Chapter 1-6, 21 Key Words PDF

Preview

Summary

Kay words that you should have familiarity with...

Description

Key Words Chapter 1 1. Risk management: the process of identifying, evaluation, and responding to the possibility of harmful events 2. Law: a rule that can be enforced by the courts 3. Civil law: system trace their history to ancient Rome a. Only civil law jurisdiction in Canada is Quebec 4. Jurisdiction: a geographical area that uses the same set of laws 5. Common law: system that traces their history to England a. The rest of Canada 6. Public law: concerned with governments and the ways in which they deal with their citizens 7. Constitutional law: provides the basic rules of our political and legal systems 8. Administrative law: concerned with the creation and operation of administrative agencies, boards, commissions, and tribunals 9. Criminal law: deals with offences against the state a. White collar crime: committed by people in suits b. Corporate crime: committed by the company 10. Tax law: concerned with the rules that are used to collect money for public spending 11. Private law: concerned with the rules that apply in private matters 12. Tort: a private wrong a. Intentional torts: assault and false imprisonment b. Business torts: deceit and conspiracy c. Negligence: person carelessly hurts another 13. Law of contracts: concerned with the creation and enforcement of agreements 14. Law of property: concerned with the acquisition, use, and disposition of property 15. Constitution: document that creates the basic rules for Canadian society, including its political and legal systems 16. Federal: Canada is a federal country because it has two levels of government 17. Division of power: states that areas in which each level of government can act 18. Residual power: gives the federal government authority over everything that is not specifically mentioned 19. Direct tax: expected to fall on the taxpayer 20. Indirect tax: expected to be passed on from the taxpayer to someone else, such as taxpayer’s customer 21. Doctrine of federal paramountcy: determines which law applies based on the Constitution’s division of powers 22. Property rights: are rights to own and enjoy assets 23. Economic rights: rights to carry on business activities 24. Parliamentary supremacy: means that while judges are required to interpret constitutional and statutory documents, they must also obey them 25. Legislation: law that is created by Parliament or a legislature a. Most important kinds are statutes, or acts 26. Subordinate legislation: term given to regulations that are created with the authority of Parliament or the legislature

27. Municipality: a town or city 28. By-law: a type of subordinate legislation that is created by a municipality 29. Equity: fairness 30. Trust: exists anytime that one person owns property for the benefit of another Chapter 2 1. Class action: allows a single person, or small group of people, to sue on behalf of a larger group of claimants 2. Certification: represents the court’s decision to allow the various claims to be joined together and to proceed as a class action 3. Professional liability insurance: allows a client to receive compensation from a lawyer’s insurance company if the lawyer has acted carelessly 4. Assurance fund: provides compensation to people who have been hurt by dishonest lawyers 5. Paralegal: not a lawyer but provides legal advice and services 6. Pleadings: documents used to identify the issues and clarify the nature of a dispute 7. Plaintiff: is the person who is making the complaint 8. Defendant: is the person about whom the complaint is being made 9. Limitation period:: a period of time within which an action must be started 10. Statement of claim: document in which the plaintiff outlines the nature of the complaint 11. Statement of defense: document in which the defendant sets out its version of the facts and indicates how it intends to dent the claim 12. Counterclaim: a claim that the defendant makes against the plaintiff 13. Reply: document in which a party responds to a statement of defense 14. Demand for particulars: requires the other side to provide additional information 15. Examination for discovery: a process in which the parties ask each other questions to obtain information about their case 16. Settlement: occurs when the parties agree to resolve their dispute out of court 17. Pre-trial conference: a meeting that occurs between the parties and a judge 18. Mediation process in which a neutral person - called a mediator- helps the parties reach an agreement 19. Evidence; consists of the information that is provided in support of an argument 20. Hearsay evidence: information that a witness heard from another person, rather than information was gathered directly from the source a. Not very good evidence 21. Judgement debtor: a defendant who has been found liable and ordered to pay the money to the plaintiff 22. Appeal court: decides whether a mistake was made in the court below 23. Appellant: the party who attacks the decision of the lower court 24. Respondent: the party who defends the decision of the lower court 25. Costs: are the expenses that a party incurred during litigation a. Litigation: the process of taking legal action

