Bad Faith: Dishonesty or fraud in a
transaction, such as entering into an agreement with no
intention of ever living up to its terms or knowingly
misrepresenting the quality of something that is being
bought or sold.
Bailment: A legal relationship created when a
person gives property to someone else for safekeeping.
To create a bailment the other party must knowingly have
exclusive control over the property. The receiver must
use reasonable care to protect the property.
Bench Trial: Also called court trial. A trial
held before a judge and without a jury.
Bifurcation: Splitting a trial into two parts:
a liability phase and a penalty phase. In some cases, a
new jury may be impaneled to deliberate for the penalty
phase.
Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to
the U.S. Constitution.
Binder: An outline of the basic terms of a
proposed sales contract between a buyer and a seller.
Board of Directors: The group of people
elected by a corporation's shareholders to make major
business decisions for the company.
Bond: A document with which one party promises
to pay another within a specified amount of time. Bonds
are used for many things, including borrowing money or
guaranteeing payment of money.
Brief: A written document that outlines a
party's legal arguments in a case.
Burden of Proof: The duty of a party in a
lawsuit to persuade the judge or the jury that enough
facts exist to prove the allegations of the case.
Different levels of proof are required depending on the
type of case.
Buy-Sell Agreement: An agreement among
business partners that specifies how shares in the
business are to be transferred in the case of a
co-owner's death.
By-Laws: A corporation's rules and
regulations. They typically specify the number and
respective duties of directors and officers and govern
how the business is run.
