Glossary

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Search warrant - A written order issued by a judge that directs a law enforcement officer to search a specific area for a particular piece of evidence.

Seal - To mark a document with a seal; to authenticate or make binding by affixing a seal. Court seal, corporate seal.

Secondary authority - Legal encyclopedias, treatises, legal texts, law review articles, and citators. Writings which set forth the opinion of the writer as to the law.

Secured debts - In bankruptcy, a debt is secured if the debtor gave the creditor a right to repossess the property or goods used as collateral.

Self-defense - The claim that an act otherwise criminal was legally justifiable because it was necessary to protect a person or property from the threat or action of another.

Self-incrimination, privilege against: - The constitutional right of people to refuse to give testimony against themselves that could subject them to criminal prosecution. The right is guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Asserting the right is often referred to as "taking the Fifth."

Self-proving will - A will whose validity does not have to be testified to in court by the witnesses to it, since the witnesses executed an affidavit reflecting proper execution of the will prior to the maker's death.

Sentence - The punishment ordered by a court for a defendant convicted of a crime. (See concurrent and consecutive sentences.)

Sequester - To separate. Sometimes juries are separated from outside influences during their deliberations. For example, this may occur during a highly publicized trial.

Sequestration of witnesses - Keeping all witnesses (except plaintiff and defendant) out of the courtroom except for their time on the stand, and cautioning them not to discuss their testimony with other witnesses. Also referred to as "separation of witnesses."

Service of process - The delivering of writs, summonses, and subpoenas by delivering them to the party named in the document. Also referred to as "service."

Settlement - An agreement between the parties disposing of a lawsuit.

Settlor - The person who sets up a trust. Also referred to as "grantor."

Shepardizing - Method for finding subsequent development of a legal theory by tracing status of a case as legal authority.

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