26. Contingency fee agreement: requires a client to pay their lawyer only if their lawsuit is successful 27. Small claims court: type of court that deals with disputes involving limited amounts of money 28. Hierarchy: courts are arranged in a hierarchy according to their importance a. 29. Doctrine of precedent: requires a court to follow any other court that is above it in a hierarchy 30. Rule of law: states that disputes should be settled on the basis of laws, rather than personal opinions 31. Administrative tribunals: is a body, somewhere between a government and a court, that resolves issues and disputes that arise in administrative law 32. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR): any process that allows the parties to resolve their disputes without going to court 33. Negotiation: a discussion aimed at settling a dispute 34. Mediation: process in which a neutral party -called a mediator- helps the parties reach an agreement 35. Arbitration: process in which a neutral third person, called an arbitrator, imposes a decision on the parties Chapter 3 1. Tort: generally consists of a failure to fulfill a private obligation that was imposed by law 2. Tortfeasor: a person who has committed a tort 3. Liability insurance: a contract in which an insurance company agrees, in exchange for a price, to pay damages on behalf of a person who incurs liability 4. Duty to defend: requires the insurance company to defend, at its own expense, any lawsuit that is brought against the insured party 5. Compensatory function: aims to fully compensate people who are wrongfully injured 6. Deterrence function: discourages people from committing torts by threatening to hold them liable for the losses they cause 7. Vicarious liability: occurs when one person is held liable for a tort that was committed by another person 8. Independent contractor: a worker who is not as closely connected to the employer’s business as an employee 9. Remote: a loss is remorse if it would be unfair to hold the defendant responsible for it 10. Mitigation: occurs when the plaintiff takes steps to minimize the losses that result from the defendant’s tort 11. Punitive damages: are intended to punish the defendant and deter (discourage) other potential wrongdoers 12. Nominal damages: symbolically recognize that the defendant committed a tort even though the plaintiff did not suffer any loss 13. Injunction: a court order that requires the defendant to do something or refrain from doing something

14. Alternative compensation scheme: a system that allows a person who has suffered an injury to receive compensation without bringing an action in tort a. E.g: worker’s compensation, no-fault insurance Chapter 4 1. Intentional torts: involve intentional, rather than merely careless, conduct 2. Assault: the tort of assault occurs when the defendant intentionally causes the plaintiff to reasonably believe that offensive bodily contact is imminent (psychological) a. Tort based on reasonable belief 3. Battery: tort of battery consists of offensive bodily contact 4. False imprisonment: the tort of false imprisonment occurs when a person is confined within a fixed are without justification 5. Malicious prosecution: the tort of malicious prosecution occurs when the defendant improperly causes the plaintiff to be prosecuted 6. Trespass to land: the tort of trespass to land occurs when the defendant improperly interferes with the plaintiff'’s land 7. Chattels: are moveable forms of property a. E.g.: horses, books, and cars 8. Trespass to chattels: occurs when the defendant interferes with the plaintiffs chattels 9. Conversion: occurs when the defendant interferes with the plaintiff’s chattels in a way that is serious enough to justify a forced sale a. Theft b. That may be true if the defendant takes, detains, uses, buys, selles, damages, or destroys the plaintiff’s property 10. Detinue: occurs when the defendant fails to return a chattel that the plaintiff is entitled to possess 11. Recaption: the right of recaption allows a person to take their own property back 12. Complete defense: protects the tortfeasor from all liability 13. Consent: exists if a person voluntarily agrees to experience an interference with their body, land, or goods 14. Legal authority: provides a person with a lawful right to act in a certain way 15. Self-defense: consists of the right to protect oneself from violence and the threat of violence 16. Necessity: the defence of necessity applies if the defendant’s actions were justified by an emergency 17. Partial defence: allows a court to reduce damages on the basis of the plaintiff’s own responsibility for a loss or an injury 18. Provocation: consists of words or actions that would cause a reasonable person to lose self-control 19. Contributory negligence: occurs when the plaintiff is partially responsible for the injury that the defendant tortiously caused Chapter 5 1. Conspiracy: The tort of conspiracy occurs when two or more defendants agree to act together to cause the plaintiff to suffer a financial loss

