Common Legal Terminology
Reverse -
- The act of a court setting aside the decision of a lower court. A reversal is often accompanied by a remand to the lower court for further proceedings.
Sanction -
- A penalty or other type of enforcement used to bring about compliance with the law or with rules and regulations.
Schedules -
- Lists submitted by the debtor along with the petition (or shortly thereafter) showing the debtor’s assets, liabilities, and other financial information. (There are official forms a debtor must use.)
Secured creditor -
- A secured creditor is an individual or business that holds a claim against the debtor that is secured by a lien on property of the estate. The property subject to the lien is the secured creditor’s collateral.
Secured debt -
- Debt backed by a mortgage, pledge of collateral, or other lien; debt for which the creditor has the right to pursue specific pledged property upon default. Examples include home mortgages, auto loans and tax liens.
Senior judge -
- A federal judge who, after attaining the requisite age and length of judicial experience, takes senior status, thus creating a vacancy among a court’s active judges. A senior judge retains the judicial office and may cut back his or her workload by as much as 75 percent, but many opt to keep a larger caseload.
Sentence -
- The punishment ordered by a court for a defendant convicted of a crime.
Sentencing guidelines -
- A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant.
Sequester -
- To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
Service of process -
- The delivery of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
All terms and definitions on this page are from uscourts.gov/glossary (April 13, 2020)