IILEX Legal Executive flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Stare decisis

The doctrine that courts follow binding precedent from higher courts in the same hierarchy, promoting consistency and predictability in common law systems.

Ratio decidendi

The binding legal reasoning essential to a court's decision; lower courts must apply it to materially similar facts.

Obiter dicta

Comments in a judgment that are not essential to the decision; they are persuasive but not binding on later courts.

Ultra vires

Beyond the powers granted by statute or the constitution; such acts or regulations are invalid and unenforceable.

Consideration

Something of value exchanged between contracting parties; it must be sufficient but need not be adequate to support a binding contract.

Postal acceptance rule

Acceptance by post takes effect on dispatch where post is contemplated, binding the offeror even before the letter arrives.

Piercing the corporate veil

A court disregards separate legal personality to hold shareholders liable, typically for fraud, sham, or abuse of the corporate form.

Apparent authority

A principal is bound where a third party reasonably relies on representations that an agent has authority to act on the principal's behalf.

Summary judgment

A procedure deciding a claim without trial where the claim or defence has no real prospect of success and no compelling reason for trial.

Res judicata

A final judgment on the merits bars the same parties from re-litigating the same claim or issues in later proceedings.

Contra proferentem

An interpretation rule construing ambiguous contract terms against the party who drafted them, protecting the non-drafting party.

IRAC method

A legal writing structure: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion; used for memoranda, advice, and examination answers.

Conflict of interest

A situation where a lawyer's duties to one client are compromised by duties to another client or personal interest, requiring consent or withdrawal.

Client trust account

A segregated account holding client funds, reconciled regularly; commingling with firm money is prohibited by professional rules.

Three lines of defence

A risk governance model: business units own risk, compliance monitors, and internal audit provides independent assurance to the board.

Residual risk

The level of risk remaining after existing controls are applied; it is compared against the organisation's risk appetite.

Fair use

A copyright defence balancing purpose, nature of the work, amount taken, and market effect to permit limited unlicensed use.

Trade secret

Confidential business information protected while secrecy is maintained through reasonable measures such as NDAs and access controls.

Unfair dismissal

Termination without a fair reason or fair procedure, giving the employee a statutory remedy independent of contract breach.

Wrongful dismissal

A contractual claim arising where the employer terminates in breach of the employment contract, typically without proper notice.

Engagement letter

A written agreement defining scope, fee basis, billing terms, and client responsibilities before legal work begins.

Three-way reconciliation

A trust account control comparing the bank balance, client ledger total, and cash book to detect discrepancies.

Legal hold

A directive to preserve documents and data once litigation is reasonably anticipated, suspending routine destruction.

Spoliation

The destruction or alteration of evidence relevant to litigation, which may result in sanctions including adverse inferences.

Technology-assisted review

Use of machine learning to classify documents for relevance, accepted where methodology is documented and validated.

Informed consent

Client agreement after disclosure of risks, alternatives, costs, and fee basis, confirmed in writing where required.

Active listening

An interviewing technique using summarizing, reflecting, and clarifying to ensure accurate understanding of the client's account.

Forum non conveniens

A discretionary doctrine allowing a court to decline jurisdiction where another forum is clearly more appropriate.

Equitable remedy

A non-monetary remedy such as injunction or specific performance, granted where damages are inadequate.

Liquidated damages

A contractual sum agreed as a genuine pre-estimate of loss; if penal in nature, it is unenforceable.

Novation

Replacement of a contract with a new one, transferring rights and obligations with the consent of all parties.

Derivative action

A shareholder claim brought on behalf of the company to remedy a wrong done to it, typically after board refusal to act.