2. Intimidation: occurs when the plaintiff suffers a loss as a result of the defendant’s threat to commit an unlawful act against either the plaintiff or a third party 3. Two party intimidation: occurs when defendant directly coerces the plaintiff into suffering a loss 4. Three-party intimidation: occurs when the defendant coerces a third party into acting in a way that hurts the plaintiff 5. Tort of interference with contractual relations: occurs when the defendant disrupts a contract that exists between the plaintiff and a third party a. Knowledge of the contract b. Intention to cause the third party to breach contract c. Cause causes the third party to break the contract d. Loss defendant causes the plaintiff to suffer a loss 6. Unlawful means tort: occurs if the defendant committed an unlawful act against a third party with the intention of causing the plaintiff to suffer an economic loss 7. Deceit: tort of deceit occurs if the defendant makes a false statement which it knows to be untrue, which it intends to mislead the plaintiff, and which causes the plaintiff to suffer a loss 8. Defamation: occurs when the defendant makes a false statement that could lead to a reasonable person to have a lower opinion of the plaintiff 9. Slander: a defamatory statement that is spoken 10. Libel: a defamatory statement that is written 11. Publication: occurs when a statement is communicated to a third party 12. Justification: occurs if the defendant’s statement is true 13. Privilege: is an immunity from liability 14. Public interest responsible journalism: occurs when a journalist, despite getting some facts wrong, acted in accordance with the standards of responsible journalism in publishing a story that the public was entitled to hear 15. Fair comment: an opinion regarding a matter of public importance 16. Tort of injurious falsehood: occurs when the defendant makes a false statement about the plaintiff’s business that causes that causes the plaintiff to suffer a loss 17. Tort of occupiers’ liability: requires an occupier of premises to protect visitors from harm 18. Occupier: a person who has substantial control over premises 19. Visitor: any person who enters onto premises 20. Premises: can be almost any physical space that people occupy 21. Nuisance: occurs because the defendants unreasonably use their land in a way that interferes with the plaintiffs’ use and enjoyment of their land 22. Statutory authority: prevents liability if the defendant caused a nuisance while acting under legislation 23. The rule in Rylands v Fletcher states that the defendant can be held strictly liable for a nonnatural use of land is something escapes from the property and injures the plaintiff Chapter 6 1. Negligence: occurs when the defendant carelessly causes the plaintiff ro suffer a loss or injury

2. Duty of care: exists if the defendant is required to use reasonable care to avoid injuring the plaintiff 3. Standard of care: tells the defendant how to act 4. The standard of care is breached when the defendant acts less carefully 5. Reasonable person rest: required the defendant to act in the same way that a reasonable person would act in similar circumstances 6. Product liability: occur when a person is injured by a product 7. But-for-test: requires the plaintiff to prove that they would not have suffered a loss but for the defendant’s carelessness 8. Remote: a loss is remote if it would be unfair to hold the defendant responsible for it 9. Thin skill: case occurs if the plaintiff was unusually vulnerable to injury 10. Intervening act: a event that occurs after the defendant’s carelessness and that causes the plaintiff to suffer an additional injury 11. Contributory negligence: occurs when a loss is caused partly by the defendant’s carelessness and partly by the plaintiff’s own carelessness 12. Voluntary assumption of risk: the defense voluntary assumption of risk applies if the plaintiff freely agreed to accept a risk of injury 13. Illegality: the defense of illegality may apply if the plaintiff suffered a loss while participating in an illegal act Chapter 21 1. Shareholders: are the residual claimants to the assets of the corporation and elect the direction 2. Directors: are responsible for managing or supervising the management of the business of the corporation and its internal affairs 3. Officers: are appointed by the directors of a corporation and usually exercise substantial management powers delegated to them by the directors 4. Private corporations: have few shareholders and the same people may be the shareholders, directors, and officers 5. Public corporations: are corporations that have distributed their shares to the public with only a few shareholders involved in the corporation as directors and officers 6. Fiduciary duty: is the duty of officers and directors to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interest of the corporation a. The most important legal standard of behaviour for officers and directors 7. Duty of care: requires every director and officer to exercise the care, diligence, and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances 8. Business judgement rule: is a rule that courts should defer to the business decisions of directors and officers where they acted reasonably and the decision was within the range of reasonably available alternatives 9. Solvency test: requires that there are reasonable grounds for believing that that the corporation can meet its liabilities as they become due 10. Indemnity: is compensation paid by a corporation to a director or officer for costs incurred in connection with performing their duties

