Legal Jargon

An application or ‘request’ asking the court to consider a case and make a judgement.

The course of action through which someone seeks to use the power of a court / tribunal to enforce a law or take legal action against another party.

Legal promises or obligations set out in the title deeds. Covenants may restrict how a property is used, for example, blocking its use for any purposes other than a residential dwelling, or obliging a title holder to undertake certain actions or expenditure on, for example, maintenance, or to make additional payments if planning consent is granted at some point in the future.

The process where one side’s counsel (barrister) seeks to challenge or test a witness’s evidence by asking them questions in court.

A sum of money awarded to a party by the Court as compensation as a result of a Court case.

Generally speaking, it is desirable to have a single joint expert report to the Court where specialist advice is required. However, there are circumstances where one or both parties may wish to consult an expert of their choosing to decide whether they should challenge the report of the single joint expert. This is now known as a Daniels v Walker application after the case in which a ruling of this kind was first made [2000]. This is applicable to all matters that reach court and where expert evidence is required. Experts appointed this way are still required to be impartial.

The legal costs charged to you by your legal team for working on your behalf in relation to the claim, together with any expenses in relation to this (see also Disbursements).

Similar to a case management conference (CMC) except that the parties are also required to file a cost budget that outlines the expected costs of the litigation. CCMCs are generally required on more complex or valuable cases.

A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties – people or organisations. In simple terms, a contract is an agreement to provide goods or services, exchange assets, or provide labour or expertise, under a specified set of terms and within the law of a specified jurisdiction. These terms will typically relate to price/cost, quality and timeframe but there can be many more complex and inter-related terms stipulated within a contract, including what happens when one of the parties breaches the terms of the contract. Many but not all contracts are in written form.

An order that makes an agreement between two parties legally binding, Consent orders can be made at court or in writing.