Latin for Lawyers

REPUGNANT

REPUGNANT [L. repugno , repugnare / to fight against, reject, resist] Hostile; causing distaste or dislike. In the law, two statements, provisions or texts are repugnant to each other if they are inconsistent with, or negate or contradict, each other. Example: two inconsistent clauses in a contract, deed or statute. A repugnant verdict is a verdict which cannot stand because of a manifest inconsistency or error in the jury’s findings. A client or its interests may be so repugnant to a lawyer as to prompt an application for withdrawal to the court. Withdrawal permits the client to obtain more sympathetic repre sentation by another attorney. REPUTE, REPUTATION [L. reputo , reputare / to count back, compute, esti mate] The qualities by which a person is judged by the people who know or know of him. The word is often used interchangeably with the word character , but strictly speaking, a person’s character is the sum of what he is, whereas his reputation is the sum of what the world thinks or says he is. Evidence as to character or reputation may be used to impeach or support the evidence of a key witness. The licensing authorities in each state inquire into the character and reputation of applicants for the bar before permitting admission to prac tice. REQUEST [L. re + quaero, quarere / to seek, search for] To express a desire for. To ask or beseech. To make a demand for some action or relief, as to request an adjournment , payment of a debt, or performance of an obligation. A request for admissions is a written demand by one party upon another asking that party to admit or deny matters relevant to an action. A request for instructions is a request by one party to a judge to include the party's instructions in the judge’s charge to the jury. A request for production under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is a request by one party to another to produce specified documents for inspection or to permit inspection of specified premises. REQUIRED, REQUIREMENT(S) [L. re + quaero , quarere / to ask for, seek, search for] Anything essential to something else; a condition or necessity. In the law, a requirements contract is an agreement under which one party promises to deliver all the goods required by the other party for a stated price and for a fixed period of time, and the other party agrees to purchase all such goods from the first party exclusively. The required records doctrine provides for prosecutorial access to business records kept in the ordinary course of busi ness, free of the assertion by any individual of the privilege of self-incrimina tion.

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