11. Annual meeting: shareholders elect directors, appoint an auditor and review the annual financial statements 12. Special meeting: are shareholder meetings dealing with business other than the business of an annual meeting 13. Proxy, or proxy holder: a person designated by a shareholder to vote at a shareholders’ meeting 14. Management proxy circular: a document sent to the shareholders that contains management proposals and information regarding the proxy, the business to be dealt with at the meeting, and other general information 15. Dissident shareholders: disagree with management proposals 16. Dissidents’ circular: a document sent to all shareholders by dissident shareholders who seek the votes of other shareholders against management proposals 17. Unanimous shareholders’ agreement: an agreement of all shareholders to transfer some or all of the directors’ powers to themselves 18. Right of first refusal: the right for shareholders to be offered shares that one shareholder wants to sell before they are offered to non-shareholders 19. Shotgun buy-sell: a share transfer mechanism that forces one shareholder to buy out the other 20. Derivative action: an action by a shareholder on behalf of a corporation to seek relief for a wrong done to the corporation 21. Oppression remedy: allows a shareholder to claim relief from an act or omission by the corporation or its directors that oppressed or unfairly disregards or prejudices the interests of the shareholder 22. Liquidation and dissolution, or winding up: the corporation’s assets are sold, its creditors paid off, any remaining money distributed to the shareholders, and the corporation’s existence terminated 23. Dissent and appraisal right: entities shareholders who dissent from certain fundamental changes to have the corporation buy their shares 24. Securities: include shares and a wide range of other kinds of claims issued by corporation and other business organizations 25. Prospectus: an extensive disclosure document that management of a corporation must prepare and make public before the corporation issues securities to the public that describes the characteristics of the securities and the corporation’s business 26. Material change: to the corporation’s business operation or capital is a change that could affect the value of its shares 27. Corporate social responsibility (CSR): means pursuing a commitment to environmental protection and sustainability as well as going beyond what the law requires to ensure that a corporation takes responsibility for the impact of its actions on the environment, consumers, employees, the local community, and other affected stakeholders 28. Agent: of a corporation is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of the corporation 29. Actual authority: is authority that is actually given to an agent by a corporation 30. Apparent (or ostensible) authority: is created by a representation on behalf of the corporation that an agent has authority to bind the corporation

31. Indoor management rule: states that a corporation cannot rely on any provision in its articles, by-laws, or any unanimous shareholder agreement, that creates a defect in the agent’s authority to defeat a contractual claim 32. Absolute liability offence: committed by a corporation when a person acting on its behalf commits an act prohibited by law 33. Strict liability offence: committed by a corporation when a person acting on its behalf commits an act prohibited by law unless a person who is a directing mind of the corporation acted reasonably in the circumstances to prevent the offence 34. A directing mind: of a corporation is a person who has responsibility to establish corporate policy in the area in which the offence occurred Mens rea: offence occurs when an act prohibited by law is committed by a person who had the degree of knowledge or intention required for the offence...