Latin for Lawyers

L ATIN FOR L AWYERS

or administer with pomp and ceremony, as in a marriage, confirmation or bar mitzvah. SOLICIT, SOLICITATION [L. sollicito , sollicitare / to stir, agitate; to dis turb] To ask for or entreat. To request or plead for. To ask someone to purchase an article, conduct a business transaction, or accept a service. To entice or lead someone to commit a crime. To proposition someone to engage in a sexual act for money, as by a prostitute. Many things may be the subject of solicita tion, e.g., bribes, proxies, votes, etc. SOLICITOR In the United States, the title often given to a lawyer who is the head of the legal department of a municipality or other agency of government. In England, the term solicitor is given to lawyers who do not appear in court but who perform the other functions of practitioners at the bar, including consult ing with and advising clients. A solicitor is also a person who attempts to procure sales and business by offering products and services to customers or by distributing information about them. SOLICITOR GENERAL The Solicitor General of the United States is the second ranking officer in the Justice Department. His function is to represent the nation’s interest in civil litigation, or in arguing the nation’s interest in cases before the Supreme Court. SOLITARY [L. solitarius / alone, lonely] Being or living alone. The state of existing apart from others; isolated. In a prison, solitary confinement is the confinement of one prisoner separately from all other prisoners. Desolate, unoccupied. SOLVENCY, SOLVENT [L. solvo , solvere / to loosen, untie, free; to undo an obligation; to pay] Solvent: the ability of a person to meet all his debts and obligations. Having sufficient assets and resources to meet all obligations in the ordinary course of business. Solvency: the state of being solvent. SOURCE [L. surge, surgere / to rise, get up, surge] The place or point of origin. The beginning. A person who supplies informa tion, as to a reporter. The various documents (e.g. statutes, a constitution, judicial decisions, scholarly treatises), rules and principles which, together, provide the underpinning for the law are called sources of the law . A particu lar document, e.g., a contract, a set of by-laws or a particular judicial deci sion, may constitute a source of authority in a particular dispute.

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