts that the person signs under oath or under penalty of perjury. An affidavit is sworn before a notary or other official; a declaration is signed under penalty of perjury where the law allows that instead.
Caption: The heading at the top of the first page of a court paper. Under the federal rules, every pleading's caption must give the court's name, a title, the file number and the kind of pleading.
Certificate of service: A signed statement at the end of a paper saying how and when you delivered a copy to the other parties. In federal court it is not needed when the paper is served through the court's electronic-filing system, but it is when the paper is served another way.
Certificate of compliance: A signed statement that a paper meets the court's length and format limits, often by giving its word count. Many appeals courts require one with each brief.
Table of authorities: A list at the front of a brief of every case, statute and rule it cites, with the pages where each one appears.

The court and the case

Pro se: Representing yourself in court without a lawyer. Many courts also say self-represented. A pro se party follows the same court rules as a lawyer. Read more: Representing yourself in court
Filer: The person who files a paper with the court and is responsible for it. When you use Legal Ops Depot, you are the filer: you decide what to file, you sign it and you file it.
Parties: The people or organizations on each side of a case. In a lawsuit they are the plaintiff (who sues) and the defendant (who is sued); in a petition they are the petitioner and the respondent; in an appeal they are the appellant (who appeals) and the appellee.
Clerk of court: The office that receives filings, keeps the official record and docket of each case, and sends out the court's notices and orders. Clerks can explain filing procedures but generally cannot give legal advice.
Docket: The court's running list of everything filed and done in a case, in date order. Each entry usually has a number, a date and a short description.
Order: A written decision by the judge on a request or an issue in the case, such as granting or denying a motion.
Judgment: The court's final decision that resolves the case, or a claim in it. Many appeal deadlines run from the date the judgment is entered.
Jurisdiction: A court's power to hear a kind of case or to decide a case involving a particular person. A court without jurisdiction cannot decide the case, however strong the claim.
Venue: Which location, among the courts that have jurisdiction, is the proper place to bring the case, usually based on where the events happened or where the parties live.

Appeals and higher courts

Appeal: Asking a higher court to review a lower court's decision for legal error. An appeals court usually works from the record of what happened below and does not hear new witnesses. Read more: How do I write an appellate brief?
Standard of review: How much weight the appeals court gives the lower court's decision on a particular issue. The common ones are de novo, clear error and abuse of discretion. Read more: How do I write an appellate brief?
De novo: A standard of review where the appeals court decides the question fresh, giving no weight to the lower court's answer. Questions of law are usually reviewed this way.
Abuse of discretion: A standard of review for decisions the judge had room to make either way. The appeals court reverses only if the decision was outside the range of reasonable choices or rested on a legal mistake.
Remand: When a higher court sends a case back to the lower court for more proceedings, often with instructions.
Certiorari: A higher court's order agreeing to review a lower court's decision. In the U.S. Supreme Court, cases are reviewed by a writ of certiorari granted on a party's petition, and its Rule 10 says review on certiorari is not a matter of right but of judicial discretion. Some state courts use the word for other kinds of review. Read more: Supreme Court petitions
Extraordinary writ: An order a higher court can issue outside the normal appeal, for example mandamus or prohibition. Federal courts may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. They are granted rarely.
Mandamus: An extraordinary writ ordering a lower court or a public official to do a specific duty the law requires, such as ruling on a motion that has sat undecided. It cannot be used to replace an ordinary appeal.

Kinds of cases

Section 1983: A federal law, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, that lets a person sue someone who, acting under color of state law, deprived them of rights secured by the Constitution and federal law. It is the usual way to sue state or local officials for civil rights violations. Read more: What is a Section 1983 lawsuit?
Post-conviction relief: A request, after a criminal conviction, asking the court to set aside or correct the conviction or sentence, often for reasons outside the trial record, such as ineffective help of a lawyer or new evidence. Each state and the federal system has its own procedure and deadlines. Read more: What is post-conviction relief?
Habeas corpus: A request that a court decide whether a person is being held lawfully. A person held under a state-court judgment can apply to a federal court only on the ground that the custody violates the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States, and generally only after using the remedies available in the state courts. Read more: What is post-conviction relief?

Time limits and rules

Deadline: The last day to file a paper or take a step. Missing some deadlines, such as the time to appeal, can end your right to do it at all. The rule that sets a deadline also says what starts its clock.
Rendition or entry: The moment an order or judgment becomes official, usually when it is signed and filed or entered on the docket by the clerk. Many deadlines are counted from that date, so it matters which one your court uses.
Tolling: Pausing or stopping a deadline clock for a time for a reason the law allows, such as a pending motion. Whether a deadline is tolled depends on the exact rule or statute.
Rules of court: The written rules for how cases move through a court system: how papers are formatted, filed and served, and how long each step can take. Federal courts and each state have their own.
Local rules: Extra rules a single court adopts for its own practice, on top of the statewide or national rules. In the federal system, a district court may adopt local rules that must be consistent with federal statutes and rules.
Word limit: The most words or pages a paper may have under the court's rules. Briefs and motions are often limited, and some courts reject or strike papers that run over.
Statute: A law passed by a legislature, such as Congress or a state legislature, and collected in a code, such as the United States Code.
Case law: Law made by court decisions. Courts follow earlier decisions on the same question, so a case can be cited as authority for a later one.
Citation: The short reference that tells a reader exactly where to find a case, statute or rule, such as 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Binding authority: A decision or law a court must follow, such as a decision of a higher court in the same system. Other decisions are persuasive: a court may follow them but does not have to.
Overruled: When a court, usually a higher one or the same court later, says an earlier decision was wrong and is no longer law. An overruled case should not be relied on.

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