Legal Glossary - J

Joint and Several Liability - Joint and Several Liability is the plaintiff's ability to sue more than one defendant or just one, separately or together. Joint and Several Liability also allows a group of defendants to be held collectively liable as well as individually liable for the damages that were suffered by the plaintiff. A plaintiff can only recover the cost of damages from one defendant that is their deemed percentage of the negligence. The judge will assess a percentage of fault to each defendant and each person is only responsible for their assessed percentage, unless one defendant's negligence is judged at 60 per cent or greater.

Judgment - he judgment in a case is the official decision of the court that resolves the issues presented. It also states the rights of the parties and the obligations of the parties. A judgment can include jail time, compensation, etc.

Judgment Not Withstanding the Verdict - The Judgment Not Withstanding the Verdict, also known as n.o.v., is the order by a judge of the trial that is in contradiction to the jury's verdict on the case. The judgment not withstanding the verdict is only granted when the jury's verdict is unsupportable or unreasonable.

Judicial Notice - With judicial notice, a judge can recognize truth of a fact that may have bearing on a legal case without evidence, because the fact is established by common knowledge. Example of judicial notice being that if an incident happened on Thanksgiving Day, the judge can take judicial notice that Thursday was the day of the incidence.

Jurisdiction - Jurisdiction is when a judge exercises his or her authority by their own legal right. A judge has jurisdiction (authority) in an area to pass judgment that adheres to law.

Get More Information